Compaq Servers - 101

It appears that more and more people are becoming administrators Compaq Servers and don't have all the tools and knowledge of the hardware or how to care for it. This document is created to address just that need. This is part of a 3 part series: Compaq 101 (firmware upgrades, OS installation), NVRAM (how to get rid of nvram corruption), and SCU_ISA (What to do with ISA boards in the SCU and why). The last document, SCU_ISA, hasn't been written yet, but I believe it is needed, so I hope to have it written soon.

How Compaq Server Hardware Works

Firmware:

Compaq Servers have ROM's that are flash upgradable. This means that you can make sure that your hardware is up to date with the latest code. Items that can be flashed are the Hard Drives, the Array Controller, the Tape Drive, and the System Board. Each of these firmware upgrades can be located at http://www.compaq.com/support/files/server.

Hard Drive ROM's:

The hard drive ROM upgrades can be found in the Options Rompaq (If the current Options Rompaq only has diskette #1, you sometimes have to go to the prior version to get the hard drive ROM's.) and is usually on disks 2-5.

Array Controller ROM's:

The Array controller ROM is located on the Options Rompaq and is diskette #1.

Original Smart Array Controller ROM's:

For the Original Smart Controller, you would need to get the older softpaq: SP8050 which is downloadable from Compaq's ftp site at ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq. This is currently the last version of the original Smart Array Controller firmware which is v2.26.

System Board ROM:

You may need to find out which ROM you have before you upgrade it. There is currently little danger of using the wrong ROM upgrade, but it helps to use the right one on the first try. The different ROM for different systems is usually based on the CPU speed of the system. Boot your system to see your ROM version flash on the screen - you are looking for something like "P08 12/30/98" or something like that - it will be one of the first things that pop on the screen after the "Compaq ProLiant."

Tape Drive ROM:

Tape drive ROM's are available in certain Options Rompaq's from http://www.compaq.com/support/files/server. The site should tell you whether the current Options Rompaq has ROM's for tape drives, or point you to the correct SP.

How to use a ROM upgrade:

3 simple rules to using a ROM upgrade.

  1. Don't write protect the diskette
  2. Don't alter the info on the diskette in any way
  3. Cold boot the server (not a warm boot)

How do you create diskettes from Compaq:

There are, in general, two kinds of SoftPaq's from Compaq (In reality, there are more; however, I will only discuss the 2 most popular).

Method #1:

Some SoftPaq's that you download and run will directly prompt for diskettes in the A: drive. Go ahead and feed it diskettes.

Method #2:

Some SoftPaq's that you download and run will first ask to go to the hard drive. Never force the program to send its output to the floppy when it is requesting to be extracted to the hard drive. You can; however, usually direct the extraction to go into a blank temporary directory, which may make life a little easier. Please don't force the program to put the info onto the floppy, you won't be satisfied with the results (it either won't all fit onto the floppy directly, or won't be in a usable form to you). After it extracts to the hard drive, then run the extracted program (usually QRST5.EXE). This program will then prompt for diskettes, go ahead and give it diskettes.

Most SoftPaq's must be run from a Windows or Dos machine. Some SoftPaq's, like Compaq Server Diagnostics, must not be created from Windows NT as the diskette created won't boot properly.

How to use the Compaq ftp site to get the Server SP files you need:

The starting point is http://www.compaq.com/support/files/server. From here you can get current versions. If you need to go backwards, you may be able to find the prior version here as well. If you need a detailed readme on a particular SP#, then go directly to the ftp site (ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq) then go to the directory containing the SP you need (each directory holds 500 entries and are labeled, please go to the correct directory.). Next to each SP file, you will also see a .txt file which holds the detailed readme. If you have trouble finding a particular SP# on the ftp site, you could try bringing up the directory that contains the file, use your browsers "find in page" feature, and have the browser find the file on the page. Sometimes the SP's are not in numerical order on the ftp site. If you need more power, then you may need to make use of the "allfiles.txt" file located in ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq. This holds a detailed account of SP's available on the ftp site.

How to find an older softpaq:

Method #1:

Go to http://www.compaq.com/support/files/server, key in your server info, see if it references the older version, if not, then use method #2.

Method #2:

Download the file called allfiles.txt from Compaq's ftp site at ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq. Search this file using wordpad. The best results usually come from looking for SP numbers.

Configuring you Compaq Server:

After you have flashed the firmware on the flashable components such as Hard Drives, Array Controllers, System Boards, and Tape Drives, you will need a way to configure your server.

If you have a recent SmartStart, this would be great. If your OS and OS version is listed in the SmartStart Assisted Install, then that is usually the best route. Off the shelf versions of various OS's will work with SmartStart as long as the version matches. If your OS version or OS is not listed in the SmartStart Assisted Install, then you should use the SmartStart Manual Install. If you don't have a recent SmartStart CD, then you will have to do everything manually.

What happens during SmartStart Assisted Installation:

What happens during a SmartStart Manual Installation:

Configuring a Compaq Server without a SmartStart CD / configuring manually:

Here is basically what has to happen:

 

Changes:

03-23-2000 Updated title from Compaq 101 to Compaq Servers - 101.

02-10-2000 Document created as "compaq101" and released on http://www.cpqlinux.com. Created by Richard Black.

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