Topic: Urgent: Server mainboard dead. need advice

[irian]

Hello,

Our server all of a sudden froze. It has not been able to start normally since then.
I replaced about everything except the processor and the Mainboard.
It is impossible to enter the BIOS not even after a clear CMOS.

It runs SME 7.2 with 4 SATA disks in RAID5 configuration.
Is it possible to replace the mainboard with another model than is installed at the moment, without SME wanting to format the disks.
Will it be possible to install the new mainboard, then boot from SME 7.3 CD, and then perform an upgrade of the existing installation?
Will it detect the 7.2 version on the disks that?

Any comments advice and experience is greatly appreciated.

[cactus]

Hello,

Our server all of a sudden froze. It has not been able to start normally since then.
I replaced about everything except the processor and the Mainboard.
It is impossible to enter the BIOS not even after a clear CMOS.

It runs SME 7.2 with 4 SATA disks in RAID5 configuration.
Is it possible to replace the mainboard with another model than is installed at the moment, without SME wanting to format the disks.
Will it be possible to install the new mainboard, then boot from SME 7.3 CD, and then perform an upgrade of the existing installation?
Will it detect the 7.2 version on the disks that?

Any comments advice and experience is greatly appreciated.

Booting from a 7.3 and than upgrading should work AFAIK as long as the raid array is recognized on the new MB. As things can always go wrong during an upgrade I hope you have a recent backup of the system... if not perhaps you can first try booting in rescue mode and try to copy important data to a USB disk or something like that.

[irian]

We have a backup on tape of the most important data.
I cannot boot into any mode, it doesn't even get through the BIOS.

Thanks for your answer.

[cactus]

We have a backup on tape of the most important data.
I cannot boot into any mode, it doesn't even get through the BIOS.

Thanks for your answer.

I understood that already.Perhaps my writing was not as clear as it should have been: I meant first boot into rescue mode when everything is connected to the new mainboard before upgrading.

[irian]

Yep, I misunderstood your writing.

Another question?
The RAID5 is software-raid (not controlled by the onboard sata-raid controller).
The new board will (likely) have a different chipset for SATA.
Will that give problems?
I assume SME will see the SATA ports and load the drivers for it.
Then hopefully will also recognize the the RAID5 array.

Can I boot with a livecd (Knoppix or so) and then access the data on the disks and copy it over the network to another drive in a PC?

Irian

[CharlieBrady]

Our server all of a sudden froze. It has not been able to start normally since then.
...
It is impossible to enter the BIOS not even after a clear CMOS.

That part of your problem has nothing to do with SME server.

Is it possible to replace the mainboard with another model than is installed at the moment, without SME wanting to format the disks.
Will it be possible to install the new mainboard, then boot from SME 7.3 CD, and then perform an upgrade of the existing installation?
Will it detect the 7.2 version on the disks that?

Yes, yes and yes.

[irian]

Hi Charlie,

I never implied that it has something to do with SME.
The hardware is faulty.

Thanks for the yes-es.
That is encouraging!

Irian

[idp_qbn]

Just to reinforce Charlie's advice:
My SME server's motherboard recently died. I took the motherboard out and replaced it with another (not the same brand), connected the  old disks and rebooted. The server has been working perfectly for the last 7 weeks since then.

You should be able to do something similar....get a new (or newer) box, install the disks from your RAID set and reboot.

Backup everything again as soon as you get it running, of course

Good luck

Ian

[irian]

The server is back up and running perfectly.

I replaced the motherboard this morning.
Booted from the 7.3 cd and it found the 7.2 installation on the disks.
Performed an upgrade and all worked fine again.

Thank you very much for your replies.
I appreciate it a lot, and you were a big help.

SME is an excellent OS!

Greetings
Irian