ServeRAID hangs in post

[npiersma]

Hi,

My new ServeRAID 4Mx controller hangs in its post. It is diplaying its bootmessage, but it will not continue. It says: Controller 1 Slot 1, Power-on-Self-Test takes up to 3Min(s) and 0 Sec(s)_ and that's it. It wont boot any futher I can't enter my bios setup either.

BIOS Version 4.70.17

Any tips are welcome

Niels

 

[LarryTheCucumber]

What box is this in? 5500 7600 x350 etc?

Try putting it in one of the 33Mhz slots (If this is a Netfinity box), if it is not in one, They are usually slot 5 or 6.

 

[npiersma]

Hi Larry,

It's not in a IBM server. You're not gonna tell me that this controller only works in a IBM X-series server.

Niels

 

[LarryTheCucumber]

I have a 4L in a Dell. What type of machine is it?
They will work in the faster busses also.

Try a different slot, without any drive cables attached.
Is this setup for hot-swap?

 

[npiersma]

Larry,

I have it also in a DELL, a 500SC. I've tried both slots with and without cables. And it isnot setup for hot-swap/hot-plug.

Niels

 

[npiersma]

Okay, I now have tested the controler in a DELL 2550 and it goes like clockwork. No problems and very fast!!! So the problem may be the SC500 server it self. I am gonna downgrade the BIOS and see if that works!

Niels

 

[Threadsafe]

I also have this problem on my ASUS P4PE (i845PE chipset) motherboard. Nothing I seem to do in the bios remedies the situation, and I can't "CTRL+I" to get into the config of the BIOS because it freezes right away at the post.

The post freezes even if there is no cable connected to the card, and even after I reset the "bad configuration" with my other machine and put it back into this machine (without any devices).

I've spoken to numerous people at IBM, and received no help whatsoever, everybody recants the phrase "we can't guarantee compatibility in non-ibm servers". That's great, you don't hear such rubbish out of nvidia regarding supporting their video cards on only their nforce based systems.

This is infuriating, as it works fine in my old 440BX board with a Celeron 466!

If anybody here has any idea, please let me know! Thanks.

 

[lej]

You might try setting the IRQs manually and not allowing PCI to allocate the IRQs. PNP in my experience tends to be a dream especally with high performance devices like the ServeRAID adapters.

Every cold boot, PCI allocates resources and it is possible to end up with a resource conflict. I had this problem on a BP6 system board for weeks when I decided to set the IRQs myself in CMOS. That solved my problem. It may work for all of you as well.

Good luck