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#21
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Using a DELL 2600 PowerEdge as a Desktop PC
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[ Some answers inline... ] Ok. I booted the DELL 2600 server about 60 times in an attempt to get back to the password screen (or past it). I went into BIOS and under "Integrated Devices" changed "Embedded RAID Controller" from "Off" to "SCSI". (The RAID option causes a warning that data will be lost). http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...psc498632d.jpg So the SCSI setting was probably lost when the battery fell off. This allows me to boot as far as the Windows 2000 Server splash screen: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps5bd0f4cc.jpg, Followed by a "Inaccessible Boot Device" blue screen which I can't get past: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps9b47479a.jpg (The blue screen tells me to run CHKDSK /F, but I don't know how to do that). You would need to slave the SCSI drive to another computer. Either that, or boot your WinXP installer CD to the recovery console, and see if the CHKDSK works in there. You may need to press F6 and offer a driver for the SCSI controller. I've never done that here, as usually I'm working with IDE drives on the chipset. So look at the ID of the chip or card controlling your SCSI drive, and locate a driver for it for WinXP (if using the WinXP disc for the recovery console). My SCSI work was mostly with my Macintosh. I've moved a SCSI card into the PC a couple of times, but that was for usage of an old 9GB drive as a data drive. Nothing really educational happened there, because I wasn't trying to boot from it. (I have three or four cheap SCSI cards here, that are very infrequently used. A 2906 still runs my SCSI document scanner.) A weird thing is that three times out of all the times I booted I got a slightly different BIOS screen that gave me an extra option. ?!? Notice there is nothing in between "Boot Sequence" and Integrated Devices": http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...psb33cace7.jpg If there is no hard disk detected, that might account for the BIOS screen. Some SCSI setups might have a variable timeout setting (or, things like staggered spin, for SCSI chains full of drives). Maybe it is a timeout set too low or something. Now look at the "Hard-Disk Drive Sequence" option that rarely comes up: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...psc0f0d585.jpg IBA GE Slot 8388 appears to be a LAN card boot option. You would think that would appear regularly, unless there is not sufficient low memory for the INT 0x13 support for LAN boot to load. Depending on how many SCSI controllers are present, other boot ROMs might not get to load, making the boot order listing "flaky" in behavior. When I did get that option, putting "Hard drive C" at the top in "Boot Sequence" didn't help me get any further into the booting process. And putting either the Seagate drive or the IBM drive at the top in "Hard-Disk Drive Sequence" didn't either: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps8edbbf27.jpg (The other three hard drives don't show up in BIOS at all, but during the boot-up sequence it show as each is spun up). Could be staggered spin. For SCSI, there can be jumper blocks or dip switches that enable staggered spin. Staggered spin is used to reduce the strain on the power supply. One disk at a time, takes turns drawing the 2-3 amp spinup current. It reduces the peak current the power supply must support. You could defeat the staggered spin, if you wanted the drives to spin up in unison. If the power supply has a reasonably hefty 5V and 12V current rating, it probably wouldn't be a big deal to spin them all at once. I spin up five drives regularly here, on a 460W power supply, without staggered spin or anything of that nature. I tried every combination I could think of in "PCI IRQ Assignment": http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps24dd15fd.jpg to no avail. And in "PCI-X Slot Information" only slot 6 is occupied, which is the SCSI card. http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps62a0b031.jpg It's been a long time since I looked at that stuff. I don't know if I can help you with IRQ assignments. I seem to remember needing to do something for Windows 98 with a sound card or something. For modern OSes, you have "PNP OS" [yes or no] setting, with [no] being normal for modern OSes. The BIOS then does the resource assignment. You only need to move IRQ numbers, if something isn't working right. The defaults would normally be good enough I would think. I don't think "Console Redirection" is important: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps3b4f486c.jpg. And in "System Security" anything relating a password is off. http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps84160fdc.jpg Some servers, you install a separate card in a special slot on the motherboard, and that card allows remotely administering the computer. That could be what the console redirection is about. That allows a large number of servers to be administered from a central location, hopefully without needing to enter the server room. And having your passwords cleared, is a relief. The DELL 2600 PowerEdge motherboard features are as follows: *** Six 64-bit PCI/PCI-X slots and one 32-bit slot. Slots accept full-length cards designed for 133 MHz, 100 MHz, 66 MHz, or 33 MHz. *** An integrated VGA-compatible video subsystem with an ATI RAGE video controller. This video subsystem contains 8 MB of SDRAM video memory (nonupgradable). Maximum resolution is 1600 x 1200 x 16.7 million colors (noninterlaced). *** An integrated, dual-channel Ultra320 SCSI host adapter. *** Optional 1 x 2 backplane automatically configures the ID numbers and SCSI termination on individual hard drives, greatly simplifying drive installation. *** One integrated 10/100/1000 NIC, which provides and Ethernet interface. *** Embedded systems management circuitry that monitors operation of the system fans as well as critical system voltages and temperatures. The systems management circuitry works in conjunction with your systems management software. *** Back-panel connectors including video, keyboard, mouse, two serial, one parallel, two USB, one NIC, and one optional embedded remote access Ethernet connector. The service manual says that the supported operating systems are as follows: Microsoft Windows 2000 Server family Windows NT 4.0 Server family Red Hat Linux 7.3 or later Novell Netware 6.0 I assume this system came out before Windows XP I just wanted to confirm that XP can be installed if needed. Well, look for a WinXP driver for the SCSI controller you're currently using. Since you also have an "embedded controller", the part number on that would be another option. Or, use a Promise Ultra133 TX2, an IDE driver, the Promise driver, a floppy diskette, and use the F6 method to install a driver via floppy for that. The RageXL graphics are ancient. ATI may have made drivers for *server* versions of the OS (since ancient server graphics like that get