help on AlphaServer 2100A [Solved- updated]

trooper82 · n00b Joined: 15 Mar 2003 Posts: 57

I finally got an AlphaServer - and have no clue what I am doing

I spent a week trying to figure this out on my own but didn't get very far. The system came with just a single drive that did not boot to any OS. I have 5 drives I purchased a year ago to use in an Alpha. I put these in and they were empty too, or so I think. I did finally manage to get to the >>> prompt so I can get to an ARC prompt too. I decided my first task should be to get the drives set into an array, so found documentation for configuring the cables, terminator etc. The controller is the Mylex DAC960, after some hard searching I found what should be the necessary file to config the array - RA200RCU.exe. I was never able to get the file to run, from either prompt. the same trouble when trying to upgrade the firmware, I get the following error..."Native D-Stream TB miss occurred" Then it wants to reboot the console. After much discouragement I decided to just try and boot the experimental LIVE Alpha CD, with pretty much the same results. Actually a little different, the cdrom device never shows up when I do a "Show devices" I am hoping someone out there can get me going in the right direction.

-Trooper82
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tarzan420 · Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 4:08 am Post subject:

Alpha's seem to be pretty picky about cd drives. IIRC, my alpha (PC164) had to be set up with the cd drive as the primary IDE master with no primary slave. If I didn't set it up that way, I couldn't see the drive from SRM, so I couldn't boot linux from the cd. once I got it installed, I swapped stuff around, linux sees all the drives with no problem. No particular experience with alphaservers, tho...
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trooper82 · n00b Joined: 15 Mar 2003 Posts: 57

Thanks Tarzan420, I'll give that a shot.

BTW- is the Chena solid yet? I spent 2 years there in Fairbanks, really nice place.....if you like cold and snow

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trooper82 · n00b Joined: 15 Mar 2003 Posts: 57

Well I managed to configure the drives. I was trying to do the configuration utility all wrong. You need to go to the "Run program" menu option and type A:filename to get it started. I am right now initializing the logical drive. Hope to have the install going shortly after this finishes. But I still need to find the right commands/setup to boot from a CDrom.

-Trooper82
_________________
The band is just fantastic
That's really what I think
Oh, by the way, which one's PINK?

AS2100 · Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 2:07 pm Post subject: 2100A CD boot?

from the >>> prompt type "show dev"

This will give you a list of the devices, then look for a device that says RRD in the description (or that you can identify as a cdrom. Insert the CD and type boot (device name: for example DKB600 - or whichever one is you drive)

EXAMPLE -

>>>show device
dka0.0.0.4.0 DKA0 TOSHIBA CD-ROM XM-57 3476
dkc0.0.0.1009.0 DKC0 RZ1BB-BS 0658
dkc100.1.0.1009.0 DKC100 SEAGATE ST34501W 0015
dva0.0.0.0.1 DVA0
ewa0.0.0.3.0 EWA0 00-00-F8-75-6D-01
pkc0.7.0.1009.0 PKC0 SCSI Bus ID 7 5.27
pqa0.0.0.4.0 PQA0 PCI EIDE
pqb0.0.1.4.0 PQB0 PCI EIDE

>>>boot DKA0

trooper82 · n00b Joined: 15 Mar 2003 Posts: 57

P00>>>boot dka6
(boot dka600.6.0.1001.0 -flags 2,0)
failed to open dka600.6.0.1001.0

I have removed some cards that were in the box, think it might be related?
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The band is just fantastic
That's really what I think
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AS2100 · Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2004 2:59 pm Post subject: CD boot issue

please post the show dev output - we should be able to determine the isue from there

trooper82 · n00b Joined: 15 Mar 2003 Posts: 57

I thought about adding that info in last post, but it was late and I was tired.

Anyway here is what I get at boot and under show dev

Boot:

Testing the DISKS (read only)
READ/WRITE failed with status 0002 on dra0.0.0.9.0

*** Hard Error - Error #5 -
Diagnostic Name ID Device Pass Test Hard/Soft 2-JAN-2066
exer_kid 0000014b 0 0 1 0 12:00:01
Error in read of 0 bytes at location 00002A00 from device dra0.0.0.9.0
*** End of Error ***

P00>>>Show dev
dka600.6.0.1001.0 DKA600 RRD45 0436
dra0.0.0.0.9.0 DRA0 5 Member RAID 5 Failed
dva0.0.0.0.1 DVA0 RX26/RX23
ewa0.0.0.1009.0 EWA0 xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx
pka0.7.0.1001.0 PKA0 SCSI Bus ID 7

The above table layout is not correct.

It would seem to me that there is a problem with the array, but I just assumed it was do to it being blank. Is this correct?

Thanks for your help,

- Trooper82
_________________
The band is just fantastic
That's really what I think
Oh, by the way, which one's PINK?

trooper82 · n00b Joined: 15 Mar 2003 Posts: 57

I am making progress! It would seem that I have the cables , terminators, drives all hosed up. I have decided to go back to my techie grass roots......start with the minimum amount of hardware necessary. I got rid of the error above, and actually am seeing the cd boot. Now all I need to do is get the array setup correctly and I should be on my way to Alpha-Gentoo heaven.

-Trooper82
_________________
The band is just fantastic
That's really what I think
Oh, by the way, which one's PINK?

trooper82 · n00b Joined: 15 Mar 2003 Posts: 57

Seems the 2004.3 and 2004.2 Alpha LiveCD's do not have the DAC960.o module.(EDIT- They are here I was looking in wrong place...sorry Alpha devs) I tried copying them from a second cd I installed in the system but get an error about the ELF not being correct. I do not have the actual error wrote down now, but will update this later this evening. I did some browsing of the forums and see there are several options to get the needed module.

1. Install on different HD that is connected to the onboard SCSI - not an option, I have no drives that will work.

2. Create a new LiveCD with added support for the Mylex Dac960 controller - the only option I can use that I have found......need to learn how to create my own LiveCD now

any other suggestions?

- Trooper82
_________________
The band is just fantastic
That's really what I think
Oh, by the way, which one's PINK?

trooper82 · n00b Joined: 15 Mar 2003 Posts: 57

AS2100 - you would not happen to still have the iso you created in this post would you?

-Trooper82
_________________
The band is just fantastic
That's really what I think
Oh, by the way, which one's PINK?

trooper82 · n00b Joined: 15 Mar 2003 Posts: 57

I managed to figure out a few things this past weekend.

1. Found 3 different versions of the Alpha LiveCD floating around.
The one listed below and a 2004.2 version and the latest 2004.3 - I couldn't get them to work - all 3 said module could not be found when doing a 'modprobe DAC960'

2. Found this bug report that says the DAC960 is working in 'gentoo-alpha-2004.2-20040730.iso' I couldn't get it to work - said module could not be found when doing a 'modprobe DAC960'

Edit - maybe this bug is part of my problem on the Mylex controller?

Edit - Maybe I should have read the above bug report a little closer....

trooper82 · n00b Joined: 15 Mar 2003 Posts: 57

Well I have an update or two to add. I spent the entire day waiting out a kernel compile on a fresh install in this beast, before trying to boot into a fresh system on the latest iso release. My plan was to give the kernel patch a try for my Mylex controller. But, I seemed to be hanging at boot with the following.