Hack a Snap Sever 1000?

[re3dyb0y]

OzDave is doing some java creation instructions, and im trying to use them to create some java stuff..

[INT 20h]

Originally Posted by Terry Kennedy

What you should realize is that the SnapOS-based servers are considered "legacy" products - after all, these date all the way back to Meridian Data (that's 3 owners of the Snap product line ago). Even the 4100 is a 5-year-old+ design at this point.

They were never intended to be field-upgradable. They were targeted at companies who would install it and forget about it. The fact that end users have figured out ways to expand the units and make them do new tricks is a tribute to the flexibility of the original design.

Comparing a 5- (or more) year-old design to a current product isn't really a fair comparison. Likewise, comapring any Adaptec product to an intentionally-open product isn't fair either - they're competing in very different market spaces.

I haven't looked at any of the GuardianOS-based Snap units, so I can't say if they are better performers (though I'd expect they are, simply because they're newer designs). I did look at some of Adaptec's offerings before I built my own servers from scratch, but the minute I saw they required special Adaptec drives (available in a limited number of sizes and at very high prices) I stopped looking.

I've kinda wandered away from the SnapOS units for the time being. I have one of the old Guardian 4400s (still says Quantum on the front) and it does seem to out perform the SnapOS units. My Guardian is running four 120GB drives in a RAID 5 with GuardianOS 3.1 on a half gig of RAM. I have a 4100 (Dell PowerVault 705N) that's running OS 3.7.8xx and also four 120s in a RAID 5. A RAM upgrade would probably help performance a bit but from what I've seen so far, the Guardian 4400 out performs the 4100 by almost 50%. The newer design definitely helps. It also helps that it comes with a dual head gigabit Ethernet adapter. While it's not hooked up to a gigabit network the performance is still nice.

Then again it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. The 4400 runs off of a PIII 1GHz processor, 256-512MB PC100 SDRAM, and has dual gigabit Ethernet capabilities. The 4100 I think (not swearing to this) a PII 233MHz processor, 64-128MB RAM and 100Base-TX Ethernet adapter. There are at least two major shifts in technology between the two and the 4400 is a discontinued product! It's already been replaced by the 4200 and 4500 which have if memory serves a P4 1.4 GHz and 512-1GB of ?DDR? RAM. Again, there's another one or two shifts in technology.

You're also right in that making these older SnapOS units do neat tricks (field upgrades with new and more drives than the original spec) is pretty nice, you can only get them to do so much. Eventually (if it hasn't happened already) the servers on today's market will leave even the modified Snap servers in the dust just because of advances in technology.

I have a feeling (and I might be completely wrong so don't shoot me just yet) that these little departmental SnapOS servers are dying a slow death to faster, larger, cheaper, and possibly more open storage solutions. They're a great idea but are being out paced by technology.
INT 20h

[itsmeagain]

Originally Posted by poogles_uk

One request for newbies. Please do not email me regarding images, as as i have said, i have not got one.



Thats what i did, i will try removing the drive, reformatting it (not on the snap) and start fresh. I have tried reformatting it while its in with no luck. i will try running it after removal of files by itself in the snap server.

meister_sd i cant even get the image to be made, it takes 10 secs, and there is no image. Some detailed instructions would help please.

Thanks to dvscreen for all this info.. Could you do the same for the java one please?

www.icoffice.co.uk
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[re3dyb0y]

Yeah fair enough.

But £200....

[re3dyb0y]

On knoppix 3.6 & 3.4, This will allow read/write access to a NTFS Hard drive. Click on the cog thing, go to knoppix, utilities, then captive ntfs. Follow it through to enable NTFS read write.

This will allow an image to be copied to the hard drive. How do i make an image of my snap server drive using knoppix?

Will this work:
'1. boot up your knoppix cd and login as root user.
2. type "dmesg|grep hd" to find out the drive numbers for your snap drive and windows drive, mine is hdb and hda5 respectively.
3. type "mount -t auto /dev/hda5 /mnt" and press return
4. type "dd if=/dev/hdb of=/mnt/snap.os bs=1024k count=40" and press return and in a few minutes you will get an image (snap.os) of 40meg in your windows drive (root directory). You can adjust the size by altering the count value.'

