Netware 3.12 on new Dell 2

[sobak]

I was able to install Netware 3.12 on a new Dell 2450 with a Perc3 RAID 5 configuration. After getting the OS Set to operate on the new hardware and fully testing the configuration I am going to try to address two error messages that I keep getting.

- 1.1.139 Spurious Hardware interrupt 10 detected
- 1.1.140 Primary interrupt controller detected a lost hardware interrupt.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the problem is coming from the Perc3 card that is operating on Interrupt 10. I’ve removed all other cards using Interrupt 10 and disabled a few that are not required in 3.12 (usb, second serial port, etc). Doing this has eliminated the error somewhat but I still receive them.

I’ve been running tests and believe I have everything configured on the server to allow it to be placed into operation (not that this is going into operation yet, just testing for the recomendation to a client) but I would like to know if I should be worried about these errors. Novell has some TID’s where it says to disable the alerts and don’t worry about them; most of those are for Compaq systems.

I am going to continue my testing on this system to see if a new Dell server can run 3.12 without any problems with the RAID Card corrupting data. Any thoughts on this matter would be appreciated.

On a side note, how much memory will 3.12 recognize? My system is a 1 Gig processor with 1 Gig memory, after increasing the Maximum Short Term Memory on the system, I’m surprised its running so stable.

Thanks again for your input to this matter.
david e
*end users are just like computers, some you can work with...others just need a simple reBOOTing to fix their problems.*

 

[JockMullin]

Hi, David E

I haven't had the spurious interrupt 10 problem, but have never installed on that raid controller so suspect you are correct in that it is the raid controller raising interrupts unrecognized by the OS.

These may or may not be significant. I would try to determine if they are happening during high disk traffic. If so then it may be a problem. On the other hand if it happens during idle times or is unaffected by traffic then it most likely will not be a problem.

The lost hardware interrupt message happens quite frequently and I routinely SET that one off once I have determined the system is stable and have never had any problems as a result. I recently installed on a Dell server and had that problem. After 3 days with no glitches I turned it off and the system has now been up for 38 days.
That's what I *love* about 3.x. I tell my customers to reboot once a year whether they need to or not, just so we know it will still boot up.

Regarding memory recognition, if you have the recent LOADER then it should be recognized. The biggest memory I have installed on was 256meg and it was all recognized and made for a very large disk cache. Monitor will tell you how much memory the OS sees.

Brgds
Jock

 

[sobak]

Thanks for your input, I can answer this one for you, both errors happen during high disk utilization but only when writing to the disk. I have not seen this error while reading from it (yet).

I have all patches in place for 3.12 (that was my first adventure) I've turned off the RAID cache thinking that may be resulting in my errors but I'm thinking about turning it back on, and enabling the verification (just during testing). At this time I don't see anything being corrupt but I'm sure it will not happen over night. It will happen at 3:00am in the morning during a deadline and I'll be stuck working on recovering the data as to assist them to meet their deadline.

The server that I am using is WAY overpowered for what my client will be getting, they will be getting a Dell 1500SC with a PERC3/Sc RAID 1 configuration. Not at all what I am using for my testing.

My client’s server is a clone 486 with 16 Megs of RAM. They have been happy with it but they have to use NetWare 3.12 due to two software applications that they would have to repurchase for compatibility with Btrieve. Before I went out on a limb and recommended the Dell I wanted to make sure NetWare 3.12 would run on it. I don't have any need for an additional server.....

If you don't mind me asking, do you mirror your drives or not run any RAID on the server at all and rely on your backups? Just wondering what others are doing.

Thanks again


david e
*end users are just like computers, some you can work with...others just need a simple reBOOTing to fix their problems.*

 

[JockMullin]

Hi, David E

I can ustand yr concern if the IRQ 10 errors are happening during disk writes. That suggests an incompatibility. Dell doesn't support Novell 3.x so you will likely be on your own and you are wise to test extensively before implementation.

If it happens at 3am, I just blame the cleaners (grin).

I support one system running a Raid array but it is legacy hardware and have never had a problem with it (I didn't install it either). Depending on the application I use mirroring, in which case I use SCSI based drives. I have a couple small custs running single IDE drive servers and in those cases have implemented rigorous backup cycle including soft backups onto workstations & daily/wkly/mthly tape backups.

Your cust now running a 16 meg 486 server will be impressed with the improved performance of the new server. I recently upgraded a P150 32meg memory to a Dell 500 sc 128 meg and the custs weekly order processing run went from 2 hrs to 20 mins. The first time it ran they couldn't believe it had gone to completion. Big disk cache really helps on database apps.

Brgds
Jock

 

[sobak]

Jock,

Thanks for your assistance, I am playing around with the RAID Card settings and will let you know what I run into. Appreciate your insight...

david e
*end users are just like computers, some you can work with...others just need a simple reBOOTing to fix their problems.*

 

[burnabyryan]

sobak,

or anyone else in this forum. Can someone forward me some instructions on installing netware on a Dell machine, with the perc controller. I am interested to see them. I would like to do the same and would like to know how they work.
Please let me know. I dont have much experience with netware but I am running a netware 3.12 environment only for fileserving that seems to be lean and bulletproof.

I very much like it yet the hardware is grinding down and I dont have it duplexed or raided. THis is a network I have taken over. I am not even sure how to duplex this machine. There are 2 scsi controllers in it and it looks like it was attempted but to no success.

Thanks
burnaby

 

[iolair]

Are you running TTS? It could be that TTS is trying to write at the same time the controller is - check your delay times and see if all is well.

Iolair MacWalter

P.S.- I have a Compaq server with 640MB of ram, and 3.12 recognizes all of it.