Possible to replace GuardianOS on 4500?

[IWDeeK]

I've got a Snap Server 4500 1TB that has gone unused for a while now. I'm reappropriating it for another use and am trying to get FreeBSD installed, but during the set up (right after you select what kind of installation you want) I get a fatal error. I also tried installing Windows Server 2003 SP1 on it... with some success. In Win2K3 it randomly reboots itself, and upon reboot the boot drive can't be seen to successfully boot. Do I, perhaps, have faulty hardware, or has Snap Appliance done some trickery to the units to prevent me from running the OS of my choice?

Thanks

[IWDeeK]

Figured out the problem with FreeBSD. Due to the ServerWorks chipset it requires either modifying your boot/loader.conf with the following, or just applying them before rebooting the kernel (by using "set"):

hw.hasbrokenint12=1
hw.ata.ata_dma=0

Still doesn't explain why Win2K3 was crapping itself on it.

[blue68f100]

I hope you saved one of the drives with the Guardian OS on it. No one has made a copy of the boot tracks and OS yet. If you ever desire to reuse it as a NAS you will require at least one drive with the OS on it.

[IWDeeK]

Nope, didn't save it. Its been sitting unused for well over a year, it was never going to get put into normal production again. Now I get to play with it

[blue68f100]

Well which flavor of FreeBSD are you loading. The new 6.1 ?? Or looking at FreeNAS

The OS was on all drives. Have you re-formated all drives?

[IWDeeK]

6.1

Nope, didn't keep any of the drives, sorry

[ringrose]

I want to put Windows 2003 Web Edition or Red Hat on a Snap 4500. Has anyone gotten this to work?

[re3dyb0y]

Originally Posted by IWDeeK

I've got a Snap Server 4500 1TB that has gone unused for a while now. I'm reappropriating it for another use and am trying to get FreeBSD installed, but during the set up (right after you select what kind of installation you want) I get a fatal error. I also tried installing Windows Server 2003 SP1 on it... with some success. In Win2K3 it randomly reboots itself, and upon reboot the boot drive can't be seen to successfully boot. Do I, perhaps, have faulty hardware, or has Snap Appliance done some trickery to the units to prevent me from running the OS of my choice?

Thanks

As per that post, there has been some success

[Hallis]

but it's still best to run guardian on it. or sell it to me so i can run guardian on it. I've got a Dell 715N that runs Win2000 Server that i'll trade ya partially for it Complete with recovery disks.

Shane

[ringrose]

Originally Posted by re3dyb0y

As per that post, there has been some success

What about the reboot problem?

[kugeln]

Isn't there some kind of hardware watchdog? I think I remember seeing it in the BIOS on my 4500 somewhere.

If the driver doesn't start kicking the 'dog when the OS loads, the system thinks it's crashed and reboots.

[ringrose]

Originally Posted by kugeln

Isn't there some kind of hardware watchdog? I think I remember seeing it in the BIOS on my 4500 somewhere.

If the driver doesn't start kicking the 'dog when the OS loads, the system thinks it's crashed and reboots.

Do you remember if you can turn it off? Has anyone loaded Linux on one?

[kugeln]

Since the 4500 is technically the same thing as a HP StorageWorks NAS 1200s, it can run Windows. (The HP version runs Windows Storage Server 2003).


I don't see why it wouldn't run Linux. (or anything else, for that matter) It's standard server-type hardware inside the box. You should just have to pick a distro that supports the SIL IDE adapter and the old Intel ServerWorks chipset.

I'll check the BIOS for the watchdog thing next time my 4500 can reboot. It's in the middle of a rebuild right now. (Replaced the 173GB deathstars with WD 320GB RE's).

[Phoenix32]

Are those HP Storageworks 1200's as noisy as the 4500 is? Just curious...

[Hallis]

the 4500 sounds like a hair dryer.

[blue68f100]

Yes to the hair drier. High on Startup and low once it's in standby.

[kugeln]

Originally Posted by ringrose

Do you remember if you can turn it off?

There's an option listed in the BOOT section for the Watchdog and the Watchdog Timeout. Looks like by default it's set to 5 minutes, so if the server hasn't come up and kicked the dog, it reboots into it's "Failover" mode.

Under WSS2003, at least on the Iomega NAS 400r units I have, the system partition is mirrored across all four drives, and if the watchdog sees that it doesn't finish booting, it reboots the server and attempts to boot from another drive.

Originally Posted by ringrose

Has anyone loaded Linux on one?

Since GuardianOS is linux, I don't see why you couldn't. The GuardianOS stuff is really just the web interface and scripts that automate the 'behind the scenes' stuff when you click around in the WebUI.

It seems to use standard linux drivers for almost everything, and like I stated earlier, there's nothing fancy in the HP-built box, just low-end, server-grade hardware.

[re3dyb0y]

Originally Posted by blue68f100

Yes to the hair drier. High on Startup and low once it's in standby.

Sounds like most servers, tbh

[blue68f100]

Originally Posted by Hallis

the 4500 sounds like a hair dryer.

Found the specs on the hair drier.

Delta Blower BFB1012VH
VH = Very High, Speed 5000 rpm, 35.73 cfm

58 dBA

May look into a slower fan and make a shroud to help the air flow.

and it has 2 Delta FFB0412VHN
40x40x28mm 15.9cfm @ 9600rpm Heers the Jet Engine
41.9 dBA

[Paradigm]

I have loaded Fedora Core 6 onto my 4500.
The fans are really loud.
Does anyone know what software to run to get the fans to slow down?

The emud software from the guardian install will not work because FC6 uses a newer kernel.