Suse 11.2 don´t boot on server machine Dell R710

Hi all, for any reason after installation system hangs up and nothing happens, i´m newbie about linux, maybe the problem is the RAID 1 configuration of the disks.

The machine is a R710 Server:

2 x Xeon E5520
4 x 2 GB Memory
4 X 750 GB SATA 7200 3.5" disk
PERC 6/i Raid controller

Thanks in advance.

Alex

AlejandroCid wrote:
> The machine is a R710 Server:

did you buy it without a OS?
if not which did you buy?
which version?

if you bought without a system, what did you install?


DenverD (Linux Counter 282315)
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
posted via NNTP w/TBird 2.0.0.23 | KDE 3.5.7 | openSUSE 10.3
2.6.22.19-0.4-default SMP i686
AMD Athlon 1 GB RAM | GeForce FX 5500 | ASRock K8Upgrade-760GX |
CMedia 9761 AC’97 Audio

Hi, thanks for your fast reply, yes we have a lot of servers here, this R710 comes without a OS, we want to mount apache server and mysql and well, as Dell support Red Hat enterprise and Suse, we think that would be a great idea try to install openSUSE or CENTOS and see what happens.

Thanks again and sorry for my english.

Alex

AlejandroCid wrote:
> Hi, thanks for your fast reply, yes we have a lot of servers here, this
> R710 comes without a OS, we want to mount apache server and mysql and
> well, as Dell support Red Hat enterprise and Suse, we think that would
> be a great idea try to install openSUSE or CENTOS and see what happens.
>
> Thanks again and sorry for my english.
>
> Alex
>

i can’t speak for Red Hat/CentOS, but i know that openSUSE is
(compared to Novell supported SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, aka SLES)
a FAST moving TEST BED for the enterprise product…you may find it
less stable and reliable, and certainly with a much shorter life than
SLES…

btw, your english is great…better than my answers, because i can’t
actually answer your question and don’t think anyone here can until
you tell more, like:

what version of openSUSE did you install? 32 or 64 bit?
did you install it with or without X? desktop?

  1. did you get your from a DVD/LiveCD (which),install image from
    http://software.opensuse.org/112/en ? (no, then where?)
  2. did you check the md5sum of the downloaded iso?
  3. burn the disk as slow as you can?
  4. use good media?
  5. do this http://tinyurl.com/yajm2aq before install attempt?

if you answered “no” (or “don’t know”) to any of the four above, then
see the following cites:
http://en.opensuse.org/Download_Help
http://tinyurl.com/yhf65pv
http://tinyurl.com/ycly3eg

in your first post you wrote “after installation system hangs up and
nothing happens” what, exactly does that mean? that is, does it:

  • you hit the power switch and the screen remains blank and unlit, no
    lights flash and no fans can be heard…that is, “nothing happens”?

  • or, the lights and fan start up and the screen remains totally black
    and unlit…

-or, the screen lights up and see BIOS messages and then nothing else
happens…the screen just stays black and the BIOS does NOT say it
couldn’t find a boot image?

-or, it begins to boot and after a while you see a green screen
similar to the one you saw when you first booted from the install
disk…but then it just stayed on a green screen forever…

  • i don’t know if the R710 has a hard drive LED or not, but was it
    flashing showing the hard drive being hit, or what (during black,
    green or unlit screen)…

  • were either the keyboard caplock or numlock LEDs flashing…

  • if after “nothing happened” quit not happening: did you boot again
    from the install disk, mount the volume and look for evidence of the
    fault in /var/log…

oh, did Dell provide info on how to set up the RAID for use with all
the different OSs the machine supports? did you do those things in BIOS…

did you not have any errors during the install…

pretend you are in our shoes, how can we help you without know what
“nothing happens” means to you…

do you have a Linux qualified system administrator there in the company?


DenverD (Linux Counter 282315)
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
posted via NNTP w/TBird 2.0.0.23 | KDE 3.5.7 | openSUSE 10.3
2.6.22.19-0.4-default SMP i686
AMD Athlon 1 GB RAM | GeForce FX 5500 | ASRock K8Upgrade-760GX |
CMedia 9761 AC’97 Audio

Of course, here is the information:

what version of openSUSE did you install? 32 or 64 bit?

32-bit

did you install it with or without X? desktop?

I choose the KDE option

  1. did you get your from a DVD/LiveCD (which),install image from
    Software.openSUSE.org ? (no, then where?)

Yes, DVD .iso burned after download in a DVD, from here Software.openSUSE.org

  1. did you check the md5sum of the downloaded iso?

