IBM Advanced SerialRAID/X Adapter - LL05 NT Boot Package - Installation Instructions Last Updated - 16th December 1999 NT Installation package for the IBM Advanced SerialRAID/X Adapter ================================================================= This package consists of the following files: Readme.txt This file which contains detailed instructions about how to install NT onto SSA disks drives that are attached to the IBM Advanced SerialRAID/X Adapter. txtsetup.oem halapic.tag You also need: 1. A blank diskette 2. The file HALAPIC.DLL from your Windows NT Service Pack 5 CDs. If you no longer have these CDs, you can download the Service Pack from the Microsoft support Web site at: http://www.microsoft.com . 3. A copy of DOS so that you can FDISK and FORMAT a partition on the SSA disk resource. 4. The latest version of SSA NT Device Driver (Version 1.08 or later), on diskette. You can create this diskette from the NT SSA Device Driver package that is on the SSA Customer Support Web site at: http://www.storage.ibm.com/hardsoft/products/ssa 5. The latest level of microcode for the IBM Advanced SerialRAID/X Adapter (level 2600 or later). You can get this microcode from the SSA Customer Support Web site. Supported Configurations ======================== This installation is supported for the following configurations of SSA disk drives that are attached to the IBM Advanced SerialRAID/X Adapter: System disks (JBODs) one-way or two-way RAID-0 one-way RAID-1 one-way or two-way RAID-5 one-way or two-way RAID-10 one-way or two-way ***** PLEASE TAKE NOTE ! ***** Note: The disk drive or array that you use for the NT system partition MUST NOT be an SSA Fast Write resource. Note: It is STRONGLY recommended that you do not place the NT system partition on a RAID 5 array. The reason is due to the write performance penalty inherent in RAID 5, which will adversely affect the paging performance of the operating system. For the same reason you should not create paging files on any other SSA RAID 5 arrays that you may create. Note: In cluster mode (two-way) the disk drive or array onto which NT is being installed should be configured as "Private" to the machine that is booting from this disk drive or array. The NT boot partition cannot be shared between machines ! Use the DOS Text Configurator, ISSACFG, to configure the boot disk or array before you instal Windows NT. You should use the latest version of DOS Text Configurator which is available in the DOS Adapter Microcode package on the SSA Customer Support Web site. Installing NT on the IBM Advanced SerialRAID/X Adapter ====================================================== Scope ===== These instructions are for customers who want to install Windows NT Server V4.0 onto an SSA disk drive that is attached to an IBM Advanced SerialRAID/X adapter (09L2123). The instructions are not required if the customer is booting Windows NT from another disk subsystem attached to the same machine. Background ========== When the Advanced SerialRAID/X adapter was announced, support for booting Windows NT from SSA disk drives attached to this adapter was excluded because of issues with the HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) code supplied with the Windows NT installation media. IBM has now developed a procedure which removes this restriction. The details of how to use this procedure are given below. BEFORE STARTING PLEASE ENSURE YOU HAVE ALL THE FILES YOU REQUIRE. Outline ======= There are seven main steps involved: 1. Prepare the necessary diskettes. 2. Prepare the PC for installation. 3. Upgrade the microcode on the Advanced SerialRAID/X adapter, and configure the SSA disk drives. 4. Create and format a DOS Boot partition on your SSA resource. 5. Install Windows NT. Introduce an updated version of the HAL during the normal installation procedure. 6. Install Service Pack 5 (the minimum level of NT Service Pack that is needed to operate the Advanced SerialRAID/X adapter). 7. If the Intel Server is a multiprocessor machine, upgrade the installed software to the multiprocessor version. Note: If you have an existing installation with NT Server (at Service Pack 5) on a RAID 5 array that is attached to an IBM SSA RAID adapter (32H3811) or to an IBM SSA SerialRAID adapter (0912084), you can transfer it to an Advanced SerialRAID/X adapter (if the array meets the configuration rules for the Advanced SerialRAID/X). However do this ONLY after you have done the adapter microcode upgrade (step 1). Please note we do not recommend the use of RAID 5 for the NT System Disk because of performance. Details ======= This section describes fully the steps given in the Outline section: 1. Prepare the necessary diskettes. a. Obtain the updated Uniprocessor HAL for your computer from the Microsoft Windows NT Service Pack 5 CD. Copy this file to a blank diskette, and add the files txtsetup.oem, and halapic.tag that are provided with these instructions. If your server uses a different uniprocessor HAL DLL from "halapic.dll" also edit txtsetup.oem, and change the line which begins: "hal = d1, ..." to point to the HAL file that your computer uses. Note: At this time, all supported Intel Servers use the halapic.dll file. Note: If your computer is a multiprocessor server use the uniprocessor HAL for installation, and then follow step 7 to upgrade to a multiprocessor HAL. b. If required, download the latest microcode (level 2600 or later) for the adapter from the SSA Customer Support Web site: http://www.storage.ibm.com/hardsoft/products/ssa c. Have available the latest version (1.08 or later) of the NT SSA Device Driver diskette. The latest version is on the SSA Customer Support Web site. d. Have available a copy of DOS, so that you can FDISK and FORMAT a boot partition before installing NT. 2. Prepare the PC for installation. a. Detach or disable any SCSI, IDE, or other non-SSA devices in the Server (other than the CD-ROM and diskette drive). b. Install