[hupcey]

We are running AIX 5.3 from a single hard drive, and also have a RAID 5 array for data. Things started getting errors and hanging when referencing the rootvg drive. We couldn't even issue shutdown. Powered off the system and tried to run diagnostics and look at error logs. Nothing about the hard drive in the log. We don't have an HMC, just the "Advanced System Management" session over Ethernet. And of course the silly front panel buttons. No matter what I set via these, I can't get the system to boot the Diagnostics CD-ROM. It does go into AIX diagnostics (on the graphics screen) after boot, but this version refuses to exercise "hdisk0" which looks like the single 73GB hard drive. The RAID disks seem to be labeled "pdisk0, pdisk1...pdisk7" (or something like that). The message when I try to run "certify media" on hdisk0 implies that it is in use and I need to boot standalone diagnostics from the CD.

I have tried EVERY combination of settings. It either goes into the AIX diagnostics from the hard drive, or displays AA00E1F3. Can someone please tell me how to do this? Even if I buy a new hard drive, I still have to figure out how to boot the AIX install CDs or from the network!

[ross.mather]

Put CD 1 in the CD-ROM drive and then boot from that when you get to the SMS menu.

Why oh why would you have all your data saved redundantly on a SAN but not have your Operating system stored redundantly in the case of a hard disk failure? If anyone starts to talk about money - point out how much your time has cost in fixing this compared to the cst of a second hard disk?

The error code AA00E1F3 means that a password is needed to access the SMS menu.

[hupcey]

I never see the SMS menu displayed! These are my settings to get the CD to boot:

System boot speed: Fast
System operating mode: Normal
AIX/Linux partition mode boot: Boot to SMS menu prompt Boot to system
i5/OS partition mode boot: A

The display hooked to the graphics card never gets any video. I tried typing what I think is the password on the USB-attached keyboard and hitting Enter, but nothing happens. How do I see the SMS menu???

Oh, and I originally wanted the boot disk to be part of the RAID array, but I/T said it wasn't supported(?) At this point I'd just be happy to find out if the disk is bad and should be replaced or if something else is wrong.

[hupcey]

We were finally able to get the diagnostic CD booted. It required setting up a serial console and getting to the SMS menu to choose the boot order. This was not as easy as it sounds. Along the way we had to:
- Change the speed of serial port 1 (to 19200) via service processor.
- Remove the Fibre Channel PCI adapter.
- Build a special null modem adapter cable.
- Fool around with the power-on/boot settings.
- When the pSeries startup screens came up on the serial console, I didn't need an SMS password (no error code AA00E1F3 anymore).

In the end, the diagnostics ran clean for hdisk0, we rebooted AIX and everything seems fine. Maybe it just needed a power cycle!

But I feel better now that I know how to boot a CD and have a serial console in addition to the graphics console.

[ross.mather]

Why did you need to remove the Fibre Channel Adapter? Just being nosy if that may be the source of the problem.

[hupcey]

With the fibre channel adapter installed we would only get a single line (from the Emulex LP11000 Bios?) on the serial console and never get anything else. It didn't matter if the fibre was attached or a loop-back plug was installed. As soon as we removed that adapter, the normal boot messages would appear.

So, yes, I really think that was (one of) our problem(s).