From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

Summary for the impatient reader: it works


The Server 320/520 PCI/MCA has a bad reputation. The motherboard is
considered prone to failure and unreliable, especially when PCI and MCA network cards are installed simultaneously.

On the other hand,

- it has two Pentium 133MHz CPUs
- six 32-bit MCA slots
- it boots from CD-ROM

Last but not least, this Server 520 is sitting right next to me. So it's simply there, waiting for tasks.

The plan is to first install a Linux kernel 2.4.31 with Slackware 10.2
from 2007 and then kernel 2.6.37.6 with Slackware 13.37 from 2011.

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, there is no Linux driver for the
installed IBM PCI DAC960 RAID adapter. Therefore, I removed the RAID
adapter and connected a 36GB Hitachi LVD SCSI drive, along with the SCSI CD-ROM drive, to the Adaptec AIC-7870 SCSI host adapter integrated into
the motherboard.

The maximum storage capacity of the boot drive on this system is 8.38GB.
Using HDAT2 (https://www.hdat2.com/), I was able to adjust the capacity reported by the drive accordingly.

The drive misleads the BIOS during boot. The BIOS accepts this misrepresentation as long as the Linux kernel, kernel modules, GNU
operating system, and swap partition remain below the 8.38GB limit. This allows the system to boot Slackware from the hard drive. Once the kernel
has taken control of the hardware and the operating system is loaded, Slackware can access the remaining storage space.

Neither Slackware release natively supports the 520's hardware (SMP,
PCI, MCA, AIC-7870). A first step is the adaptec.s kernel from Slackware
10.2. It supports a 486 CPU, the PCI bus, the AIC-7870, and a maximum of
64MB of RAM from the Server 520. The system is incredibly slow, but it's possible to install Slackware 10.2.

A good hardware test is to build a new, compatible kernel. The new
kernel should support the Server 520's hardware as much as possible:

- the installed RAM using Alfred Arnold's kernel hack
- Pentium Classic SMP
- PCI
- AIC-7870
- MCA
- ISA

The first build took overnight. The third build is currently running at
531.66 BogoMIPS. An unusually high value for a Pentium Classic (https://tldp.org/HOWTO/BogoMips/bogo-list.html).

Something is wrong with the AIC-7870. The kernel reports "PCI: Cannot
allocate resource region 0 of device 00:0c.0". The command `lspci -v` indicates that the I/O ports at 1400 have a problem. The PCI data
throughput is OK, but on the SCSI bus it's only 6 MB/s.

Here is the output from hdparm:

# hdparm -T /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 84 MB in 2.04 seconds = 41.18 MB/sec

# hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing buffered disk reads: 18 MB in 3.00 seconds = 6.00 MB/sec


Here is the output of the PCI devices:

# lspci -v

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82434LX/NX [Mercury/Neptune]
Processor to PCI bridge (rev 11)
Flags: bus master, slow devsel, latency 32

00:04.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c900 10Mbps Combo [Boomerang]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 24, IRQ 15
I/O ports at 9000 [size=64]
Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=64K]

00:06.0 ISA bridge: IBM Fire Coral (rev 01)
Flags: slow devsel
I/O ports at 0500 [size=8]

00:08.0 MicroChannel bridge: IBM GXT1000 Graphics Adapter (rev 01)
Flags: bus master, slow devsel, latency 0
I/O ports at 0508 [size=8]
I/O ports at 0510 [size=8]
I/O ports at 1000 [size=512]

00:0a.0 VGA compatible controller: Cirrus Logic GD 5430/40 [Alpine] (rev
4c) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
Flags: fast devsel
Memory at 38000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=16M]
Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=16M]

00:0c.0 SCSI storage controller: Adaptec AHA-294x / AIC-7870 (rev 03)
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 11
I/O ports at 1400 [disabled] [size=256]
Memory at 30000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=64K]


So the MicroChannel Bridge of the motherboard is the PCI to MCA ASIC of
the IBM GXT1000 Graphics Adapter. (https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-017c0/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/14173/62533/IBM-93H2399-Graphics-1__17516.1603219407.JPG?c=2)


Finally, here are the devices supported by the 520 kernel:

# lsmod

Device DMA IRQ I/O Ports ------------------------------------------------
00:04.0 9000-903f
aic7xxx 11
arbitration 0090-0090
card 0091-0091
cascade 4 2
dma 0080-008f
dma1 0000-001f
dma2 00c0-00df
eth0 15
fpu 00f0-00ff
keyboard 1 0060-006f
Mouse 12
parport0 03bc-03be
PCI 0500-0507 0508-050f 0510-0517 0cf8-0cff
1000-11ff 1400-14ff 9000-903f
pic1 0020-003f
pic2 00a0-00bf
POS 0096-0097 0100-0107
rtc 8 0070-007f
serial 02f8-02ff 03f8-03ff
system 0092-0092 0094-0094
timer 0
timer0 0040-0043
timer1 0050-0053
vga+ 03c0-03df
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

Um, can you be more specific?

