SCO UNIX 5.0 system crash - Where can I get Openserver 5.0 Software?

[lbertram]

My ancient Visit Messenger FAX server running SCO UNIX Openserver 5.0 has crashed. It boots through phase 6 then stops after ***Root Remounted***. I have no disks for this operating system nor do I know UNIX. Whats worse is our company Visit Messenger FAX and phone software runs on this machine. Any ideas on how I should proceed? Perhaps where I can get a copy of this operating system? I'm lost here any suggestions?
Les

 

[edfair]

This is gonna be ugly.
Best if you will post your location and email address where people can reach you off forum, although the corrections will be better posted here. May be able to locate help from the immediate area.
Usual problem is that the bootstrap is missing, but without emergency floppies , it will be guessing as to which version you have and what to attempt to load back on.
There are 3 possible versions, 5.0.0, 5.0.2, and 5.0.4 that could be involved.
I would reload the OS onto an empty duplicate hard drive to the point of getting a set of emergency boot disks, then put the bootstrap from the EBD onto your munged drive. Or at least get the hard drive mounted to see what additional damage has been done.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[stanhubble]

If you are unfamiliar with unix then your best bet is to try to find a local consultant. Put aside your last and second last "known good backups". You are having problems with the filesystem on your root hard drive and "fsck" is trying to fix it, unfortunately in doing so it has left it in a non-functioning state. I sympathize with you but a critical or necessary system must have good backups and a documented recovery procedure.

Let us know if you can do or get some of the information that ed mentioned. People here have encountered most of the errors you are likely to have and are glad to help but some basic information and skills are needed.

good luck,
stan

 

[lbertram]

I am in St. Louis. My email is lbertram@midwestbankcentre.com

Thanks for the suggestions. I do have a UNIX fellow locally for assistance, unfortunately he is on vacation at the moment. Before he left he said it was the hard drive. We found another old matching drive and did a sectore by sectore copy. The copy worked but it booted to the same place and hung up. This tells me the hard drive was not bad. I have located a copy of SCO UNIX 5.0. Perhaps I will try to install it on one of the hard drives and make a boot disk. Is there a way to tell which of those three versions I have? Before it hung up it displayed SCO UNIX System - V/386 3.2v4.2.

 

[edfair]

Your story is inconsistent. There is openserver 3.2v5.0.x and openserver 3.2v4.2.
Your copy of 5.0 won't work if it is 4.2.
Do you have a CD on the machine? Or a qic tape? Most 4.2 didn't since the OS came as 14 floppies or 3 floppies and a qic tape. That would be my first test for version.
Until you know the version you probably don't want to mess with anything.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[lbertram]

That was why I too was confused. It showed both 5.0 and that 3.2v4.2. A UNIX feller locally told me that meant it was definitely 5.0. Why,I don't know.
I'm going to go start it up again and see if I can find any more info while it boots. I'm having a problem finding the license key also. This server is quite old and I have never done any more on it than enter users into Nortel FAX.

When the machine booted up, (the part I could catch) it displayed:
SCO UNIX 5.0 (right away)
Then it displayed SCO UNIX SYSTEM v/386 3.2v4.2
Then ran through phase 1 - 4.
Frre INODE count wrong in superblk. FIX? YES
(It quickly ran through several more questions and answered itself YES.)
**Phase 5 - Check freelist bitmap (Ignored)
**Phase 6 - Salvage free list bitmap
Set file system state to Okay? (Yes)
5511 files 206250 blocks 187496 free
***Root File System was modified***
***Root remounted***

This where it hangs.
Is there a way to capture the screen that quickly runs through on start up?

 

[lbertram]

I have since found that it is a SCO UNIX OS2 USER 4.2 box. Anyone have any boot disks?