reused for a long time). There might not be a reason to make a WinXP version. ATI would only stop selling that chip, if the silicon fab could no longer make it. (Any time a fab gets new lithography equipment, it usually means they can no longer make the old designs. We "lost" all our chips at work on a project once, because of that, and had to stop shipping our product.) Also, If I can get this system up and running correctly would there be any advantages of adding another processor? There is already a single VRM chip, whatever that is. But I don't know if another VRM chip would be needed if a second processor were added to the system. VRM = voltage regulator module (plugs into ugly looking slot with big pins) VRD = voltage regulator down (normal for retail motherboards, soldered down) On old servers, a VRM is required per socket. VRMs are usually relatively low power, compared to the capabilities of some VRDs now. On some two socket motherboards, a "terminator adapter" plugs into the second CPU socket, when no CPU is installed in there. That has something to do with proper GTL bus termination. Missing that might cause a crash immediately at boot. A second CPU isn't going to materially affect your current problems. And is just a waste of electricity and time :-) So the only thing I'd be concerned about, is whether that particular motherboard needs a terminator in the second CPU socket when it's empty or not. http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps49f8849a.jpg Also would there be any advantages to adding two more 1GB memory chips to bring the total to 6GB? You've got enough RAM for the moment. You can dream about this other stuff, when the box is running smoothly again. (Outside of internet, DVD, MP3s, I may want to play around with ram disks and video editing). I have to look into a way to reattach the NVRAM battery so I wouldn't have to keep entering the settings whenever I want to boot up. You will need to learn to solder. You could buy a CR2032 (assuming that is what fell out), and buy a pigtailed version used in a laptop. That way, just cut off the two pin connector on the end, strip the wires, and solder the wire ends to the two contact where the socket for the battery used to be. People have also used regular dry cells, anything that gives the required 3V, and soldered that into the motherboard. (You would use a battery holder from Radio Shack to hold the batteries in that case.) If you want to do a proper repair, you'll need to find a battery socket which is footprint compatible with the pattern already present on the motherboard. Abusing a pigtailed battery is just a lot simpler. If you want to "remove" the battery occasionally, place a switch from Radio Shack (SPST or SPDT) in series with one of the legs of the pigtailed battery, so you can interrupt current flow when needed. Thanks. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York. So you were very close to booting :-) Now the trick will be, tracing down which irritating SCSI problem could be causing it. "INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE Message After Changing a SCSI Adapter Resource" http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302098 "How to troubleshoot 'Stop error code 0x0000007B (INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE)' error messages in Windows 2000" http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822052 "Advanced troubleshooting for 'Stop error code 0x0000007B (INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE)' errors in Windows XP" [ WinXP being similar enough to Win2K for debug purposes ] http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;324103 But what are the odds of someone leaving it in need of a CHKDSK run ? The first procedure is encouraging (effectively resetting a registry key used to keep track of what booted on the SCSI chain), but it's pretty stupid in my opinion, when the ARC resource in boot.ini exists to do something like that. To use the info in the first article, you'd need a working computer, plug a SCSI controller into the machine, then use regedit (or equivalent) to edit the registry hive on the SCSI disk drive and delete the entries. All these things are fixable. If you have a well equipped lab, that is. I have some SCSI controllers here, and I could kludge something together here to be able to read a drive like that from my current PC. Then run CHKDSK, make a backup or whatever. Paul |
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Using a DELL 2600 PowerEdge as a Desktop PC
wrote:
[ Some answers inline... ] Ok. I booted the DELL 2600 server about 60 times in an attempt to get back to the password screen (or past it). I went into BIOS and under "Integrated Devices" changed "Embedded RAID Controller" from "Off" to "SCSI". (The RAID option causes a warning that data will be lost). http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...psc498632d.jpg So the SCSI setting was probably lost when the battery fell off. This allows me to boot as far as the Windows 2000 Server splash screen: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps5bd0f4cc.jpg, Followed by a "Inaccessible Boot Device" blue screen which I can't get past: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps9b47479a.jpg (The blue screen tells me to run CHKDSK /F, but I don't know how to do that). You would need to slave the SCSI drive to another computer. **** I briefly plugged one of my SCSI controllers into my present and very flaky ITX system, but took it out before booting up. IT started doing weird/er things after that. Like prompting me to correct CPU settings in BIOS. (And something else I can't remember off hand). There is no way any kind of data can be exchanged between a SCSI card and a motherboard when the machine plugged in but not turned on, correct? *** Either way, I just picked up a DELL 3000 someone threw out with the hopes of getting that going and using it instead of my extremely flaky ITX system to edit the registry on the SCSI drive, provided the onscreen instructions will be straight forward on how to do that. (But the DELL 3000 has it’s own issues I may have to start a thread about). I assume that I'd only have to do this on the main "C" drive in the DELL 2600 as opposed to all four drives, correct? If I can get through that I assume that all I'd need to do then is reinstall the drive into the DELL 2600 and then add the SCSI driver. Either that, or boot your WinXP installer CD to the recovery console, and see if the CHKDSK works in there. You may need to press F6 and offer a driver for the SCSI controller. I've never done that here, as usually I'm working with IDE drives on the chipset. So look at the ID of the chip or card controlling your SCSI drive, and locate a driver for it for WinXP (if using the WinXP disc for the recovery console). *** I downloaded some drivers for the SCSI card in the DELL 2600 as well as a spare SCSI card I have just in case. Either way I'm sure it'll be trial and error getting the driver installed. Is this typically done via CD or floppy drive, or do I have a USB option? -edit- Now look at the "Hard-Disk Drive