Netfinity 5500 $250 1

[Bustaldo]

Hi just been browsing through the threads in search of info on seting up Raid array on the 5500, found some good posts so all is good. I purchased my netfinity last week for $250, its supose to be unused and looks that way. it has 2x 4.5 gig scsi
drives and duel p2 350mhz cpu, Have i scored a bargain or what? im pleased with it either way.
Is there anything i need to know in regards to the setting up of this system as far as firmware/ bios upgrades that could be important?

many thanks in advance.

 

[catorze]

You got a steal on a bullet-proof box! You should get to the latest version of BIOS, ASM firmware, RAID firmware (the 5500 has an integrated ServeRAID II controller), and drivers. It should serve you well. Mine's been running since release without even a hiccup.

 

[Bustaldo]

Thanks thats reasuring to hear. Im having trouble navigating the IBM website i dont suppose you have a link to a particular section where i can find the updates that you mentioned.

 

[catorze]

Sure, go to

http://www.pc.ibm.com/support

From there, under the Quick path, enter your 7-digit machine type and model (8660-xxx) where xxx is the specific model of your 5500. Under document type, select downloads & drivers. They're sorted by category.

 

[Dimarc67]

That link should be

http://www.pc.ibm.com/support

.

I also have a 5500 that's giving me trouble allowing Win2k3 to install. Let me know if you have any similar issues or insights thereof...

Thanks.

David Marcus
CurtCo Publishing
DavidM@CurtCo.com

 

[ibmtech65]

You are going to have driver/compatibility issues trying to install Win2k3 because it is an older server and not compat with that OS.

http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/nos/microsoftnetfinity.html

 

[Bustaldo]

I opted for an Xp pro install rather than win2k3 server as i couldnt find any drivers for the os. I eventually found the drivers that worked for my controller here

http://w3.ift.ulaval.ca/~etche1/howsxp/howsxp.htm

After searching through previous posts on the topic.
I also upgraded the controller firmware and bios as catorze suggested off the serveraid cd, and i now have xp running fine.
If you read through the info on this site it suggests that all was needed was to modify the oemsetup.inf to allow the newer os.
Hope this helps you in some way.

 

[Dimarc67]

Thanks, Bust. It was an awfully good suggestion, but the install still freezes at the same point: 34 minutes remaining, during device installation. Either the RAID driver is not the issue, or the updated driver has the same issue as the Windows-supplied driver.

The only other peripheral driver and/or firmware level in question becomes the video driver. The integrated video is the discontinued S3 Trio64V2/GX. No firmware or drivers available (not that a new driver could be utilized easily anyway.)

Anyone have any other suggestions? I can't help feeling that it's just a matter of find the particular item that's hanging this up, and I don't know that there's anyway of finding that out...

DavidM@CurtCo.com

 

[Dimarc67]

The install was hanging on a parallel port misconfiguration. Once the parallel port was enabled in BIOS, the install proceeded without issue.