[KLUG Members] New SCSI card, new issues

[Adam Williams]

> Hey ho. I just bought, or CARES did, an Adaptec 29160 and a 20GB DAT
> drive. It works fine, I tested it when I installed it, but I have a boot
> issue. The HP 8660C (I think that number is correct) server sees the
> card with an Expansion ROM module and gags, asking to press F1 to go to
> BIOS setup or F2 to continue booting. Obviously, the latter works fine,
> but that dumb question hangs the boot process until someone wanders into
> the server closet and punches F2.
> I'm guessing, based on my experience with the 2940, that the Expansion
> ROM is either a boot utility or a mini-card BIOS that tells you the
> state of the drives upon power-up. (I don't see any Adaptec or SCSI info
> upon boot, either.) Perhaps the motherboard doesn't do BBS (BIOS Boot
> Specification), though it has a Select Boot Device Order option.
> (Though, obviously, I don't want anything booting off the SCSI card.)
> The Ethernet card also has a disabled Expansion ROM, but that has never
> halted the boot process. I read the 29160 User's Reference but that
> didn't mention the Expansion ROM.
> 1. How do I tell the card not to, how do I say this, advertise the
>    Expansion ROM?

Usually what you want to do is go into the card setup/boot screen (by
pressing Ctrl-A?), and then disable the cards BIOS.  You don't need the
BIOS active unless you want to boot off a drive attached to the card.

> As I said, this is not much of a problem, as this system has massive
> uptimes, but I don't want to be on vacation in the middle of nowhere
> when the UPS finally runs out of power during an outage leaving everyone
> in the building too scared to push a button. And telling people how to
> handle it simply guarantees those people won't be there that day. ;-)

I know the feeling.