Sequence" option that rarely comes up: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...psc0f0d585.jpg IBA GE Slot 8388 appears to be a LAN card boot option. You would think that would appear regularly, unless there is not sufficient low memory for the INT 0x13 support for LAN boot to load. Depending on how many SCSI controllers are present, other boot ROMs might not get to load, making the boot order listing "flaky" in behavior. *** There is a single SCSI card. Or are you referring to something embedded? I wouldn't think that low memory would be any kind of issue in this system. -edit- (The other three hard drives don't show up in BIOS at all, but during the boot-up sequence it show as each is spun up). Could be staggered spin. For SCSI, there can be jumper blocks or dip switches that enable staggered spin. Staggered spin is used to reduce the strain on the power supply. One disk at a time, takes turns drawing the 2-3 amp spinup current. It reduces the peak current the power supply must support. You could defeat the staggered spin, if you wanted the drives to spin up in unison. If the power supply has a reasonably hefty 5V and 12V current rating, it probably wouldn't be a big deal to spin them all at once. I spin up five drives regularly here, on a 460W power supply, without staggered spin or anything of that nature. *** Well, since as I mentioned they are each spun up one after another I assume that is the "staggered" spin you are referring to. I tried every combination I could think of in "PCI IRQ Assignment": http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps24dd15fd.jpg to no avail. And in "PCI-X Slot Information" only slot 6 is occupied, which is the SCSI card. http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps62a0b031.jpg It's been a long time since I looked at that stuff. I don't know if I can help you with IRQ assignments. I seem to remember needing to do something for Windows 98 with a sound card or something. For modern OSes, you have "PNP OS" [yes or no] setting, with [no] being normal for modern OSes. The BIOS then does the resource assignment. You only need to move IRQ numbers, if something isn't working right. The defaults would normally be good enough I would think. *** Well, since I tried every possible combination I assume that the IRQ couldn't be the problem. I don't think "Console Redirection" is important: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps3b4f486c.jpg. And in "System Security" anything relating a password is off. http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps84160fdc.jpg Some servers, you install a separate card in a special slot on the motherboard, and that card allows remotely administering the computer. That could be what the console redirection is about. That allows a large number of servers to be administered from a central location, hopefully without needing to enter the server room. And having your passwords cleared, is a relief. *** Yes, but I'm in a more difficult situation. -edit- Well, look for a WinXP driver for the SCSI controller you're currently using. Since you also have an "embedded controller", the part number on that would be another option. Or, use a Promise Ultra133 TX2, an IDE driver, the Promise driver, a floppy diskette, and use the F6 method to install a driver via floppy for that. *** This is the driver page I found for the two SCSI cards I have: DELL 2600: http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/support...160/asc-39160/ Spa http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/speed/s...s10rc1_exe.htm *** Here’s another page for the SCSI in the DELL 2600: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/...driverid=5N7Y0 -edit- A second CPU isn't going to materially affect your current problems. And is just a waste of electricity and time :-) *** I was just looking ahead to some graphically intensive things I want to do. So the only thing I'd be concerned about, is whether that particular motherboard needs a terminator in the second CPU socket when it's empty or not. *** Obviously not. (Since I was able to get to the password screen before the CMOS battery came off). http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps49f8849a.jpg Also would there be any advantages to adding two more 1GB memory chips to bring the total to 6GB? You've got enough RAM for the moment. You can dream about this other stuff, when the box is running smoothly again. *** Just thinking about the ram disks I'll be experimenting with. :-) -edit- So you were very close to booting :-) Now the trick will be, tracing down which irritating SCSI problem could be causing it. "INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE Message After Changing a SCSI Adapter Resource" http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302098 "How to troubleshoot 'Stop error code 0x0000007B (INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE)' error messages in Windows 2000" http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822052 "Advanced troubleshooting for 'Stop error code 0x0000007B (INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE)' errors in Windows XP" [ WinXP being similar enough to Win2K for debug purposes ] http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;324103 But what are the odds of someone leaving it in need of a CHKDSK run ? The first procedure is encouraging (effectively resetting a registry key used to keep track of what booted on the SCSI chain), but it's pretty stupid in my opinion, when the ARC resource in boot.ini exists to do something like that. To use the info in the first article, you'd need a working computer, plug a SCSI controller into the machine, then use regedit (or equivalent) to edit the registry hive on the SCSI disk drive and delete the entries. All these things are fixable. If you have a well equipped lab, that is. I have some SCSI controllers here, and I could kludge something together here to be able to read a drive like that from my current PC. Then run CHKDSK, make a backup or whatever. Paul *** I only wish this was as easy as starting from scratch and reformatting the main drive, installing Windows XP, and then adding needed drivers. Thanks. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York. |
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Using a DELL 2600 PowerEdge as a Desktop PC