[itsmeagain]

i would love to down load these file but cant seam to log on

alan

Originally Posted by misterbill

Hello everyone.
Sorry I have not been on the forum for some time but I made a lot of progress that some might be interested in. Especially if you have a unit without a working drive to copy the operating system from.
Anyway I have successfully got my 2200 and 1000 up and running.
I have also been able to upgrade the drives on both.
I was also able to copy just the first 50,000 block (25MB) of each of the drives to a file that can be used to restore the operating system on a blank drive. (I tested it and it works)
I put the files on my FTP site let me know if it is working properly.
ftp://**********
user:****
pwd:****
There is a compressed file that contains both data files. It is snap1000-2200.zip
I will try to detail the method a little more later.
Here is a short summary.
1. Download the snap1000.bin file to a place you can get to using knoppix.
2. Download the knoppix cd.
3. install the drive you want the OS on. I installed it as the master on the Primary IDE port.
4. Insert the knoppix cd and boot from the CD.
5. Open a terminal window
6. Type "sudo su"
7. transfer the snap1000.bin file to the /tmp directory
8. Type "dd if=/tmp/snap1000.bin of=/dev/hda
This just takes a minute and it is done.
9. Now power down and remove the drive and install it in the snap as the only drive.
10. Power on the snap.
11. Let it initialize.
12. Now use assist or whatever method to get to the debug screen.
13. Type "config devices format 10000 /reinit
14. Reboot the server and it should reformat the drive to.
These files are of the 3.4.805 version of the OS so you won't get over 130MB.
However you should then be able to upgrade the OS and reinit the drives again to get the max size.

[Davesworld]

Originally Posted by itsmeagain

i would love to down load these file but cant seam to log on

alan

Actually, if you go to the Adaptec site and not Snap's site, you can download the latest version 4 without the support. It needs windows to unpack but it came with the latest os, java, and windows manager software. http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/sup...ap_Server_4100

[meister_sd]

Well, I haven't been here for a while. But I can backup the tutorials offered here on making your own image. I've done it using the Knoppix CD 3.6 and it's quick. I've also just bought a Snap 1100. I took it apart last night, and it is the same MB as a 2200. A few exeptions are only one IDE and Power cable and this (1100) is a P166 vs the P233 in the 2200. I threw in a second HD, Power Splitter and regular IDE, and it booted and formatted the second drive. It did NOT, however allow me to RAID them. I suspect it's becase it is an 1100 and it "knows" it can't. I read earlier you can "tell" it that it is something else. I'm going to try this as soon as I upgrade the software to the 4.0.860 in the above post. I have a sneaking suspicion that the same OS used for all the models can use the same HD imaged with a generic OS install........

[meister_sd]

Just did another interesting thing. I took my 1100 and went into debug mode. From there I typed:

bios model

and came up with the following:

04/19/2005 10:57:07 Command: bios model

Model Byte currently is:
0 - 2 drive IDE: "Minnie"
==> 1 - 1 drive IDE: "Mortie"
2 - 4 drive IDE: "Laser"
3 - 12 drive IDE: "Clipper"

------------
Command executed without error.



So I went to my 2200 and came up with this:

Command: bios model
Snap 2200 answer:
04/19/2005 10:31:23 Command: bios model

Model Byte currently is:
==> 0 - 2 drive IDE: "Minnie"
1 - 1 drive IDE: "Mortie"
2 - 4 drive IDE: "Laser"
3 - 12 drive IDE: "Clipper"

------------
Command executed without error.



Now, reading a couple of pages back, someone said to try and change the model.
So I typed:
unlock bios
bios model 0 <-- Thats a zero
lock bios
reboot

From there I figured that it would "act" like a 2200. I put in another
HD and after the reboot it formatted the second hard drive. The main
drive is Master and the newly added HD is slave. So now, I figured with
the bios in Model 0, I would be able to see the configuration screen allowing
me to mirror the drives, but it wasn't there. So I went into the debug screen
again and typed: config devices config mirror. I rebooted and, HEY!! I have
a mirrored system, just like my 2200!!!