the IBM Advanced SerialRAID/X adapter into one of the PCI slots. If your machine hardware manual describes PCI slot priority, this adapter should be in a higher-priority slot than any other storage device which may be installed later. c. Attach the SSA disk drives to the adapter, and power them on. 3. Upgrade the microcode on the Advanced SerialRAID/X adapter, and configure the SSA disk drives. a. The level required is 2600 or above. The microcode should be installed under DOS. Instructions for using ISSAADLD to install the microcode are in the README.NOW file that is contained in the microcode download package for DOS. This package is on the SSA Customer Support Web site. b. Insert the bootable DOS microcode upgrade diskette in the Server and power on. During the power-on sequence the Advanced SerialRAID/X adapter displays a banner. If the banner states that the CBIOS is disabled, enable the CBIOS by pressing the Tab key. c. Run ISSACFG to configure the SSA disk drives attached to the Advanced SerialRAID/X adapter. Instructions for using the configurator are included with the adapter. When the resource onto which NT is to be installed is attached as a System Resource, ensure that its Resource ID is 1. d. Use your DOS boot diskette to reboot the Server. During the power up process, the Advanced SerialRAID/X adapter displays the line "Attached devices...". The number displayed at the end of the line should be "80". If it is not, then rerun ISSACFG to correct the disk configuration. 4. Create and format a DOS Boot partition on your SSA resource. a. Using your copy of DOS, create a boot partition. It is recommended that you use FDISK to create a 1GB partition. Make this the active partition, reboot, and then FORMAT the partition under DOS. 5. Install Windows NT. Introduce an updated version of the HAL during the normal installation procedure. a. Install the NT Server V4.0 setup diskette 1, and reboot the Server. b. The Advanced SerialRAID/X banner is displayed, followed by the message: "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration" Press F5 when the message appears. c. The following message appears: "Windows NT Setup ================= Setup could not determine the type of computer you have, or you have chosen to manually specify the computer type. Select the computer type from the following list, or select "Other" if you have a device support disk provided by your computer manufacturer." Select "Other" and, when prompted, insert the diskette that contains the updated Uniprocessor HAL for your computer. d. When the HAL has been read, proceed with the installation. You are asked if you want to install any storage devices. Press "s" twice, and when asked to insert the Manufacturer's OEM diskette, insert the latest SSA driver/installation diskette into the diskette drive (the latest version is available from the SSA Customer Support Web site). e. The display will return to the "search for devices" panel. Press "s", scroll up, and select the appropriate CD-ROM driver for your server. f. Proceed with the installation, and install NT on the 1GB partition that you created earlier. NT might not accept the partition that was created under DOS. Under this condition delete and create the partition within the NT installion process. It is recommended that you format with FAT. g. Proceed with the installation. At the point where networking is installed, it is recommended that you select: "Do not connect this computer to a network at this time." Complete the network installation after Service Pack 5 has been installed (step 6). See the section: "Network Installation" at the end of this file. h. Complete the installation of NT Server V4.0. 6. Install Service Pack 5 (the minimum level of NT Service Pack that is needed to operate the IBM Advanced SerialRAID/X adapter). a. Install Service Pack 5 onto the Server. 7. If the Intel Server is a multiprocessor machine, upgrade the installed software to the multiprocessor version. a. If your machine has more than one Intel processor installed, the HAL and associated code must be upgraded to the multiprocessor version. b. Before following this procedure it is recommended that you read the articles: Q156358 "How to manually add support for a second processor" Q197896 "Uptomp.exe requires access to the Txtsetup.sif file" from the Microsoft support Web site. c. Microsoft provide the Uptomp.exe code on the Windows NT Resource Kit (in the directory i386\config). If you do not have access to this follow the process described in article Q156358. Otherwise follow the steps below: d. Create a temporary directory on the NT boot partition, and copy into it all the files from the \i386 directory of the Service Pack 5 CD. e. Create another temporary directory and copy all the uptomp*.* files from the Resource Kit. f. Copy the file Txtsetup.sif into both of these directories from the \i386 directory of the NT Installation CD. g. Run uptomp.exe, and when it prompts for a directory containing the HAL, point to the directory that you created in (d). Select the correct Multiprocessor HAL for your Server (for example the correct Multiporcessor HAL on IBM Netfinity Servers is MPS Multiprocessor PC). h. When you are asked to install NT files, again point to the directory that you created in (d). Network Installation When networking is not installed until after SP5 has been applied, and the server is eventually added to an NT domain, the Domain Admins global group is not automatically added to the local adminstrators group. This means that if a domain admininstrator tries to log on to the server a message appears that says: "The local policy of this system does not permit you to log on interactively." To solve this problem log on as the local administrator and add the global Domain Admins group to the local Administrators group. Note: To ensure that all components are up to date, remember to reinstall the Service Pack after installing Networking.