New to servers, just got a Compaq Proliant DL360 ...

[FlaPanther33781]

Hi all. I picked up one of these and I've had some issues with getting it up and running. Most of the threads I found to be helpful were on this website, so I thought I'd join here to get more info.

Question 1:

I'm fairly sure this is a G1 model, but is there a way to verify this?

Question 2:

I downloaded the SmartStart 5.5 disk and flipped the dip switch inside the case to get it to ask me what OS I want to load. Weird thing is ... I can't figure out how to boot the SmartStart disk. I can choose Windows 2000 and boot from a Windows 2000 disk I have, but there's no option to boot from a SmartStart disk.

Question 3:

Does anyone know how to load CentOS on one of these? I saw a thread on another site where someone was suggesting that it ought to work but I haven't had time to try yet. From what I gather though I'm thinking the CentOS disk might not boot from any of the OS options listed, I might have no other choice but to boot from the SmartStart disk and choose "manual".

Thanks in advance )

 

[ntinlin]

1. If it doesn't mention any generation on front panel then it is a G1. G1's were also more browny, later ones have a black fascia.

2. Shouldn't need to flip any dip switches, system should just boot from the smartstart disk without any problems. However there are 2 SS disks, the configuration one and the management one. The latter isn't bootable.

3. If you have a bootable copy of a current revision of CentOS you should just be able to install it straight off. I'd think it would have drivers for the raid controller etc. etc. within a 360G1. Obviously you'd need to configure the raid first.

 

[blister911]

You should also make sure all the firmware/bios is up-to-date.


Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

 

[FlaPanther33781]

1. Okay, yes, it's a G1.

2. I only saw 1 SmartStart 5.5 CD available on the HP website for the G1 ... if you know of a link to the bootable one I'll verify that's the one I have.

3. I discovered one problem - the CentOS disk I have is a DVD-ROM and the drive only reads CDs. I discovered this by trying a few other bootable disks I had - Ubuntu and PC-BDS. The Ubuntu disk worked, the other two did not. At first I thought maybe the CentOS disk was burned poorly but when I went to re-burn it I saw that it was a DVD iso and the light bulb turned on.

Unfortunately still no joy. I downloaded CentOS 5.7 on CDs (8 of them) and burned the first one. The server won't boot off it, although my desktop will. I tried changing the OS the server is expecting to Linux but that didn't help. Before I attempt to go through every single boot OS option I'm going to do some more searching and see if I can find a thread that specifies which one to use. I don't see why it shouldn't work under the Windows setting though, as other CDs have no problem.

 

[blister911]

Are you attempting to cold boot the SmartStart CD (boot from powered off)? If I remember correctly, some of those systems needed it to be that way.


Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

 

[Annihilannic]

When you say the server "won't boot off it"... how far does it get? Does it not recognise it as bootable at all? Or does it try to boot, but only get so far before giving up? Any messages to go on?

Annihilannic
[small]tgmlify - code syntax highlighting for your tek-tips posts[/small]

 

[Annihilannic]

I notice the DL360 series have been around for quite a while... going back to Pentium III days; so it's quite likely the CPUs are only 32-bit; which hardware architecture of CentOS are you trying to boot, i386 or x86_64?

Annihilannic
[small]tgmlify - code syntax highlighting for your tek-tips posts[/small]

 

[FlaPanther33781]

@ blister911 - Yes, I was booting from cold boot.

@ Annihilannic - I downloaded the x86 discs. Unlike other non-bootable disks that give the "non-system disk" error, when I try to boot it just goes to a black screen with a blinking cursor. I've let it sit like that for awhile with no response.

 

[blister911]

Which dip switch did you flip? Try setting it back and booting from the SmartStart CD. If you think it's a problem with your DC you could try downloading it again. You can get it here:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...kId=135&swItem=MTX-597d7cb6b45d493285e27c1412

Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

 

[FlaPanther33781]

It was switch #6 (in the bank of 6, not the bank of 8). I downloaded that disk and compared the MD5 hashes and that's the same disk I have.

FYI, I also downloaded and burned the NetStart disk for CentOS 5.7 and that won't boot either. I think I'm just going to put Ubuntu on it so I can start learning some type of *nix. I just wanted it to be CentOS because from what I understand RedHat is the most common distro for business use.

 

[FlaPanther33781]

Okay, now I'm extra frustrated. I tried to put Ubuntu on it today and it wouldn't boot from the CD. Very frustrated because I saw it boot from that CD before with my own eyes. I'm really ready to throw in the towel on this thing. Two last things I can think of:

1. There are 2 banks of dip switches on the board, maybe I or someone before me might have flipped one of the switches on the wrong bank. One bank has 8 switches, the other has 6. Can anyone tell me what their banks are set to?

2. Faulty CD drive? I see a used one on Ebay for $10, I suppose I can try swapping it out.

 

[ntinlin]

1. I don't have a 360G1 to hand but you could try looking for the maintenance and service guide on HP site to see what defaults should be.

2. Very possibly. I've had to replace a few CD drives on servers over the years, especially when they don't get used very often. Could be worth just giving it a quick lens clean if you have such a disk handy.

Neill

 

[UltraZero]

Re dl360.

I would do the following first.

1. Try to find the correct smart start for that server. You might be
looking for a version that is not on a DVD.

2. Dl360 G1 possibly doesn't have a DVD drive in it.

3. Make sure you upgrade all firmware first.
This includes the server motherboard
the array controller card.
the hard drives. (yes, they need upgrading too.)

4. SmartStart version supported (minimum): SmartStart 4.90 (up to 1.0-GHz Models)
SmartStart version supported (minimum): SmartStart 5.10 (1.13-GHz or greater Models)

5. Quick search I could not find dip switch info. I'm sire it's out there.

6. If you plan to use insight manager and a tape drive, make sure you
max this machine out. otherwise, you will be task swapping like crazy.

7. From this point, choose you OS and go for it. (IF a DVD will work in the machine, I would consider upgrading. You will need it. Such a pain when you can't install something because of incorrect media. (I have the same problem with my DL380G3s NO DVD. Looking to purchase a couple and I need at least 16GB of memory for my servers.)