Unable to set on-board SCSI controller to boot Linux ahead of the Adaptec ASC - 29160LP adapter in the start up sequence - IBM eServer xSeries 345

Resolving The Problem

RETAIN tip: H001281

Unable to set on-board SCSI controller to boot Linux ahead of the Adaptec ASC - 29160LP adapter in the start up sequence.

The system may be any of the following IBM eServer systems:

• an IBM eServer xSeries 345, type 8670, any model

The system is configured with the following option(s):

• PCI Ultra160 SCSI adapter, option part number 19K4646, replacement part number (FRU) 06P2215

The following operating systems are affected:

• Red Hat Linux, version 7.1
• SUSE LINUX, version 7.3

The system has the symptom described above.

1. Start your server
2. Press Ctrl+A to enter the Adaptec SCSI Select Utility.
3. Press Enter to select the Adaptec ASC - 29160LP adapter
4. Select Configuration/View SCSI Controller Settings.
5. Select Advanced Configuration from Additional Options.
6. Select SCSI controller INT13 Support.
7. Select disabled: not scan.
8. Exit the the Adaptec SCSI Select Utility.
   
   

When certain versions and distributions of Linux are installed, configured with a PCI Ultra160 SCSI adapter controlling external hard disk drives, Linux uses the PCI bus scan order to set the enumeration of the SCSI devices. As the PCI Ultra160 SCSI adapter is installed using an earlier PCI bus, neither the boot priority setting in the System BIOS nor the Boot Device setting in the Adaptec BIOS prevents Linux from recognizing the external disks as the first device in the start up sequence ( /dev/sda) and so on.

WARNING: If the Linux boot partition is located on a hard disk drive other than /dev/sda, and all hard disk drives are not present when Linux is first installed, Linux will no longer boot, when new hard disk drives are installed. The hard disk drive that contains the boot partition will also be renamed.