COMPAQ PROLIANT DL380 SERVER 3

[stewartm82]

here is the server i am now an owner of

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI...MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=130056203529&rd=1&rd=1

There is one 9gb drive in the server. When i turn it on i get the "f1" to continue or "f10" to set up partitons.

Both give me a non boot disk error.

How can i get in to the BIOS and change the boot order so it boots of my windows server CD? I was reading something about a SmartStartCD. I dont have one so thats not really an option. All i need is to get in to the bios and change the boot order.

Thanks for taking your time reading my post.

 

[TheLad]

The "BIOS" is actually a system partition on the configured hard disks. Since your system would appear to be blank, you will need a copy of the SmartStart v5.5 CD (which is required for the G1 DL380) which can be downloaded from the link below. You should be able to boot from this CD and the configuration and install of SmartStart should be fairly easy to follow but post back if you get into difficulty:

http://h18023.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/22678.html

Note: there were issues with the HP website when I checked for the link above so if you get http 404 errors, just ignore them because the page does load and allow you to download the file.

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"Insert funny comment in here!"
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[stewartm82]

hey thanks a lot TheLad. Downloading now as I type this. I am new to these kind of servers and i did not know that bios had to be installed. Something i dont understand... Currenlty i have one 9gb SCSI drive in and 3 empty SCSI bays. Will i be able to run this drive as the main partition and add another 40gb IDE drive to be a slave disk? Is having these open SCSI bays with no dirve in them an issue? Can these servers run IDE and scsi at the same time?

Thanks again for your time.

 

[stewartm82]

sorry another post from me...

I have got the smart start utils on cd but the server does not boot to cd it boots to the SCSI drive. At this point i would normally go in to bios and change the boot order but as i understand it the bios has not yet been created. How can i force the server to boot form the cd i have just made?

 

[ADB100]

Create a System Erase Floppy and boot off that to completely wipe the DL380. You can create the System Erase floppy from the smartstart CD you have downloaded and burned by running the 'Create Support Software' and then selecting 'Compaq System Erase Utility'. This should create a bootable floppy that can be used to completely wipe the DL380 and let you boot from SmartStart.

HTH

Andy

 

[blister911]

stewartm82,

There are blanks/fillers for the open hard drive bays. It is recommended that you put fillers in the open bays to help manage the air flow within the server. Likewise, I believe there should be one (blank/filler) where the redundant power supply would go, for the same reason.

 

[stewartm82]

ok thanks guys I will have another go at it later today and report back if i have any trouble. Once I get the win server 2k3 install working i should not have any trouble.

 

[stewartm82]

ok.... smart start cd works fine. The Bios is installed and the deisk partitions are set up. I went to boot to my win 2k3 cd and i got a non system disk boot error. Humm not to worry i went in to the bios and changed the boot order to look at the cd first. Still the same result. What am i doing wrong. How can i get the system to boot form the cd?

 

[ADB100]

Did you go through SmartStart and select Manual Installation? You need to 'prime' the system prior to an OS install and since there is no Native support in SmartStart 5.50 for Windows 2003 you must select Manual Install once the SmartStart CD has booted.

I have manually installed Windows 2003 on several older Compaq servers that only support SmartStart 5.50 - a DL360, DL380, ML330 & ML370 and all worked fine following the initial SmartStart Manual Install.

HTH

Andy

 

[stewartm82]

yes i went though that install. I just tryed selecting other form the list of os's and i keept getting non book disk errors. Do you select other as the OS you wish to instlal when installing 2003 server?

 

[stewartm82]

ok i really dont get this... when i go to other OS as an option everything works fine untill the system restarts after creating the partition on the smartarray. After this it restarts and all i get is non boot disk errors. As the bios has not been installed i cant change the boot order yet and i am forecd to restart the whole process by using my erase floppy disk. I have been all over google and no one seems to be having the same proplems that i am having... sigh... what am i doing wrong here?

 

[stewartm82]

ok i have tried selecting windows 2000 form the os install list and now thats doing the same thing. It creates the smart array on the disk. Goes to restart trying to install the bios and then i get non boot disk errors. I have taken a step backwards since I have started. Now i cant even seem to get the BIOS installed with out getting a non boot disk error in the middle of the smartstart cd install.

