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Date:      Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:21:08 -0700 (PDT)
From:      Richard Mahlerwein <mahlerrd@yahoo.com>
To:        freebsd-proliant@freebsd.org
Subject:   ML370 (G1), boot options
Message-ID:  <475559.43160.qm@web51006.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

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Hi, all.=A0 I've searched the archives as best I can, and also consulted th=
e Great Oracle of Google, but seem to be getting nowhere in a little projec=
t I'm doing.

I know it's not always good form to include more than one problem in a post=
, so I apologize in advance, but since answering one of the three questions=
 may mean the other two no longer need an answer, I feel it's appropriate i=
n this case.

I recently retrieved a ML370 G1 off the to-be-recycled heap here at work.=
=A0 It'll replace my aging 550 MHz PIII single-processor PC I've had presse=
d into "server" duty for ages.=A0 The ML370 is in fine physical order and i=
s a Dual PIII 866 with a Smart Array 3200 in it, 2x 36 GB drives and 4x 18 =
GB.=A0 I have downloaded and used a SmartStart 5.5 CD to verify all seems w=
ell and to reconfigure the RAID to my needs.

Issue 1: During my first attempt at installing FreeBSD 7.0, I found I could=
n't boot from the CD.=A0 No problem, I thought, I'll just create the floppi=
es and do a net install from there - I was sure it was just a Old CD Drive =
+ Burnt CD =3D no booting. I created boot.flp and kern.flp figuring if I ne=
eded more floppies out of the set I'll keep overwriting those two.=A0 (I'm =
slowly running out of good floppies!) =A0 I wasn't paying that close of att=
ention, but I realized about mid-way through the install the system never a=
sked me for the kernel floppy.=A0 I was a bit puzzled, but figured maybe th=
e boot floppy saw the CD and passed control to it...

Q1: Does anyone know what likely happened there?=A0 I *DID* at least start =
the boot from the floppy, I remember seeing that little piece, but afterwar=
ds, it was magic...=A0 Will the boot floppy hand off to the CD if/when it s=
ees it?

Issue 2: The install went fine, the only real issue is in the obnoxiously l=
oud and bothersome fan noise.=A0 Options don't seem to be in the BIOS (?!?)=
 but I found the FreeBSD Tools for ProLiant page (http://people.freebsd.org=
/~jcagle/) and thought "Perfect!"=A0 I noticed it had images for 4.x, 5.x a=
nd 6.2.=A0 No 7.0...=A0 Since I had 7.0 already installed, I tried winging =
it and and installing the various pieces for 6.2 and doing ldconfig and ins=
talling compat layers and whatnot, but I couldn't quite get it working.=A0=
=20

Q2: Does anyone have some reasonably easy to follow docs on making at least=
 hpasm work on 7.0?=A0 I've seen a few vague references to it working after=
 an upgrade from 6.x to 7, but docs are surprisingly sparse AFAICT.

Issue 3: So I thought to install 6.3, which I guess will very likely work u=
sing the 6.2 build of hpasm.=A0 I changed my boot disk to a 6.3 one, stuck =
it in the floppy drive and booted, but the system happily and without quest=
ion booted from the hard drives.=A0 Tonight I hope to find time to do a 6.3=
 CD + a 6.3 boot floppy and see if I can get it up that way, but I'd love t=
o find out what may be going on with this.=A0 I don't think that will work,=
 because I think it was only booting from CD/Floppy *after* the hard drive =
boot failed.=A0 I don't really want to delete the arrays so it will fail ba=
ck over to floppy booting, but at this point I'd try it if there's no easy =
way.=A0 But, I'm *positive* there's an easier way...=20

Q3: How do you change the boot order to include the floppy disk?=A0=20

I would appreciate any help someone can give or pointers to other informati=
on for me to try proceeding on my own.

Many thanks,
Rich



I tried winging it and doing the 7.0 and addressing issues as they came up =
(which involved a few hoops with compat_6x, _5x and ldconfig, I think), but=
 I never quite got it going.=A0 I'm thinking about starting over with 6.3, =
which I believe I will have a much, much greater chance to get working.



7.0 was a bear to get on it, but only because it wouldn't recognize my burn=
t CD as bootable.=A0 I realize now that I never got to kern.flp, though - b=
oot.flp was all it took.=A0 I don't know if that's because magically my unb=
ootable CD became bootable, or if the bootable floppy figured out there was=
 a CD there and used it.

So I decided reinstalling from 6.3 wouldn't be an issue, except I=20
=A0=20
=A0


Rich Mahlerwein

mahlerrd@yahoo.com

Mobile: 715-891-7420



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