DAC960PJ/PG ? http://web.archive.org/web/20010210200129/http://www.mylex.com/products/hpr/dacpgm/DACPGM_ds.html

Is there a D040 on the back?
Mylex Mfg. Part Number Cross-Reference List http://web.archive.org/web/20010210201909/http://www.mylex.com/pub/kbase/dac-ref.txt

Archived (Discontinued) Products - PCI RAID Controllers http://web.archive.org/web/20010209091537fw_/http://www.mylex.com/support/productgd/matrix.html#archived

GAM Server for Linux http://web.archive.org/web/20010425033304/http://www.mylex.com/pub/support/current_raid/swkit-linux.exe


Wolfgang Gehl wrote:

IBM PCI DAC960 RAID adapter

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

The Installation Guide is available for download at
http://www.mylex.com/pub/support/current_raid/Linux-GAM.pdf.

Linux is supported on all Mylex controllers with firmware 3.51 or
higher. Support for the AcceleRAID 170, AcceleRAID 352, eXtremeRAID 2000
and eXtremeRAID 3000 requires the DAC960 driver 2.2.9 or higher. Source
code and driver documentation can be downloaded from the author's web
page at http://www.dandelion.com/Linux.

Louis Ohland wrote:

Um, can you be more specific?

DAC960PJ/PG ? http://web.archive.org/web/20010210200129/http://www.mylex.com/products/hpr/dacpgm/DACPGM_ds.html

Is there a D040 on the back?
Mylex Mfg. Part Number Cross-Reference List http://web.archive.org/web/20010210201909/http://www.mylex.com/pub/kbase/dac-ref.txt

Archived (Discontinued) Products - PCI RAID Controllers http://web.archive.org/web/20010209091537fw_/http://www.mylex.com/support/productgd/matrix.html#archived

GAM Server for Linux http://web.archive.org/web/20010425033304/http://www.mylex.com/pub/support/current_raid/swkit-linux.exe

Wolfgang Gehl wrote:

IBM PCI DAC960 RAID adapter

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

Looks like the Dandelion page glimmers out after 19 Sept 2004 http://web.archive.org/web/20040918081151/http://www.dandelion.com/Linux/DAC960.html

Linux DAC960 Driver -- Production Version 2.2.11 and 2.4.11 Released
I am pleased to announce that the eleventh production release of the
Linux DAC960 driver is now available as version 2.2.11 for Linux 2.2.19
and version 2.4.11 for Linux 2.4.12. This version of the driver includes support for all the current Mylex PCI RAID controllers, including the eXtremeRAID 2000, eXtremeRAID 3000, AcceleRAID 352, AcceleRAID 170, and AcceleRAID 160, which have an entirely new firmware interface, as well
as the older eXtremeRAID 1100 (DAC1164P), the AcceleRAID 150/200/250,
and the DAC960PJ/PG/PU/PD/PL models. In addition, this release provides support for older DAC960PU/PD/PL/P models with firmware version 2.73.

Louis Ohland wrote:

The Installation Guide is available for download at
 http://www.mylex.com/pub/support/current_raid/Linux-GAM.pdf.

Linux is supported on all Mylex controllers with firmware 3.51 or
higher. Support for the AcceleRAID 170, AcceleRAID 352, eXtremeRAID 2000
and eXtremeRAID 3000 requires the DAC960 driver 2.2.9 or higher.  Source code and driver documentation can be downloaded from the author's web
page at http://www.dandelion.com/Linux.

Louis Ohland wrote:

Um, can you be more specific?

DAC960PJ/PG ?
http://web.archive.org/web/20010210200129/http://www.mylex.com/products/hpr/dacpgm/DACPGM_ds.html


Is there a D040 on the back?
Mylex Mfg. Part Number Cross-Reference List
http://web.archive.org/web/20010210201909/http://www.mylex.com/pub/kbase/dac-ref.txt


Archived (Discontinued) Products - PCI RAID Controllers
http://web.archive.org/web/20010209091537fw_/http://www.mylex.com/support/productgd/matrix.html#archived


GAM Server for Linux
http://web.archive.org/web/20010425033304/http://www.mylex.com/pub/support/current_raid/swkit-linux.exe



Wolfgang Gehl wrote:

IBM PCI DAC960 RAID adapter

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

IA has no hits.

Louis Ohland wrote:

The Installation Guide is available for download at http://www.mylex.com/pub/support/current_raid/Linux-GAM.pdf.

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

This is version 4 [Mylex's view of it]. How it compares to the last
version on Dandelion, I dunno.

