02-28-2013 06:23 AM
I have been having some massive issues with my video storage server, a msp 4U. Working with support we have replaced 3 bad hard drives and now the entire chassis. I am using the recovery DVD for 6.3.1 and doing "factory" when it boots to the dvd. The factory recovery loads 5-600 rpms, but it seems awfully quick for loading the total Suse 10 SP1. After that the DVD ejects, the server reboots, and just sits at a blinking cursor while the drives blink like mad doing their background initialization.
Is there something else I am supposed to be doing to get the OS loaded?
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02-28-2013 09:05 AM
16-20 hours??? That has not been my experience at all when recovering 6.x. It's been more like 1 hour max start to finish every time I've done it. I'm not sure what the problem is. Below is a procedure I compiled for recovery situations (lifted from a few cisco docs as well as a very helpful RAID configuration doc). It steps thrpough everything starting from RAID config, to 6.3.1 factory install, upgrade to 6.3.2, and finally to restore the most recent VSOM backup.
16) when the server comes back up open YAST from the desktop. Go to network devices and configure the NIC for
17) Insert the 6.3.1 recovery CD into the CD Drive on top of the machine. Reboot the server. It will book from the CD. Type FACTORY when prompted. It will reboot again and you type FACTORY again.
18) Now it has 6.3.1. Copy the files from
19) Make the upgrade script executable (chmod +x vsmSoftware632.sh). Run the script (./vsmSoftware632.sh). Answer simple questions when prompted.
20) Now it is at 6.3.2. Copy the most recent backup to a temp directory (there is a copy of one in archer along with the other files). Type this command:
shell> /usr/BWhttpd/bin/vsom_backup_restore -f filename
For example:
shell> /usr/BWhttpd/bin/vsom_backup_restore -f
VSOM_psbu-dev03_backup_20100128164352.tar.gz
02-28-2013 06:54 AM
That scenario sounds very familiar. I have wrestled with 4RU hard drives and then the entire chassis myself recently. All working fine now though.
After doing the rebuild a few times now and reading your description below, I believe there is a step missing. When using 6.3.1 recovery it does indeed load rather quickly and then reboot as you have noted. But, it always then ran a second time, after the reboot, and finished the install (and took longer than the first time). I would type factory again during that second round, and about 30 minutes later it would finish (after a second reboot).
My CD did not eject after the first boot, but it did after the second boot. Perhaps you need to stick the CD back in the moment it ejects, so it boots from CD for round 2? Just a guess, but it definitely seems like the install is only half way done as it took two rounds every time I did it.
The only other thing I can think of is the RAID array. Did you rebuild the span using mega-raid? Might be worth hitting Ctrl-H while the bios is coming up to make sure your VD's are present and configured properly.
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02-28-2013 06:58 AM
Sorry, I didn't explain myself fully. The first time I do factory it deletes all the virtual drives and reboots. This takes a whole couple of minutes. The second time I do factory the virtual drives are created and a bunch of SUSE yast stuff runs installing the 600 odd RPMs. Once that finishes, the DVD ejects, the configuration saves, the server reboots again and does the background initialization for the next 16-20 hours. All the while just sitting at the blinking cursor.
02-28-2013 09:05 AM
16-20 hours??? That has not been my experience at all when recovering 6.x. It's been more like 1 hour max start to finish every time I've done it. I'm not sure what the problem is. Below is a procedure I compiled for recovery situations (lifted from a few cisco docs as well as a very helpful RAID configuration doc). It steps thrpough everything starting from RAID config, to 6.3.1 factory install, upgrade to 6.3.2, and finally to restore the most recent VSOM backup.
16) when the server comes back up open YAST from the desktop. Go to network devices and configure the NIC for
17) Insert the 6.3.1 recovery CD into the CD Drive on top of the machine. Reboot the server. It will book from the CD. Type FACTORY when prompted. It will reboot again and you type FACTORY again.
18) Now it has 6.3.1. Copy the files from
19) Make the upgrade script executable (chmod +x vsmSoftware632.sh). Run the script (./vsmSoftware632.sh). Answer simple questions when prompted.
20) Now it is at 6.3.2. Copy the most recent backup to a temp directory (there is a copy of one in archer along with the other files). Type this command:
shell> /usr/BWhttpd/bin/vsom_backup_restore -f filename
For example:
shell> /usr/BWhttpd/bin/vsom_backup_restore -f
VSOM_psbu-dev03_backup_20100128164352.tar.gz
02-28-2013 10:18 AM
Talk about nailing it. Just did that. I now finally have a server with an OS on it again. Been working on this for over a dang month now.
Thanks a million.
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