On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 15:44:35 -0500, "Nut Cracker"
wrote:


"Jason Arthurs" wrote in message
.. .
It was actually a Smart Array 2SL but still a little bit of ancient
history. I've just managed to get it working in a generic tower albeit
with a little help from a Proliant 5500.

I couldn't install Windows to run ACU because the install 'got lost'
during hardware detection and never came back (something to do with
the array not being configured). So I pulled the 2SL and put it in a
5500 and ran ACU.

Pulled it all back out and put it back into the tower and it works
fine after a tweak of the BIOS to stop it trying to boot off of the
network card. It's installing a copy of XP as we speak and it picked
up the array without a hitch this time.

Despite being an ancient card, I think it'll do a better job with the
9Gb 10K drive than the pair of old Seagate 1.2Gb IDE drives that were
in there...

Out of interest, will a 64bit Smart Array (a la 431) work in a 32bit
slot albeit with less bandwidth?

It's running Linux now (SME Server) and it's only a little test rig
for me to check out some remote admin tools. Best case scenario if I
decide to keep it running I have three non-hotswap 9Gb drives in an
ML350 that I intend to replace once I get a drive cage for it. I might
well transplant them once I get some new drives and build a tidy
little four drive array. A 27Gb RAID5 array is more than sufficient
for testing purposes.

Bear in mind, you wont be able to update the array controller driver. HP
hasnt released a signed XP compatable version of it. As for it working
better than the old IDE drives .... definitely.

I think I'll build a BartPE disk with ACU at some point so I can boot
from CD and tinker with the array.

Now, as to the 64bit controller question, as long as your controller is
keyed for a 3.3v 32bit slot you can use it, and yes, it will have less
bandwidth. It will probably negotiate down to Ultra2 speeds (80MB/s).
Anything more would exceed the rating of the entire PCI bus.

The 431 has the above mentioned slot keying. You should be able to use it.

its PCI keying looks like this:

|_|-|_______|-|_|-|___________|

some of the others, such as the 532 and 641 controllers look like this:
|_|-|__________|-|___________|

Your standard 32bit 33Mhz PCI slot looks like this:
|__________|-|___|

notice how the notch does not line up at the back of the slot. That is the
"gotcha".

Let me know if you have any other questions.

I suspected this would be the case, I remember a few years back
getting hold of some Adaptec RAID cards that were 64bit. The downgrade
to Ultra2 isn't a problem as the cage I was going to connect it to is
only Ultra-Wide anyway. The only machine I have with 64bit slots is my
ML350, but I was thinking of getting hold of a DL380 at some point.

Thanks,
Jason.

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