Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2001 03:18:15 -0500 From: Omar Thameen <omar@clifford.inch.com> To: Mike Smith <msmith@freebsd.org> Cc: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org, freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Mylex AcceleRAID 150 problems Message-ID: <20010131031815.A26661@clifford.inch.com> In-Reply-To: <200101272050.f0RKojx00993@mass.dis.org>; from Mike Smith on Sat, Jan 27, 2001 at 12:50:45PM -0800 References: <20010127013545.A21945@clifford.inch.com> <200101272050.f0RKojx00993@mass.dis.org>
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On Sat, Jan 27, 2001 at 12:50:45PM -0800, Mike Smith wrote: > > I have a Mylex AcceleRAID 150 running in a 4.2-RELEASE server and I've > > run into a couple problems and need some advice. > > Yes. The card requires 40-bit memory (byte-ECC), and Mylex' pricing is > actually fairly reasonable. However, adding more memory won't do you a > lot of good - the card has no battery backup, so you can't use it as > write cache, and the OS already read-caches better than the card does. That solves that problem/question, then, thanks. I've sent the memory back. > > Second, about 3 out of 5 times, the system fails to boot. It gets to the > > "press enter to boot [kernel]..." phase, then shows me the slash ( / ), > > then hangs, again rendering the power toggle functionless, but not the > > reset switch. I've checked the motherboard and mobo BIOS, and swapped > > out the RAM, eliminating those as problems. > > This one's beyond me; if it's intermittent and you can't find *any* > correspondence between any external factor and the failures, then I'd be > getting pretty desperate. Does the card work OK once the system is up > and running? Yes, it does. I've been able to proceed with server installation and configuration with no problems, even running a "make buildworld" as a test (probably of the SDRAM more than anything). The only thing I'm not sure about is whether this is the response I'm supposed to be getting: # mlxcontrol status -v mlxd0 mlxcontrol: couldn't get controller/drive for /dev/mlxd0 mlxd0: online > I'm afraid I don't have a lot here; check your SCSI cabling, check the > card is properly seated and the memory on the card is installed. Check > your jumpers, and that you have the activity LED plugged in properly (if > it's connected at all). I checked those initially, and re-checked as well. I've been a few days in following-up because I've actually been able to get a hold of another AcceleRAID 150 and swap out the card, but I'm getting the same thing. I can go several boots (sometimes up to 5 or so) before the problem recurs, then it can happen several times in a row, rendering the ATX case power switch functionless while the reset is fine. Thus far, I've changed the SDRAM, motherboard, and RAID card. I guess I'll try the SCSI cables next. I read up on the booting process and figured I must be getting past boot[012] to the loader since I get the "press enter to boot immediately" autocount prompt, so the problem must be when it tries to read "kernel". Thanks for the suggestions. If you have any others, please keep them coming. Omar To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message
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