Just another mile stone!

[re3dyb0y]

Yes, i think that had been figured out before.

But that proves it for some people.

[2kcrewcab]

Well, I should have looked here a few months ago before I took the 30 GB hard drive out of my 1000 to use for something else. I just assumed (and we know what that does) that I would be able to put another HD in and it would reformat itself.

Anyway, now that I've found out the hard way that it doesn't work that way, does anyone have an image they could send me of the 1000 O/S?

I would greatly appreciate it!!!!

Thanks,
Mike W.

[meister_sd]

Check your PM.

[upstech]

Can anyone PM or Email me a link to SNAP OS 4 for the SNAP 1000 and 1100.

[upstech]

I am having problems upgrading a SNAP 1000 to a WD 120GB Drive. I have upgraded several SNAP 1100's with no problem but everytime I use dolly to copy the old drive to the new one and reinstall the new drive the SNAP Server doesn't see any hard drive installed. Any help with this will be appriciated!

[tobionekenobi]

I've recently gone thru an upgrade process on an old Snap 2000. Added 2x WD 200GB drives, of which i could only see 127GB. Upgraded to OSv4 and now i see 190GB, but when the snap tries to format the disk it fails:

File System : Format terminated unsuccessfully Disk 10000
Individual 4/22/2005 9:04:24 AM
W File System : mkfs failed!!! Error = 5 Disk 10000
Individual 4/22/2005 9:04:24 AM
W File System : _mkfs_WriteBlock - Undefined internal error Disk 10000
Individual 4/22/2005 9:04:24 AM
W File System : Cannot Write: Blk 266354816 Disk 10000
Individual 4/22/2005 9:04:24 AM
E Disk Driver : Cannot Write Device 80070000 Block 266354816 Disk FFFFFFFF 4/22/2005 9:04:24 AM

My last ditch effort is to upgrade the BIOS from 1.2.180 to something else. Anyone know where i can get that upgrade from ?

Thanks

[upstech]

What drives have everyone used to upgrade a SNAP 1000? SNAP 1100?
__________________________________________________ _______________
I have upgraded a SNAP 1000 using a Western Digital Caviar 80GB ATA100 Model#WD800BB. (currently having trouble getting this one to see a 120GB HDD)
__________________________________________________ _______________
I have also upgraded a SNAP 1100 using a Maxtor DiamondMax 16 120GB ATA133.

[kozel]

I have a model 1000, HW ver 3.1.1, bios 2.1.363, SW ver 4.0.830 with a WD 120gb WD1200BB cloned using dolly. I tried a WD200 gb and it worked but was limited to 137gb. I also tried a Maxtor 120gb/ata133 5400rpm and could not get it to work at all. I think the ata133 is a hard limititation for the model 1000. Your wd120 should be okay, have you run diags on the drive and checked jumper settings? (obvious questions, I know)

[tobionekenobi]

Anyone got a copy of this file to upgrade my snap2000 to BIOS v2.0.282 ?

thanks

[gernblanston]

Originally Posted by Davesworld

Actually, if you go to the Adaptec site and not Snap's site, you can download the latest version 4 without the support. It needs windows to unpack but it came with the latest os, java, and windows manager software. http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/sup...ap_Server_4100

Does this work if you've got a server running version 3.XX.XXX? Or do you have to pay for the upgrade?

I may try it anyway on a 2200 that has a bad drive.....

Gern

[re3dyb0y]

Very few, if any bios upgrades have been released.... So which file are you refering to? Shouldn't the question be - Has anyone got a bios upgrade file for the snap 2200??

http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/sup...ap_Server_4100

Will work on snap 2000 i believe, its fine on my 2200

[rami]

the answer is probly no because the ide controller on it may not support it. but is it possible to use 8 drives on a 4100 ?

using such a change in the settings?