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You would need to slave the SCSI drive to another computer. **** I briefly plugged one of my SCSI controllers into my present and very flaky ITX system, but took it out before booting up. IT started doing weird/er things after that. Like prompting me to correct CPU settings in BIOS. (And something else I can't remember off hand). There is no way any kind of data can be exchanged between a SCSI card and a motherboard when the machine plugged in but not turned on, correct? You would hope that slot keying would have prevented a voltage problem with the card types. Desktops typically run the PCI slot off 5V, whereas 64 bit (long slot) PCI can use 3.3V for power. While there are some Adaptec dual power SCSI cards (universal, can run at either voltage), some of the others are 3.3V only. The slot key is supposed to prevent illegal card combinations. The mini-ITX should have a "key" or bump in the slot, that prevents card insertion of the wrong types. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PCI_Keying.png You have to be fairly careful when mixing cards between servers and desktops, and I would not have even attempted an insertion. My SCSI cards here a 1) Low performance. 40MB/sec or 80MB/sec. No 160MB/sec or 320MB/sec cards, because the slot type on the edge of the card can't do more than about 110MB/sec on the card types I use. 2) PCI 32 bit (short slot) 33MHz (desktop clock speed) cards. My cards won't fit in a server (with the exception of the lone 32/33 slot some of them have). While I do have a minimal collection of SCSI cables, I can't claim to be able to "slave up any SCSI drive on demand". Back in the day, I was paying $50 to $100 for some kinds of SCSI cables, which is a deterrent to going crazy with the stuff. I have a couple teflon ribbons, and some external cabling for two SCSI enclosures I've got. Plus a collection of cables for connecting my SCSI scanner to various hardware (PC or Mac). The scanner was async SCSI, and transferred at 1 to 2MB/sec. *** Either way, I just picked up a DELL 3000 someone threw out with the hopes of getting that going and using it instead of my extremely flaky ITX system to edit the registry on the SCSI drive, provided the onscreen instructions will be straight forward on how to do that. (But the DELL 3000 has it’s own issues I may have to start a thread about). I assume that I'd only have to do this on the main "C" drive in the DELL 2600 as opposed to all four drives, correct? If I can get through that I assume that all I'd need to do then is reinstall the drive into the DELL 2600 and then add the SCSI driver. I've lost track of why we're editing the registry :-) The Registry is only on the C: partition, on the boot drive. The last thing I remember, is an inaccessible boot volume. We assume the thing used to work, meaning the Win2K had a driver for SCSI in it, and it was just a matter of programming the BIOS correctly, same modes as before, so the Win2K could boot with the drivers it's got. It's doubtful the person would have run it (somehow), with not all the drives accessible. Some of these systems can have a SCSI chain on the motherboard, which is the "embedded" interface. For example, my first PC compatible desktop had SCSI (P2B-S), and it had its own SCSI chip soldered to the motherboard. You can then add SCSI cards to PC slots, if you want to build additional SCSI chains. When you first got the machine, I presume the cabling connected the intended controller card (driver included), to the Windows boot drive. It wouldn't make a lot of sense, if the machine was just pulled out of service and sold, to be fouling up the configuration from a hardware perspective. Usually if a seller is going to be doing that, they "gut" the hardware and remove anything of interest. Meaning, there wouldn't have even been a SCSI PCI-X card in it. Your machine appears to have shipped to you, ready to go, which is why I'm assuming what it needs is appropriate BIOS settings. The CHKDSK idea, was to try to make sure the partitions are still OK. Either that, or boot your WinXP installer CD to the recovery console, and see if the CHKDSK works in there. You may need to press F6 and offer a driver for the SCSI controller. I've never done that here, as usually I'm working with IDE drives on the chipset. So look at the ID of the chip or card controlling your SCSI drive, and locate a driver for it for WinXP (if using the WinXP disc for the recovery console). *** I downloaded some drivers for the SCSI card in the DELL 2600 as well as a spare SCSI card I have just in case. Either way I'm sure it'll be trial and error getting the driver installed. Is this typically done via CD or floppy drive, or do I have a USB option? On WinXP, you prepare a driver that includes a TXTSETUP.OEM file plus driver folders, on a floppy. Then, press F6 during the installation, and WinXP will attempt to access the floppy. The second alternative, is to slipstream the drivers (TXTSETUP.OEM and folders), into a new WinXP installer CD. Then you don't have to press F6, and the installation is as simple as installing to a desktop IDE ribbon cable drive. I would do the slipstream myself. That's for cases where modern machines no longer have a floppy connector, and you can't buy any USB floppy drives. It's just easier to make a custom installer CD. (Second button labeled "Integrate drivers"...) http://www.nliteos.com/guide/part1.html Now look at the "Hard-Disk Drive Sequence" option that rarely comes up: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...psc0f0d585.jpg IBA GE Slot 8388 appears to be a LAN card boot option. You would think that would appear regularly, unless there is not sufficient low memory for the INT 0x13 support for LAN boot to load. Depending on how many SCSI controllers are present, other boot ROMs might not get to load, making the boot order listing "flaky" in behavior. *** There is a single SCSI card. Or are you referring to something embedded? I wouldn't think that low memory would be any kind of issue in this system. You would look on the motherboard surface, for a SCSI connector. I think my P2B-S had a ribbon cable connector for plugging in a teflon ribbon cable. It would be a different size than an IDE cable on a desktop. Just going from memory, SCSI was 50 pin or 68 pin. So a SCSI motherboard connector would be a bigger one. My reference to "low memory" is this. When PCs came out, they lived in a "640KB world". The BIOS still lives in that world, for whatever the first operating mode of the CPU is. The code switches modes at some point, and after that, all memory becomes available. Of the 640K, BIOS drivers for plugin cards fit in a subsection of that memory, perhaps 128KB on a desktop (256KB on a server). If a computer runs out of that tiny, fixed allocation of memory, as defined by the architecture, then the last card(s) cannot load BIOS drivers, and then the card is not a boot candidate. The code that is loading, is Extended INT 0x13 disk read code, coming from the BIOS chip soldered to the disk controller card. Your SCSI card should have a chip with such code in it. If the 128KB low memory region is "full", then the last cards, the BIOS doesn't bother to load their boot code. The result can be some drives not showing up as boot options. A tech will juggle the order of cards in PCI slots, putting the boot card "closer to the processor", and any data drive controlling cards further away from the processor, in an attempt to get the BIOS drivers to load. Once the OS is loaded, there is plenty of memory, drivers load for everything, and all disks are accessible. It's just a short time in the BIOS, where the BIOS can't boot from stuff where it can't load the INT 0x13 BIOS driver for it. I'm not suggesting you start moving cards around, because I seriously doubt you're running out of low memory. That kind of thing happens when users have three or four disk