No :/, I said to myself “it seems to be ok” sorry, i´ll check

  1. burn the disk as slow as you can?

Yes, 4x with Nero

  1. use good media?

I think so, Verbatim 16x certified

  1. do this http://tinyurl.com/yajm2aq before install attempt?

No, I´ll do inmediatly, sorry.

in your first post you wrote “after installation system hangs up and
nothing happens” what, exactly does that mean? that is, does it:

  • you hit the power switch and the screen remains blank and unlit, no
    lights flash and no fans can be heard…that is, “nothing happens”?

  • or, the lights and fan start up and the screen remains totally black
    and unlit…

-or, the screen lights up and see BIOS messages and then nothing else
happens…the screen just stays black and the BIOS does NOT say it
couldn’t find a boot image?

-or, it begins to boot and after a while you see a green screen
similar to the one you saw when you first booted from the install
disk…but then it just stayed on a green screen forever…

When the installation begins it takes a while to complete (20 m or so), there is a Iguana and a bar (this one http://www.dedoimedo.com/images/computers_new_2/opensuse-install-splash.jpg ), when the bar is complete nothing happens, nothing, the leds of the disk activity don´t shine and the keyboard don´t respond, i have to press the power button 5 seconds to shut down or reboot the system.

When I reboot appears a startup option screen like this


one I choose one of the two options the system hangs up but this time with black screen and nothing happens, no keyboard, no disk activity…

  • i don’t know if the R710 has a hard drive LED or not, but was it
    flashing showing the hard drive being hit, or what (during black,
    green or unlit screen)…

  • were either the keyboard caplock or numlock LEDs flashing…

Yes have leds but no keyboard or disk activity

oh, did Dell provide info on how to set up the RAID for use with all
the different OSs the machine supports? did you do those things in BIOS…

Well there is a few options but the controller is very simple, I´ll ask support team if there are RAID specific options for each system.

did you not have any errors during the install…

I don´t think so, not during installation, but before the installation sumary there was a red sentence telling me something about the orther of the partitions but if could configure later… I´ll check

pretend you are in our shoes, how can we help you without know what
“nothing happens” means to you…

Of course, thank you very much.

do you have a Linux qualified system administrator there in the company?

Well, there are a few persons that know a lot about linux, but at this moment they are bussy with other projects.

Thanks in advance again.

Alex

AlejandroCid wrote:
>> 2. did you check the md5sum of the downloaded iso?
> No :/, I said to myself “it seems to be ok” sorry, i´ll check
>> 5. do this http://tinyurl.com/yajm2aq before install attempt?
> No, I´ll do inmediatly, sorry.

i will wait to make sure you had 100% perfect install media, before
continuing…

and, ask any other readers here to comment on the potential RAID
problems, and solutions…

> When the installation begins it takes a while to complete (20 m or so),
> there is a Iguana and a bar (this one http://tinyurl.com/23zofbv ), when
> the bar is complete nothing happens, nothing, the leds of the disk
> activity don´t shine and the keyboard don´t respond, i have to press the
> power button 5 seconds to shut down or reboot the system.

ok, when that green screen is up it is covering what is really going
on, so as soon as you see it hit Esc and the green fluff goes away and
you can watch the boot activity…

i suppose eventually every thing will stop: what is the last thing you
can read on the screen?

> When I reboot appears a startup option screen like this
>
> http://www.linuxunbound.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/tuko-02.png
>
> one I choose one of the two options the system hangs up but this time
> with black screen and nothing happens, no keyboard, no disk activity…

do you see exactly the same thing if you try the “Fail Safe” boot option?

and, have you checked the ram? that is, boot from the install DVD and
select the “Memory Test” and let it run at least 12 hours…

>> did you not have any errors during the install…
>
> I don´t think so, not during installation, but before the installation
> sumary there was a red sentence telling me something about the orther of
> the partitions but if could configure later… I´ll check

would like hear more about that…

>> do you have a Linux qualified system administrator there in the
>> company?
> Well, there are a few persons that know a lot about linux, but at this
> moment they are bussy with other projects.

you may have a faster route to happiness if someone there can help
you also…

if you have a local person who knows how to use the install disk to
drop to run level three and inspect /var/log/messages we might very
soon know what the real problem is…

by the way, KDE is unnecessary fluff on a server…certainly, when
you get apache and mysql rolling you won’t need to have X running and
eating cycles and making heat…


DenverD (Linux Counter 282315)
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
posted via NNTP w/TBird 2.0.0.23 | KDE 3.5.7 | openSUSE 10.3
2.6.22.19-0.4-default SMP i686
AMD Athlon 1 GB RAM | GeForce FX 5500 | ASRock K8Upgrade-760GX |
CMedia 9761 AC’97 Audio

This might help with the RAID configuration

DELL Tutorial: Create RAID Using PERC 6/i Integrated BIOS Configuration Utility

i will wait to make sure you had 100% perfect install media, before
continuing…

Media tested, it is ok.

ok, when that green screen is up it is covering what is really going
on, so as soon as you see it hit Esc and the green fluff goes away and
you can watch the boot activity…

i suppose eventually every thing will stop: what is the last thing you
can read on the screen?