Louis Ohland wrote:

GAM Server for Linux http://web.archive.org/web/20010425033304/http://www.mylex.com/pub/support/current_raid/swkit-linux.exe

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

https://www.infania.net/misc/psref/scwbook.pdf

Page 3

SCSI-2 Fast/Wide PCI RAID Adapter Savannah
Mylex / modification of DAC960P

Option
Adapter in PC Server 320 array
SCSI-2 Fast/Wide 16 bit / 20 MB/sec
PCI 32 bit / 132 MB/sec

RAID 0, 1, Hybrid 1, 5
4 independent (A,B,C,D) / 8 logical arrays
i960 at 25 MHz
PCI standard
Two (one internal; one internal or external)
Three total:
Two internal - 16 bit wide
One external - 16 bit wide
Can only use two connectors at any one time
14 per adapter (7 max per channel)
4 MB / 4 MB (with parity) 70 ns
One 72 pin socket
Write-through or write-back
June 1995 / April 1997
1 year
$ 1,840
94G2764
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

Am 02.02.26 um 14:09 schrieb Louis Ohland:

Um, can you be more specific?

DAC960PJ/PG ?

This is the IBM SCSI-2 Fast/Wide PCI RAID adapter, an IBM-branded Mylex DAC960P single-flash ROM controller.

The Linux kernel 2.4.31 documentation states that the DAC960P requires firmware version 2.73-0-00 or higher for single-flash ROM controllers. https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/linux-2.4.31.tar.gz
(See Linux-2.4.31/Documentation/README.DAC960)

The latest firmware provided by IBM is version 2.43b. https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-scsi-2-fastwide-pci-raid-adapter-firmware-update-diskette-v243b-servers

Mylex offers firmware version 2.73 for the DAC960P single-chip
controller (fwpd273.exe). http://web.archive.org/web/20010508090218/http://www.mylex.com/pub/support/archive/dac960_pci/00index.txt

However, I will not be flashing the IBM DAC960P with Mylex firmware.

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

Q: Is the DAC960LB supported?

A: This is the model number of the battery backup shunt, not the
adapter itself. The D040 number (see above) can be used to
determine the actual controller model number.

Louis Ohland wrote:

https://www.infania.net/misc/psref/scwbook.pdf

Page 3

 SCSI-2 Fast/Wide PCI RAID Adapter Savannah
Mylex / modification of DAC960P

Option
Adapter in PC Server 320 array
SCSI-2 Fast/Wide 16 bit / 20 MB/sec
PCI 32 bit / 132 MB/sec

RAID 0, 1, Hybrid 1, 5
4 independent (A,B,C,D) / 8 logical arrays
i960 at 25 MHz
PCI standard
Two (one internal; one internal or external)
Three total:
Two internal - 16 bit wide
One external - 16 bit wide
Can only use two connectors at any one time
14 per adapter (7 max per channel)
4 MB / 4 MB (with parity) 70 ns
One 72 pin socket
Write-through or write-back
June 1995 / April 1997
1 year
$ 1,840
94G2764

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

Hi Wolfgang !

The Server 320/520 PCI/MCA has a bad reputation. The motherboard is considered prone to failure and unreliable, especially when PCI and MCA network cards are installed simultaneously.

I still have my Server 520 in stock and it was running Linux at first
but permanently threw a kernel panic and stopped - so I tossed Linux and installed NT Server (4 I guess) and that worked nicely until I decided
to retire the machine due to noise issues and power drawn.

Still has its 12 HD configuration with a Raid-1 pair for the OS and two
Raid-5 data arrays. Hadn't been powered for over a decade ...
--
Very friendly greetings from Peter in Germany
http://www.mcamafia.de/
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

Everyone loves pictures of RAID controllers ...

https://www.franken-online.de/ymmv/pictures/ibmdac960p_a.jpeg https://www.franken-online.de/ymmv/pictures/ibmdac960p_b.jpeg https://www.franken-online.de/ymmv/pictures/ibmdac960p_c.jpeg

IBM DAC960 PCI, single flash ROM with version 2.43b IBM firmware.

I remember we discussed this topic at the beginning of the millennium.
It was reported that someone had flashed this controller with Mylex
firmware version 2.73 and gotten Debian running. https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware/search?q=dac960p

Oh my god, that was a long time ago.

My interest in PCI is limited, though. If I were a PCI enthusiast, I'd
be tinkering with a different system.

With a bit of luck, I'll find a working Corvette and install it in the
Server 520. I want to know if it can stream at 40 MB/s (that's what the
520 manual says, anyway) or if the last BIOS update has slowed it down.


#Am 02.02.26 um 22:56 schrieb Louis Ohland:

Q:  Is the DAC960LB supported?

A:  This is the model number of the battery backup shunt, not the
    adapter itself.  The D040 number (see above) can be used to
    determine the actual controller model number.