controller cards plugged into the PCI slots. You have a minimal hardware configuration. There should be enough "low memory". (The other three hard drives don't show up in BIOS at all, but during the boot-up sequence it show as each is spun up). Could be staggered spin. For SCSI, there can be jumper blocks or dip switches that enable staggered spin. Staggered spin is used to reduce the strain on the power supply. One disk at a time, takes turns drawing the 2-3 amp spinup current. It reduces the peak current the power supply must support. You could defeat the staggered spin, if you wanted the drives to spin up in unison. If the power supply has a reasonably hefty 5V and 12V current rating, it probably wouldn't be a big deal to spin them all at once. I spin up five drives regularly here, on a 460W power supply, without staggered spin or anything of that nature. *** Well, since as I mentioned they are each spun up one after another I assume that is the "staggered" spin you are referring to. It's possible. SCSI drives can have jumper blocks, as well as a set of DIP switches, and back when I was using SCSI, it was always a challenge to get a doc with the details. I wouldn't change anything just yet. You could turn off staggered spin, but there can be other reasons the drives don't show. OK, so I mentioned the SCSI controller card has a BIOS chip on it. It has a driver the BIOS uses to do read operations on the card. But that BIOS chip also supports a BIOS setup screen. When you press the appropriate control key sequence early enough in BIOS post, the SCSI card code loads and a setup screen for the SCSI card appears. And in that screen, you can see the other hard drives. You would need to find a manual for the SCSI controller card, to figure out what key combination to press. It might be "control-S" for example. Cards can use different key sequences (like control-I for Intel RAID), and they use different keys so a user can access the card of their choice. You can have multiple cards with private collections of hard drives, so a few different letters can be "on the go". OK, on page 24 of this 39160 manual, it says to press control-A. Do that early in POST, and the BIOS screen for the SCSI card should show up. I can't tell you what will show up there, but you might see evidence of the staggered drives in there. So this is something new for you to work on. Blame me for forgetting this :-) http://download.adaptec.com/pdfs/use..._reference.pdf I tried every combination I could think of in "PCI IRQ Assignment": *** Well, since I tried every possible combination I assume that the IRQ couldn't be the problem. And having your passwords cleared, is a relief. *** Yes, but I'm in a more difficult situation. -edit- Well, look for a WinXP driver for the SCSI controller you're currently using. Since you also have an "embedded controller", the part number on that would be another option. Or, use a Promise Ultra133 TX2, an IDE driver, the Promise driver, a floppy diskette, and use the F6 method to install a driver via floppy for that. *** This is the driver page I found for the two SCSI cards I have: DELL 2600: http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/support...160/asc-39160/ Spa http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/speed/s...s10rc1_exe.htm *** Here’s another page for the SCSI in the DELL 2600: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/...driverid=5N7Y0 If I download the Dell file in your example... http://downloads.dell.com/scsi-non-raid/R155692.EXE and open it in 7ZIP, I can see that is a TXTSETUP.OEM style driver. You copy the seven files to a floppy, if installing WinXP. Or, you offer the seven files to NLite, when "integrating drivers". If you make a custom installer CD using that SCSI driver, then there would be no need to press F6, or use a floppy. *** I only wish this was as easy as starting from scratch and reformatting the main drive, installing Windows XP, and then adding needed drivers. Thanks. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York. I think "easy", isn't quite the right word for this project. Working with servers, is a different beast. I learned a bit about some server stuff, by reading threads over on 2cpu.com forums. I never posted over there, but did read various threads from people who run servers (dual CPU systems) in their home. I would be hard-pressed to get your system up and running. And trying to guess what controls to adjust in the BIOS, when I can't get my hands on the machine, makes it doubly difficult to suggest what to do. Paul |
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Using a DELL 2600 PowerEdge as a Desktop PC
Was given 2 (1-18xx, 1-26xx) as part of a lot of used stuff and visited most of the issues noted here. Ended up stripping usable stuff and taking the remains to a recycling place. |
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Using a DELL 2600 PowerEdge as a Desktop PC
On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 1:23:29 AM UTC-5, Paul wrote:
You have to be fairly careful when mixing cards between servers and desktops, and I would not have even attempted an insertion. *** I didn't. The Ultra2 LVD/SE SCSI card I used was from my first pc about 15 years ago, which was a SCSI desktop. The SCSI card in the DELL 2600 is an Adaptec 39160 that I've not taken out. (Yet). But I assume that this card is only for the tape drive, since that is the only hardware the card is cabled to. I've lost track of why we're editing the registry :-) *** To re-cap. Thanks to the CMOS battery holder falling off I lost the settings and as a result I can only get as far as the "Inaccessible Boot Device" blue screen which I can't get past: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps9b47479a.jpg (I have to keep switching to the SCSI setting in BIOS "Integrated Devices" on every boot-up just to get that far). The Registry is only on the C: partition, on the boot drive. The last thing I remember, is an inaccessible boot volume. We assume the thing used to work, meaning the Win2K had a driver for SCSI in it, and it was just a matter of programming the BIOS correctly, same modes as before, so the Win2K could boot with the drivers it's got. It's doubtful the person would have run it (somehow), with not all the drives accessible. *** There are five SCSI drives total leaving a single empty bay. They can all be easily pulled out of their bays. Nevertheless, the system and all drives where working when I first picked it up. Some of these systems can have a SCSI chain on the motherboard, which is the "embedded" interface. For example, my first PC compatible desktop had SCSI (P2B-S), and it had its own SCSI chip soldered to the motherboard. You can then add SCSI cards to PC slots, if you want to build additional SCSI chains. *** I think I saw "SCSI" silk-screened somewhere on the motherboard somewhere. I do know that there is a 128mb RAID DIMM in a single dedicated socket. Nevertheless, there is the "SCSI backplane daughtercard with a Qlogic controller”. ( http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...pse60859d4.jpg ). Si I assume that SCSI is embedded