IBM_xSeries_330

IBM eserver xSeries

xSeries 330

Hardware

• 1U rackmount
• Dual Pentium III (Coppermine) 1000Mhz
• 1GB ECC SDRAM
• 2 20GB 7200RPM ATA hard drives
• 1 Floppy drive
• 1 24x micro CD/rom drive
• IBM Advanced System Manager (ASM) Embedded PowerPC 403GA
• 2 RS485 ASM Ports 1 in 1 out
• 1 DB9 Shared ASM/Serial Port
• 2 PCI-X 64 bit full length
• 2 Intel Pro/100 Ethernet Ports

Installing Gentoo

Hardware required

• DB9 NULL Modem cable
• Second Computer with PB9 Serial Port
• PCI Video Card (optional)
• USB Keyboard (optional)

A NULL modem connection from your second computer to the eServer is required to get into ASM. I used xterm (gnome-termial won't work) to run "minicom" on my desktop machine to connect to the ASM interface. Serial settings are "57600 8N1" or "9600 8N1". Once in press "Esc" then you see the following:

Press ESC
USERID:USERID
PASSWORD:PASSW0RD (That's PASSW-ZERO-RD)
Local System ASDF123456789                                                       
2 - Monitors                                                                    
3 - Error Logs                                                                  
4 - SP Configuration                                                            
5 - System Services                                                             
6 - System Power                                                                
7 - Boot                                                                        
B - Remote Terminal Status                                                      
E - Storage                                                                     
R - Remote SP Access                                                            
Y - Disconnect Current Login                                                    
Z - Start Remote Video

Now connect a monitor and USB keyboard to the server (A PCI video card will fit in the PCI-X slot). Fire up the server with you Gentoo Install CD. Press "Z" to start remote video. Press F1 to get into BIOS setup. Make sure you're booting from the CD rom drive first. Once you get to the prompt your USB keyboard magically works. Start the install with:

 boot:gentoo-nofb doscsi

I had the best results with this, even if you don't have SCSI drives installed. Do your install using your USB keyboard and Monitor, the ASM remote video stops working once the liveCD is running. Remember ServerWorks ATA controller, and email me if you have problems. cwidger@gmail.com

Serial console install

You may also install using serial line, it requires that you set console redirection in bios to COM1 (means the POST) and also enable redirection after system boot (this one enables using isolinux, grub,etc, not linux kernel). After that, you have to change the port the external serial is conneted to to com1 (that is the one most far from border of mainboard). After that, you could access ASM only when power is down and use it to powerup the machine. After that, serial line shows POST and also the loader from CDROM. In the loader, you have to set kernel parameter console=ttyS0,9600 (or whatever speed you wish to use, but 9600 is default for most devices, even today). After that, system boots and install could go as on vga console with some minor limitations like Shift-PgUp not working. I am not sure how gentoo handles such a case, but Debian sets the console parameter it got for install to bootloader, maybe in gentoo it needs to be set manualy. Dejf.org