IBM eserver xseries 360 linux problem - Hardware & Software

So a few weeks ago I was on ebay and just started searching for servers. I found a really good seller who was apparently cleaning out a server room of older hardware and was practically throwing away some ibm xseries servers. So for $50 I got an IBM eserver xseries 360, and a few days ago I got my 80pin SCSI drive with case. Now I decided I would put ubuntu server on it. The disk booted fine so I decided to do the "system recovery" thing just to see if I could get a terminal up and look around in proc for my drive, but it didn't even get that far. It kept failing while it was pulling some modules off of the CD and told me I had a bad MD5 checksum. I burnt a new disk slower speed, then downloaded it 3 different times from different sources and it still didn't work. I finally decided to get OpenSUSE on it just to get a terminal and OpenSUSE also didn't work. I did some research and found that some other people have had the same problem installing some of the different linux distros on it. My plan has been to do the following: - Do a standard ubuntu server install to a separate desktop - insert a live CD into the newly installed desktop and restart - add a 4GB usb drive - partition the thumb drive to whatever (ext3 or 4) - use dd to copy the contents of the drive through Gzip and onto the thumbdrive - find a distro that will successfully boot on my server to the point where I can get a prompt ( should also obviously have SCSI support or some SCSI drivers) - reboot the server in said distro with thumb drive plugged in - use dd and uncompress the image to the SCSI drive [img]http://pics.lapkosoft.com/IBM_xSeries360_Server_Front.jpg[/img] This should work, any help or insight would be appreciated, has anyone had any experience with the IBM servers that may have run into a similar problem?

Install Windows. :rolleyes:

You are going to have a hell of a time getting ubuntu to work on an eServer if you are attempting to boot from a live disc. Either you install on another box, then swap in and rebuild the kernel or try something else. Why not try [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_%28operating_system%29]Solaris[/url]? You can get it [url=http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/get.jsp#download]here[/url]. Edit: Actually, I might recommend you try Solaris simply due to the fact that in the past IBM actually gave you the option of either a Windows OS solution or a Solaris OS solution so there should be some additional support for your system under Solaris that the garden variety lunux distro lacks. EDIT, AGAIN: [url=http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl/data/systems/details/554.html]According to Oracle, yes, the 360 is indeed compatible with Solaris[/url]. Ignore the Solaris Subscription part. That's only if you want to open a service contract with Oracle ($$$).

[url]http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/lnxinfo/v3r0m0/index.jsp?topic=/liaab/concepts/lcon_xSeries_360.htm[/url] Don't know if it's useful though.

Install Linux via the OEM way... CLI.

[QUOTE=Pixel Heart;20104412]Install Linux via the OEM way... CLI.[/QUOTE] guessing you've never built a server OP: Have you updated BIOS/got appropriate controllers?

Solaris is the way to go here.

OpenSolaris would be a good choice.

You could try Fedora. Get the FC12 install DVD (attach a DVD drive if the server doesn't have one) and see if it will boot; Fedora has drivers for almost everything except wireless cards.

[QUOTE=Pixel Heart;20106005]OpenSolaris would be a good choice.[/QUOTE] What exactly is the difference between Solaris and OpenSolaris? They are both Unix-based and both are free.

[QUOTE=pentium;20118426]What exactly is the difference between Solaris and OpenSolaris? They are both Unix-based and both are free.[/QUOTE] Solaris makes you pay Sun's annual support contract. OpenSolaris has no such nonsense. But the patches are on hold for some reason.

Thanks for the comments! I'll use Solaris, I'm not at all picky about my Linux distros so I'll use whatever works best. OpenSUSE is apparently supported on the 360 but it just doesn't seem to be working. Time to DL for the next hour :P EDIT: I have not gotten any new BIOS, but I believe it is still fairly new. I recently got rescuecd to boot and partitioned my drive.

[QUOTE=Pixel Heart;20119851]Solaris makes you pay Sun's annual support contract. OpenSolaris has no such nonsense. But the patches are on hold for some reason.[/QUOTE] Really? I have been running the SPARC release of Solaris on an Enterprise 3000 server for two years now and they have never demanded money from me.

[QUOTE=pentium;20118426]What exactly is the difference between Solaris and OpenSolaris? They are both Unix-based and both are free.[/QUOTE] the cathedral and the bazaar is the difference, Sun and the community differ a bit these days don't listen to pixel heart (colossal misinformed sasquatch)