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PowerEdge 2950, Ubuntu Server install, Hard Disk not detected??
Alright guys,
This is my first server so bear with me.....
I received this server for free, but I had to buy ram and a hard drive for it.
I installed both today, and the server seems to be fine. It posts fine and all seems well.
I want to run a linux server os on it, so I figured I would start by trying Ubuntu Server.
So I downloaded the lastest Ubuntu Server (12.10). Burned the iso to a dvd..... yada yada yada
The install process seemed to be going smooth until it checked for a hard disk and failed to detect one. It then gave me an option to try and select a driver and see if that works. The Raid card in this server is the PERC 5/i. So I tried megaraid_sas, since I have read that it suppose to work fine with this card and Linux.
Well it still fails to detect a drive. So I shut down the server and boot into Ctrl-R, and I check the PD Mgmt screen and it seems to be detecting the hard drive just fine ( and says "status:ready" ). (Its a 2tb Seagate 7200, I don't plan on needed a crazy fast drive, and I don't really plan on doing any RAID. I don't need it right now, maybe at a later time)
This is where I am confused, I fail to understand why the drive is clearly recognized by the PERC 5/i utility, but the Ubuntu install won't detect the drive, even with the megaraid_sas driver.
I read somewhere online during my frantic searching, that I could try setting up a Virtual disk. So willing to try anything, I tried to set up a VD from my PD. I set the size, and the name and selected my drive, but it wouldn't let me select "ok" to actually create the VD.
Is it possible that Ubuntu Server won't recognize that large of a drive?
Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks
theflash1932
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February 12th, 2013 22:00
"I don't really plan on doing any RAID"
The PERC does not support non-RAID, so you MUST configure RAID in order for any disk space to be presented to the OS. You must select the Advanced and Initialize boxes when configuring it.
If you are unable to configure RAID, then the PERC likely doesn't like your disk. In CTRL-R, what is the package version for the controller? Older firmware may have had issues with certain types or sizes of drives. Also, what is the model of the drive you are using? You should be using an enterprise-class drive at a minimum. Cheap consumer/desktop-class drives can experience any number of issues on an enterprise-class RAID controller ... sometimes simple, benign issues such as read/write delays, odd responses to controller requests seen only in the logs ... to random timeouts, offlining the drive, inability to see or even configure them into an array.
Ubuntu has no problem with 2TB drives. As an MBR disk, 2TB is the limit ... GPT is needed for larger than 2TB disks (which would be unnecessary here).
hxdrummerxc
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February 13th, 2013 05:00
So do I need two Hard disks just to get it running RAID?
Here is the hard drive that I got:
www.amazon.com/.../ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i02
It said "Use for Home servers, Desktop RAID", so I just figured it would work. I really didn't want to buy one of the Dell drives that came with the server, as they are a ton of money and are really small drives. (I didn't need the 10, 15k speed)
Other than that, I tried checking advanced, and initialize, but the "OK" button was still locked out.
So its the drive screwing with me?
theflash1932
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February 13th, 2013 08:00
"do I need two Hard disks just to get it running RAID"
No. The only valid RAID level for a single disks is RAID 0.
"I really didn't want to buy one of the Dell drives that came with the server, as they are a ton of money and are really small drives"
You can purchase these from third-party suppliers for usually much less then Dell sells them for, especially through the original configurator.
"So its the drive screwing with me?"
Probably. There isn't really another answer that is obvious from what you told me. Does the VD MGMT screen show "no configuration present"? On the CTRL MGMT screen, what is the package version? It is possible updating the firmware will help it communicate more effectively with the drive.
There is a big difference between enterprise and consumer drives ... as also noted by the price. Sometimes consumer/desktop drives will work, but sometimes they will not - sometimes they can be configured but fail miserably later, and sometimes they won't even show up in the controller (probably preferable to the former).
www.xbyte.com/ProductDesc.aspx
hxdrummerxc
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February 13th, 2013 14:00
Yea, that's what I was worried about..... :(
Even though that price is actually cheap for that drive, its still to much for me to want to spend the money on. I mean the whole server isn't even hardly worth that much anymore. You can buy complete 2950's on ebay with the dual quad core xeons for around $400. And this is only the two dual core xeon model. Im really only using it as a hobby, just to maybe use as a file server to backup my personal computers files, and to get some server experience. I wanted to hook it up to my existing cisco equipment to kind of create my own little network.
Ill check and see if the VD MGMT screen says that, and what the package version is, and report back.
hxdrummerxc
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February 13th, 2013 14:00
Yes,
It says "no configuration present" from the VD MGMT screen.
Also the package is: 5.1.1-0040.
As a last chance effort, how would I go about updating the firmware?
I found the firmware for 5.2.2-0072. But the only install file options are floppy, windows or Linux.
Not having any OS installed, and lacking a floppy, Im unsure how I would install the new firmware.
Thanks for all the help so far
theflash1932
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February 13th, 2013 19:00
There should be an unpackaged or hard drive version that can be run from a bootable DOS CD. You could also update it from a Live linux distro (may need to be a specific distro, like CentOS or RHEL-based linux). You can also download and boot to Dell's SBUU (Systems Build and Update Utility), then when prompted for the repository for updates, insert the [downloaded] SUU (Server Updates Utility). This will update all system firmware in one go.
hxdrummerxc
6 Posts
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February 14th, 2013 21:00
Alright,
I downloaded both the SBUU and SUU, and updated all of the firmware, including the Perc5/i.
It now lets me create a virtual disk !
So im gonna attempt the ubuntu install again. If it doesn't work, I can return the drive and wait until I can at least get a 1tb enterprise hdd I guess. But lets see what happens.