on this motherboard. When you first got the machine, I presume the cabling connected the intended controller card (driver included), to the Windows boot drive. It wouldn't make a lot of sense, if the machine was just pulled out of service and sold, to be fouling up the configuration from a hardware perspective. Usually if a seller is going to be doing that, they "gut" the hardware and remove anything of interest. Meaning, there wouldn't have even been a SCSI PCI-X card in it. Your machine appears to have shipped to you, ready to go, which is why I'm assuming what it needs is appropriate BIOS settings. *** Before the battery holder broke of I could only get as far as the Windows 2000 Server password screen, which is why I was attempting to remove the battery in the first place. And there was no SCSI cabling connected to any of the five SCSI drives from the SCSI card installed. The CHKDSK idea, was to try to make sure the partitions are still OK. *** I doubt that is an issue. *** I downloaded some drivers for the SCSI card in the DELL 2600 as well as a spare SCSI card I have just in case. Either way I'm sure it'll be trial and error getting the driver installed. Is this typically done via CD or floppy drive, or do I have a USB option? On WinXP, you prepare a driver that includes a TXTSETUP.OEM file plus driver folders, on a floppy. Then, press F6 during the installation, and WinXP will attempt to access the floppy. *** I'm not sure what you mean by "plus driver folders", but shouldn't I just try to get this working with the already installed Windows 2000 Server? The second alternative, is to slipstream the drivers (TXTSETUP.OEM and folders), into a new WinXP installer CD. Then you don't have to press F6, and the installation is as simple as installing to a desktop IDE ribbon cable drive. I would do the slipstream myself. That's for cases where modern machines no longer have a floppy connector, and you can't buy any USB floppy drives. It's just easier to make a custom installer CD. *** Ok, it has a floppy drive, so I'll go that route. (I can't burn a CD anyway). But again the machine presently has Windows Server 2000 installed. (I want to eventually erase that and install Windows XP.). *** And where do I get the TXTSETUP.OEM file? And once I put it on a floppy disk, do I press F6 during boot up with Win 2000 still installed or is this something that is done when I am installing Win XP? (Or does all this have to be done by slaving the SCSI boot drive to another system when I attempt to edit the drive's registry? (Provided I can get another system up and running correctly to allow this). (Second button labeled "Integrate drivers"...) http://www.nliteos.com/guide/part1.html Now look at the "Hard-Disk Drive Sequence" option that rarely comes up: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...psc0f0d585.jpg IBA GE Slot 8388 appears to be a LAN card boot option. You would think that would appear regularly, unless there is not sufficient low memory for the INT 0x13 support for LAN boot to load. Depending on how many SCSI controllers are present, other boot ROMs might not get to load, making the boot order listing "flaky" in behavior. *** There is a single SCSI card. Or are you referring to something embedded? I wouldn't think that low memory would be any kind of issue in this system. You would look on the motherboard surface, for a SCSI connector. I think my P2B-S had a ribbon cable connector for plugging in a teflon ribbon cable. It would be a different size than an IDE cable on a desktop. Just going from memory, SCSI was 50 pin or 68 pin. So a SCSI motherboard connector would be a bigger one. *** Outside of all but one PCI slot two memory slots and the VRM connector (for the chip for a 2nd processor), the only slot left unoccupied is something that says "ERA card". *** The only ribbon cables are that from the SCSI card that is located in the only occupied PCI slot. It is connected to the Tape drive. And there is a 60(?) pin cable that goes from the motherboard to the CD/Floppy drive assembly. (The other three hard drives don't show up in BIOS at all, but during the boot-up sequence it show as each is spun up). Could be staggered spin. For SCSI, there can be jumper blocks or dip switches that enable staggered spin. Staggered spin is used to reduce the strain on the power supply. One disk at a time, takes turns drawing the 2-3 amp spinup current. It reduces the peak current the power supply must support. You could defeat the staggered spin, if you wanted the drives to spin up in unison. If the power supply has a reasonably hefty 5V and 12V current rating, it probably wouldn't be a big deal to spin them all at once. I spin up five drives regularly here, on a 460W power supply, without staggered spin or anything of that nature. *** Well, since as I mentioned they are each spun up one after another I assume that is the "staggered" spin you are referring to. It's possible. SCSI drives can have jumper blocks, as well as a set of DIP switches, and back when I was using SCSI, it was always a challenge to get a doc with the details. I wouldn't change anything just yet. You could turn off staggered spin, but there can be other reasons the drives don't show. *** I guess the best thing to do is to first concentrate on getting to the desktop. (With either 2000 or XP installed on the boot drive). And then I'll get to the issue of whether or not the other drives are shown in BIOS. (But again, when booting I watch as each of the five SCSI drives spin up independently. The first is the Seagate as shown he http://i290.photobucket..com/albums/...ps068ebb4c.jpg) OK, on page 24 of this 39160 manual, it says to press control-A. Do that early in POST, and the BIOS screen for the SCSI card should show up. I can't tell you what will show up there, but you might see evidence of the staggered drives in there. So this is something new for you to work on. Blame me for forgetting this :-) http://download.adaptec.com/pdfs/use..._reference.pdf *** I did press CTRL+A and got the following screen: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...pseb1a9d95.jpg *** Of the two options I clicked the one that had the number "68" under "Dev/Func" and got this screen: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps3dd59597.jpg *** I clicked on the highlighted "Device Properties" and got the following: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps32577e07.jpg *** But if I instead clicked on the earlier option where the number "69" was located under "Dev/Func": http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...psc05561c3.jpg *** And then clicked "Device Properties" I get what looks like three IBM drive instead of my one IBM and two Hitachi drives: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps91fdb9c0.jpg *** This is the driver page I found for the two SCSI cards I have: DELL 2600: http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/support...160/asc-39160/ Spa http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/speed/s...s10rc1_exe.htm *** Here’s another page for the SCSI in the DELL 2600: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/...driverid=5N7Y0 If I download the Dell file in your example... http://downloads.dell.com/scsi-non-raid/R155692.EXE and open it in 7ZIP, I can see that is a TXTSETUP.OEM style driver. You copy the seven files to a floppy, if installing WinXP. Or, you offer the seven files to NLite, when "integrating drivers". If you make a custom installer CD using that SCSI driver, then there would be no need to press F6, or use a floppy. *** I don't know what NLite is or "what you mean by ""integrating drivers", but to try and simplify things, I need something called “TXTSETUP.OEM”.. Do I need to find the driver for the boot drive? Thanks. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York. |