Please help i am starting to get a bit desprate here

 

[ADB100]

You won't be able to do an assisted install of Windows Server 2003 from SmartStart 5.50 so you will have to do a manual install. Reboot from the SmartStart 5.50 CD and run a system erase, then reboot SmartStart and select Manual Install. When it finishes its stuff it should say it is ready and ask you to insert your OS CD. It should then boot off your Windows Server 2003 CD.
I have had issues in the past where a non-Compaq CD drive has been installed and this would cause problems with bootable CD's. However since it is a DL380 I assue you have the Compaq slimline CD drive?
I think Windows Server 2003 has the necessary SCSI & RAID drivers to support the DL380 without selecting any 3rd party drivers during install.

HTH

Andy

 

[blister911]

Have you tried updating the firmware on the array controller and/or drive? How about the bios on the system itself. Because you are having issues, I would take a step backwards. Make sure the firmware/bios levels on the hardware are on the most recent releases.

I think you can get it here:

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/locate/69_1122.html

Download and run the firmware maintenance cd as well as the system rom update.

When you run the SmartStart CD, do you go into the maintain server and create the array; using the Array Configuration Utility (ACU)? I don't remember seeing anything mentioned above that states you have done so.

Once that has been done, retry your install.

Good Luck

 

[stewartm82]

I managed to get the whole process installed once. The first time i ran though this process it got up to installing the bios and i got the screen that said place your os CD in the drive and restart. I thoght great i have done it but i could not boot form my win 2k3 cd. When the CD was not booting i thoght it must have been because i selected the wrong os form the list.

I started again useing the erase disk following these steps and thats where i started running in to trouble...

1. Use a folppy with the system erase on it
2. Perform a full system erase
3. Powercycle the server with the SmartStart CD 5.5 in the drive(yes it is the compaq slim cd drive)
4. When the smart start cd boots i set the system time.
4a. Select the manual install path form the 3 options i get. (its the last one in the list of three)
4b. The system asks me what os i wish to install. I select other form the list as windows 2k3 is not listed there.
5. Hardware configuration runs and cliams it has configured everything. At this point i hit continue.
6. The ACU runs now. Finds the 9GB scsi drive thats installed.
7. I run though the wizard and create a raid0 array.
8. I select save chagnes after the wizard is done
9. Press alt-f4 to exit the ACU and the system restarts.
10. I get a non system boot disk error after the system restarts the only thing i can now do is boot form the floppy erase everything i have done and start again. I dont think the BIOS even gets installed. What am i doing wrong?

 

[phillid2]

I have an ML530 and this is what I remember:

1) Boot from Smartstart CD and erase everything.
2) Reboot from Smartstart CD and select manual OS installation.
3) Reboot from Windows 2003 CD.


I do not remember the details on choices but once the server is oncfigured with Smartstart, you can install the OS. It will take a couple of hours, assuming all the hardware is OK. You may also want to download all the of the latest firmware updates from Compaq to avoid problems as well. Expect a big learning curve and lots of hours just learning the basics of server hardware.

Don Phillips

http://worthingtonengineering.com

 

[sigmalk]

I finally got the F1 prompt to go away on my first generation Compaq DL380 using these instructions (by the way, the F1 prompt is the result of a hardware error, typically a second power supply unplugged):

At the prompt:

Press “F1” key to continue
“F10” key for system Partition Utilities

Press F10
At the Compaq Splash screen, press any key to continue
When the menu appears you should see:
•System Configuration
•Operating System Installation
•Diagnostics and Utilities
•Exit From this utility

Press Control A
You should see a message that Advanced mode is enabled
Hit enter
Hit enter again to select System Configuration
Hit enter again to select Configure Hardware
You’ll see a message Loading Configuration Files
Select “Review or modify hardware settings” and hit enter
Select “Step 3: View or edit details” and hit enter
Scroll down to the “Advanced Features” section
Select the “F1 Boot Prompt” and change it to disable
Hit F10 to save
Hit F10 again to exit the “Advanced Features”
Select “Step 5: Save and exit” and hit enter
Save the configuration and restart the computer