Ok, I´m going to write the last few lines:

*** Starting YaST2 ***

Error: Cannot open packages index using db3 - no such file or directory(2)

**********************************************

Loading installed kernel using hexec

Trying to load installed kernel using hexec instead of reboot, please wait

**********************************************

Shutting Down Name Service Cache Daemon

Then the system hangs up

do you see exactly the same thing if you try the “Fail Safe” boot option?

No, the display inmediatly turns black, and the system hang up

and, have you checked the ram? that is, boot from the install DVD and
select the “Memory Test” and let it run at least 12 hours…

I´ll do it

would like hear more about that…(about the error in the summary)

No more warning, I disabled one of the two raids and stablished the partitions manually

Thank you very much again

Alex

AlejandroCid wrote:
> No more warning, I disabled one of the two raids and stablished the
> partitions manually

ok, i take that to mean you did the configuring previously noted in
your “there was a red sentence telling me something about the orther
of the partitions but if could configure later” and all is well now…

congratulations!


DenverD (Linux Counter 282315)
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
posted via NNTP w/TBird 2.0.0.23 | KDE 3.5.7 | openSUSE 10.3
2.6.22.19-0.4-default SMP i686
AMD Athlon 1 GB RAM | GeForce FX 5500 | ASRock K8Upgrade-760GX |
CMedia 9761 AC’97 Audio

ok, i take that to mean you did the configuring previously noted in
your “there was a red sentence telling me something about the orther
of the partitions but if could configure later” and all is well now…

Ehm, well no more red warnings in the summary previously to installation start, after installation the system hangs up.

I don´t know what more to do…

Thank you very much.

AlejandroCid wrote:
> Ehm, well no more red warnings in the summary previously to
> installation start, after installation the system hangs up.

sorry, i missunderstood…

> I don´t know what more to do…

neither do i…i guess i would start over by downloading and burning a
LiveCD and see how it runs on the hardware…i have no idea if it will
or not…that is, just becuase DELL certifies it to run SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server (SLES) version 10 or 11 means absolutely nothing
when you then load it up with openSUSE 11.2 because there is LOTS of
code in openSUSE 11.2 which is not in SLES and my never be…

but, you earlier wrote:

*** Starting YaST2 ***
Error: Cannot open packages index using db3 - no such file or
directory(2)


Loading installed kernel using hexec

Trying to load installed kernel using hexec instead of reboot,
please wait

and i must say i thought you HAD already installed openSUSE (in your
first line “after installation system hangs up”), but here it appears
you have not, else it should not be trying to load YaST…

and i have never ever seen that hexec before…i have idea what that
is all about!!

to me it kinda sounds like you didn’t have a complete install…or i
do not know!


DenverD (Linux Counter 282315)
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
posted via NNTP w/TBird 2.0.0.23 | KDE 3.5.7 | openSUSE 10.3
2.6.22.19-0.4-default SMP i686
AMD Athlon 1 GB RAM | GeForce FX 5500 | ASRock K8Upgrade-760GX |
CMedia 9761 AC’97 Audio

Have you tried a text install? This some times works if the GUI install fails. Press f3 at the first install screen and select text install.

Solved!!! I was trying the install with the 32-bit version, with the 64-bit version all goes fine, I think the Xeon is a 64-bit native processor??, I´m very surprised, well it works now.

Thank you very much for your support.

Alex

AlejandroCid wrote:
> Solved!!! I was trying the install with the 32-bit version, with the
> 64-bit version all goes fine,

nope, that was not the problem…because you can install 32 on a 64
bit system, you cannot install 64 on 32…something else was messed
up…

WELL, i have not read the Dell docs (have you) does it say you must
install a 64 bit system?

but, good you got it going


DenverD (Linux Counter 282315)
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
posted via NNTP w/TBird 2.0.0.23 | KDE 3.5.7 | openSUSE 10.3
2.6.22.19-0.4-default SMP i686
AMD Athlon 1 GB RAM | GeForce FX 5500 | ASRock K8Upgrade-760GX |
CMedia 9761 AC’97 Audio