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Using a DELL 2600 PowerEdge as a Desktop PC
wrote:
"Inaccessible Boot Device" http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps9b47479a.jpg I don't think this article is exhaustive, but it mentions a few reasons for that error (0x7B) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324103 A blog page, mentioned a user cloning C:, then attempting to boot from the clone, and being met with that error. And the suggestion there, was effectively to review boot.ini and see if it was correct for the situation or not. The ARC path may need to be edited. What I can't come up with a recipe for, is how you go about analyzing a computer, to figure out the boot process it *used* to use. If your machine has more than one OS loaded, then you have to watch for that as an issue. While a particular SCSI BIOS boot choice may look like it's booting the official boot volume, it might be picking up a boot off a different disk. And perhaps the ARC for that different disk, isn't set up right. If I was working on the machine, I'd need some OS to have a look around, and understand what is stored on the disks. To see if that SCSI Boot order needs to be changed. I don't even know where the SCSI BIOS stores the boot choice, like in CMOS RAM or somewhere else. Linux is an example of an OS that might work. It would also allow you to examine the files on the partition, and get some idea whether the files are accessible. I presume with SCSI, more than one field in the ARC in the boot.ini, is engaged. If you have more than one SCSI chain, then there could be multiple fields that make a difference when editing the boot.ini. (The four numbers in the disk path.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTLDR#boot.ini In your SCSI pictures, it looks like there are two chains, and the boot screen is likely the critical one in terms of selecting one to boot from. If there is only one OS on there, the boot order should help find it. Have you ever booted that machine from a CD ? Does that work ? Maybe a Linux LiveCD would work. The latest Ubuntu probably wouldn't be any fun. But 11.04, I booted it in a VM and it still has the menus that make it easier to use. http://old-releases.ubuntu.com/releases/ Doing System : Administration : Gparted, shows the partitions on the disks. Without resorting to command line stuff from the Terminal. To work on the machine from a Windows CD Recovery Console, you'd need a driver for SCSI. The CDs do have some stuff and night pick up your SCSI chains. The same is true of Linux, the Livecd should have quite a few drivers. Otherwise it would be pretty useless as a livecd. The problem with the Recovery Console on a Windows install CD, is it's going to ask for the Administrator password when "logging in" to the OS partition. Otherwise, if you could get there, a thing to repair boot.ini is bootcfg /rebuild As you can see here, that option doesn't always work, which is why at this point I'd still be surveying the machine for info I could use, as well as editing boot.ini by hand. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...c-68b599b31bf5 It must have a driver for the disk. Which makes it harder to understand the 0x7B error. The partitions probably aren't corrupted. And my Linux LiveCD would allow me to have a look around. Here's another reference: http://www.dell.com/support/troubles...ng=EN#Issu e5 "If you have inadvertently erased or tinkered with the boot.ini file, you may receive stop code 0x7B during the startup process. Launch the recovery console from the Windows installation disc and run BOOTCFG /REBUILD" HTH, Paul |
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Using a DELL 2600 PowerEdge as a Desktop PC
Now that I've recovered from DELL burnout I'm back to this system. Things were becoming confusing it seemed on both sides, so I condensed everything to the important points.
The computer booted as far as the Windows Server 2000 password screen. When I attempted to remove the CMOS battery the battery holder came off the motherboard. As a result I got "No Boot Device" when I attempted to boot up because my settings were cleared. Pressing the battery back down during boot-up gave me "Invalid Configuration". So the determination was that I now need SCSI drivers for the SCSI card. (But what about the SCSI hard drives?). The single Adaptec SCSI 39160 SCSI card in the only occupied slot (#6) has a single (70 pin?) ribbon cable connecting it to the DAT72 Tape Drive. It is NOT connected to anything else. The DELL PowerEdge Server apparently has SCSI embedded because it has a SCSI backplane daughter-card with Qlogic controller and 5 of the 6 bays have SCSI hard drives.(The manual states that the DELL has an integrated, dual-channel Ultra320 SCSI host adaptor). And there is a single 60 pin ribbon running from the motherboard to the TEAC CD-224E (CD/Floppy combo). I have the option of adding 2Gb more memory to the present 4Gb installed, and adding a second processor (along with VRM chip). There is a 128Mb RAID DIMM, and a slot for and "ERA card". But I can't seem to find a model number for the motherboard: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps58be62de.jpg The PCI slots are as follows: Two 64-bit/133MHz PCI-X Four 64-bit/100MHz PCI-X One 32-bit/33MHz PCI The hardware is as follows: * Adaptec 39160 SCSI Card * TEAC - CD-224E CD/Floppy * DAT72 - CD72LWH Tape Drive * Seagate Cheetah: ST336607LC (Boot Drive) * Fujitsu Limited: MAW3073NC * Hitachi Ultrastar: IC35L073UCDY10-0 * Hitachi Ultrastar: IC35L073UCDY10-0 * IBM Total Storage: IC35L073UCDY10-0 When booting up the screen will show each drive booting up consecutively and not all at the same time. (But three of those five hard drives don't show up in BIOS at all). ?!? Anyway, I now have to go into BIOS and under "Integrated Devices" chang "Embedded RAID Controller" from "Off" to "SCSI". (The "RAID" option causes a warning that data will be lost). http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...psc498632d.jpg This allows me to boot as far as the Windows 2000 Server splash screen: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps5bd0f4cc.jpg, Followed by a "Inaccessible Boot Device" blue screen which I can't get past: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps9b47479a.jpg (The blue screen tells me to run CHKDSK /F, but I'm not worried about that). I'm going to have to use the floppy drive and F6 to install whatever drivers I need to. Now, outside of needing drivers for the Adaptec SCSI card, since I want to discard the Windows Server 2000 install on the boot drive and install Windows XP instead, do I need an Windows XP SCSI driver for just the "C" drive or all hard drives? Btw. I picked up these for when I attempt to add an IDE drive to the final bay: www.ebay.com/itm/261471967525 (Of course SATA is not an option with this). Thanks. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York. |