[cringer]

Greetings All,
I'm in dire straits and would appreciate help from the SNAP community.
I have a SNAP 4000 in a RAID 5 configuration with a FSCK Fatal Error = 15. I have (trust me) run all possible fixes to recover this RAID, but to no avail.
Adaptec tech support has been of no help (NOTE: This not a slam, they just can't fix the problem). Apparently Fatal 15 is a controller issue. Adaptec does not provide replacement motherboards. Further, they cannot or will not check their boneyard (which I'm sure exists in either Milpitas or Denver) for a replacement motherboard that I could beg, borrow, buy, or steal. Before I send these drives to a data recovery company, I'd like to know if anyone has a working motherboard that I can borrow. If the motherboard is truly the issue, I should be able to swap it out with mine, boot the SNAP, and download my files.

Clearly I would not expect to receive this assistance for free. Nor would I expect someone to lend me their motherboard without some insurance on the hardware. Suffice it to say, I am willing to negotiate a reasonable arrangement and work with a safe financial harbor (i.e. PayPal) to provide peace of mind for both parties.

My motherboard is running SNAP OS 4.0.855, Hardware 2.0.1, BIOS 2.0.252. It will be necessary to have an exact match.

Please PM me if you are willing to assist.

Many thanks,

chris

[2kcrewcab]

OK...another question.....

I used the Knoppix method to get the sbin1000.bin loaded on a 30 GB hard drive on my Snap 1000 just to make sure I knew what I was doing. After loading it, SnapAssist could find the server, and give me the option to login. Since I didn't know what the Administrator password was set to, I did a manual reset to clear the settings. SnapAssist then gave me the option to setup the server....which I did with success.....

So now, the goal was to upgrade the HD to a 120 that I just had laying around. It's a Maxtor ATA133 120 GB. I read a couple of posts out here where people are having trouble with those, but I'm not sure if I'm seeing the same problems or not....

Using the same Knoppix method that worked on the 30 GB drive, I was able to get the image installed onto the 120GB drive. I put it in the Snap Server and powered it up. It comes up and Snap Assist can see it. Just like before, since I don't know the Administrator password, I performed the same type of manual reset. Now when the server reboots, the system light blinks twice a second the Disk light stays on solid, and Snap Assist can no longer see the server.

Am I doing something wrong? :shrug:

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

Thanks,
Mike W.

[kozel]

Tha't pretty much the same behavior I saw when I tried it. On a 1000, stay with a <137gb ata100 drive. 7200 rpm is ok if it runs cool enough. Some drives that run ata133 may be configurable for ata100 via a utility, like the samsung drives. I did not see that with Maxtor. I'm using a wd1200BB drive.

Originally Posted by 2kcrewcab

OK...another question.....

I used the Knoppix method to get the sbin1000.bin loaded on a 30 GB hard drive on my Snap 1000 just to make sure I knew what I was doing. After loading it, SnapAssist could find the server, and give me the option to login. Since I didn't know what the Administrator password was set to, I did a manual reset to clear the settings. SnapAssist then gave me the option to setup the server....which I did with success.....

So now, the goal was to upgrade the HD to a 120 that I just had laying around. It's a Maxtor ATA133 120 GB. I read a couple of posts out here where people are having trouble with those, but I'm not sure if I'm seeing the same problems or not....

Using the same Knoppix method that worked on the 30 GB drive, I was able to get the image installed onto the 120GB drive. I put it in the Snap Server and powered it up. It comes up and Snap Assist can see it. Just like before, since I don't know the Administrator password, I performed the same type of manual reset. Now when the server reboots, the system light blinks twice a second the Disk light stays on solid, and Snap Assist can no longer see the server.

Am I doing something wrong? :shrug:

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

Thanks,
Mike W.

[HLouie]

Currently I have a Snap Server 1000, 2000, 4100.
Is there a software program for testing network traffic performance?

Has anyone other been able to update there BIOS on any model with any BIOS?