Louis Ohland wrote:

https://www.infania.net/misc/psref/scwbook.pdf

Page 3

  SCSI-2 Fast/Wide PCI RAID Adapter Savannah
Mylex / modification of DAC960P

Option
Adapter in PC Server 320 array
SCSI-2 Fast/Wide 16 bit / 20 MB/sec
PCI 32 bit / 132 MB/sec

RAID 0, 1, Hybrid 1, 5
4 independent (A,B,C,D) / 8 logical arrays
i960 at 25 MHz
PCI standard
Two (one internal; one internal or external)
Three total:
Two internal - 16 bit wide
One external - 16 bit wide
Can only use two connectors at any one time
14 per adapter (7 max per channel)
4 MB / 4 MB (with parity) 70 ns
One 72 pin socket
Write-through or write-back
June 1995 / April 1997
1 year
$ 1,840
94G2764

--- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

Am 03.02.26 um 00:41 schrieb Peter H. Wendt:

Still has its 12 HD configuration with a Raid-1 pair for the OS and two Raid-5 data arrays. Hadn't been powered for over a decade ...

Hi Peter,

My 520 came with five hard drives in a RAID 5 configuration. I can
imagine the racket twelve SCSI drives make along with the three enormous
case fans.

Nobody wants a workstation like that.

If it weren't such a fast machine with an MCA bus ...
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware/c/KxhTry9mGY0/m/pBFBIj3B9NwJ

Wolfgang Gehl wrote:

Am 03.02.26 um 00:41 schrieb Peter H. Wendt:

Still has its 12 HD configuration with a Raid-1 pair for the OS and
two Raid-5 data arrays. Hadn't been powered for over a decade ...

Hi Peter,

My 520 came with five hard drives in a RAID 5 configuration. I can
imagine the racket twelve SCSI drives make along with the three enormous case fans.

Nobody wants a workstation like that.

If it weren't such a fast machine with an MCA bus ...

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

Hi Wolfgang

There it is topping the list - in the previous configuration.
Later that year I'd altered it to 1 RAID-2 and 2 RAID-5 arrays, dropping
the spare drive. The latter two arrays are with 5 x 4.5GB drives.

My 520 came with five hard drives in a RAID 5 configuration. I can
imagine the racket twelve SCSI drives make along with the three enormous case fans.

Nobody wants a workstation like that.

It is running on the single supply - I once had the secondary installed
as well, but it adds another noisy fan and choked occasionally. While it
was not really needed power-wise I removed it. The drives are mostly
68-pin DCHS IIRC. Not too noisy compared with the DCRS or faster DGHS.

If it weren't such a fast machine with an MCA bus ...

Wonder if it would power up at all. I guess the CMOS battery has gone
south for long - and probably damaged the board. And there were these
dreaded SMD caps "en masse". Ooof !
--
Very friendly greetings from Peter in Germany
http://www.mcamafia.de/
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

Ahem ...

https://solidstatedisks.com/products/scsiflash/
--
Very friendly greetings from Peter in Germany
http://www.mcamafia.de/
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

Am 03.02.26 um 22:58 schrieb Wolfgang Gehl:

With a bit of luck, I'll find a working Corvette and install it in the Server 520. I want to know if it can stream at 40 MB/s (that's what the
520 manual says, anyway) or if the last BIOS update has slowed it down.

I found a Corvette Turbo (93H7896). As usual, there's a shortage of
suitable cables for the Wide SCSI port. Therefore, I'll borrow the SCSI
cable from an RS6K 3BT.

Before disabling the Adaptec AIC-7870 SCSI adapter, I'll build a
suitable kernel with optional support for either the Adaptec AIC-7870 or
the IBM MCA SCSI adapter.

Then I need to adjust the SCSI IDs: the hard drive from ID0 to ID6 and
the CD-ROM drive from ID6 to ID0. This will require disassembling and reassembling everything.

This way, it should work.

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

Am 06.02.26 um 20:25 schrieb Wolfgang Gehl:

Am 03.02.26 um 22:58 schrieb Wolfgang Gehl:
I found a Corvette Turbo (93H7896).

The LAD indicator on the spare 93H7896 flashes eight times, then stops,
and then the same thing happens again. This indicates an Internal SCSI Interface Test Failure. https://www.ardent-tool.com/IBM_SCSI/SCSI-FW.html#LED_Flash_Code

If my memory serves me correctly, I successfully tested the card in a
9595A. Too bad, it's probably broken.

I've now installed a 52G3380 from a running system. The microchannel
setup worked. Streaming is disabled by default, so I haven't changed
that yet.

The system boots and tries to load my IBMSCSI kernel. The attempt ends
with a kernel panic. Perhaps I should have selected CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL
for this kernel.

Next time better luck.

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