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Using a DELL 2600 PowerEdge as a Desktop PC
On Wednesday, May 14, 2014 11:13:44 PM UTC-4, Paul wrote:
wrote: Now that I've recovered from DELL burnout I'm back to this system. Things were becoming confusing it seemed on both sides, so I condensed everything to the important points. The computer booted as far as the Windows Server 2000 password screen. When I attempted to remove the CMOS battery the battery holder came off the motherboard. As a result I got "No Boot Device" when I attempted to boot up because my settings were cleared. Pressing the battery back down during boot-up gave me "Invalid Configuration". So the determination was that I now need SCSI drivers for the SCSI card. (But what about the SCSI hard drives?). The single Adaptec SCSI 39160 SCSI card in the only occupied slot (#6) has a single (70 pin?) ribbon cable connecting it to the DAT72 Tape Drive. It is NOT connected to anything else. The DELL PowerEdge Server apparently has SCSI embedded because it has a SCSI backplane daughter-card with Qlogic controller and 5 of the 6 bays have SCSI hard drives.(The manual states that the DELL has an integrated, dual-channel Ultra320 SCSI host adaptor). And there is a single 60 pin ribbon running from the motherboard to the TEAC CD-224E (CD/Floppy combo). I have the option of adding 2Gb more memory to the present 4Gb installed, and adding a second processor (along with VRM chip). There is a 128Mb RAID DIMM, and a slot for and "ERA card". But I can't seem to find a model number for the motherboard: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps58be62de.jpg The PCI slots are as follows: Two 64-bit/133MHz PCI-X Four 64-bit/100MHz PCI-X One 32-bit/33MHz PCI The hardware is as follows: * Adaptec 39160 SCSI Card * TEAC - CD-224E CD/Floppy * DAT72 - CD72LWH Tape Drive * Seagate Cheetah: ST336607LC (Boot Drive) * Fujitsu Limited: MAW3073NC * Hitachi Ultrastar: IC35L073UCDY10-0 * Hitachi Ultrastar: IC35L073UCDY10-0 * IBM Total Storage: IC35L073UCDY10-0 When booting up the screen will show each drive booting up consecutively and not all at the same time. (But three of those five hard drives don't show up in BIOS at all). ?!? Anyway, I now have to go into BIOS and under "Integrated Devices" chang "Embedded RAID Controller" from "Off" to "SCSI". (The "RAID" option causes a warning that data will be lost). http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...psc498632d.jpg This allows me to boot as far as the Windows 2000 Server splash screen: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps5bd0f4cc.jpg, Followed by a "Inaccessible Boot Device" blue screen which I can't get past: http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps9b47479a.jpg (The blue screen tells me to run CHKDSK /F, but I'm not worried about that). I'm going to have to use the floppy drive and F6 to install whatever drivers I need to. Now, outside of needing drivers for the Adaptec SCSI card, since I want to discard the Windows Server 2000 install on the boot drive and install Windows XP instead, do I need an Windows XP SCSI driver for just the "C" drive or all hard drives? Btw. I picked up these for when I attempt to add an IDE drive to the final bay: www.ebay.com/itm/261471967525 (Of course SATA is not an option with this). Thanks. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York. As discussed before, there are a couple possibilities. 1) The machine has all the drivers it needs. But, the disk addressing in boot.ini is screwed up (ARC path). You either need to use repair console, and use whatever rebuilds a boot.ini for you. Or, you open the boot.ini file and edit it by hand. Possible tools: a) Win2K Server installer CD - the installer CD should give you a recovery console (MSDOS prompt) to work from. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/317521 bootcfg /rebuild I've never used Win2K Server, so can't really help much more than that. b) Boot with a Windows 7 or Windows 8 DVD, which also have recovery console. The difference here, is the "diskpart" utility might be able to enumerate the drives in the order the hardware sees them in now. That would give a hint if you wanted to correct the boot.ini by hand. c) A Linux LiveCD should be able to probe all the storage busses as well. But I don't know if the naming convention they use, would absolutely nail the Windows order. If the machine doesn't have the drivers, you look to see if the Southbridge IDE connector is available. The OS may be able to boot from that. It would mean transferring the disk contents with DD via Linux LiveCD, to a blank IDE drive connected to the ribbon cable. Other possibilities would be a Macrium backup software boot CD, or an Acronis backup boot CD, and do the disk to disk transfer with tools like that (instead of using Linux Disk Dump). I think the bootcfg /rebuild is marginally easier. The Linux LiveCD should also allow you to examine all the FAT32 and NTFS partitions, so you can be assured everything you need is still there. ******* When working with a boot.ini, you want to keep a backup copy. So if someone wants to know later "what was the file like originally", you have a copy. C: ren boot.ini boot.ini.bak bootcfg /rebuild Paul There is no IDE connector on the motherboard. But I'm trying to figure out why would losing the battery erase the drivers? Is that normal? And if they are erased I can only assume that all drives, the SCSI card, and the motherboard would need new ones. What I don't understand is that this machine was originally put together somehow. Why a server can't be made to work using just installation disks with an operating system and necessary drivers is beyond me. You seem to be saying that Win2K server, Win 7, Win 8, or possibly a Linux Live CD are my only options. I have none of those disks and I'm not a computer expert, so trying to figure out all of the steps in using those is not an option for me. Though you haven't come right out and said it you not mentioning XP seems to indicate that XP is not an option for me. It looks as though this would have to go in the trash like the several other problem computers I just threw out. Maybe I can just salvage the drives for another SCSI system since I have a couple now that I can plug SCSI cards into, and I assume all I'd need to do is find drivers for the SCSI card and any SCSI drive. (And maybe the latest motherboard drivers). Thanks. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York. |
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Using a DELL 2600 PowerEdge as a Desktop PC
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