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Dual Xeons bring no joy.

Started by ddan, 2008.10.06, 22:12:55

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ddan

I'm attempting to install OS/2 on a Fujitsu-Siemens server with Dual 2.4G Hyperthread Xeons.
Had some problems with memory, which MAY still be present, though PCLinuxOS installs and runs just fine (15 minutes from CD boot to HD boot!), and MemTest86 didn't find any errors.

Problem with OS/2 isn't subtle: CP2 CD doesn't even get to the boot blob! W4 from floppies gets only to 2nd diskette, then a trap D.

I've tried all standard BIOS conflict items and specific to Xeons: another CD drive, turning off everything non-necessary in BIOS, including Hyperthreading and disabling 2nd CPU. Nothing affects symptom (with CP2), just doesn't get anywhere. I'm looking for more options such as turning off CPU cache, but may not be able to.

<a bit later> Hmm. Is there some difference between CP2 client and server? Because the client gets all the way to normal partitioning stage (haven't gone further because went to get another drive to experiment on...).


From the Linux tests, this system looks really fast, isn't too noisy, and doesn't even run very hot, so I'm hoping to use it for my main system with OS/2.

I can fairly easily clone a drive if anyone thinks that's the route.

Saijin_Naib

You will probably need the SMP kernel and ACPI or the OS2APIC drivers in order to boot, or disable ACPI in the Computer's BIOS to install w4, then re-enable it later to get back the two CPU support plus the two HT virtual CPUs. I'd venture a guess that eCS RC5 would probably work fine on it and that would confirm the need for ACPI of some revision or another. Be aware that ACPI is NOT licensed for use with Warp but only with eCS. If you wish to test the latest ACPI to see if it solves your install issue, you know how to contact me...

MrJinx

I just got a Dell Percission 670 workstation, Dual Xeon processors. SATA drives. If the device uses SATA, You'll never get it to install using MCP2 without modifying the boot disks to use the latest DANI IDE drivers. eCS 2.0 B5 already has this covered. I haven't loaded the machine yet, But will in the next few days. If successful, I'll let you know.

Saijin_Naib

Another good point MrJinx, I had forgotten about DANI's. Gives you an idea of how prolific they are though, I had forgotten that they power every install I have and that there is in fact, another IDE driver from IBM.

ddan

Thanks for the replies. Problem SEEMED to be memory, though I tested it after PCLinux installed, and same symptom. SO then I went with the Client version, which WORKED.
<LONG pause to meditate.> Then, tried WSEB again, and went fine, is running.

By the by, it's SCSI HD (320s!), but using the internal LSI controller (160) for now. So the Dani drivers are no help.

BUT still have only one-fourth joy! Now it doesn't want to install SMP. Tells me to point it to path with "manufacturer specific" .PSD, and I have none (as yet). The Google found me a probably similar Primergy F260 (mine is F250) that IBM CERTIFIED to work with OS2APIC.PSD, which of course I have.

Tried setting Multiprocessing to 1.1 in BIOS. Same. Tried turning off 2nd CPU and HyperThreading. Same. So I'm going to look into this ACPI thing, thanks Saijin -- or at least I HOPE...

<philosophical aside> Some problems can't be fixed until you've yelled for help. Perfect example here: whatever memory problems there were seemed to just disappear the second I posted the first here.

ddan

#5
AHAH. Refer to philosophical point of previous. Apparently I turned APIC off in BIOS while flailing around.

But have only TWICE the joy of before, so my question ends up as: does HyperThreading count as processors? That's what I thought, so I feel cheated! (Even though I got this box for free!) BIOS screen says 4 CPUs; OS/2 reports only 2 processors initialized, as CPU monitor shows also.

Can anyone field this? (Haven't found anything explicit on The Google, murky area...)

PS: I'm not confused between ACPI and APIC, just found the latter disabled going through BIOS again.

Saijin_Naib

Technically HT counts as a logical CPU and will show up as another CPU in OS/2 (or does here on my Single HT CPU setup) with a gain of about 13-14% performance over HT-disabled. So, you have SMP kernel installed of the latest revision correct? You will need ACPI driver or possibly the OS/2 driver to enable the second CPU (which is likely why you are only seeing 2 CPUs, probably the first Physical CPU and it's logical HT CPU). Some combination of switches will be required, for me its /SMP on the eCS ACPI.PSD statement.

ddan

Hmm. No change with "/SMP" or "/APIC" switches.

This from The Google: "you get thread-level parallelism on each processor" implies that it doesn't count as double the number of CPUs.

But the Wiki has "A processor with Hyper-Threading enabled is treated by the operating system as two processors instead of one."

Then almost contradicts it:
"Hyper-threading relies on support in the operating system as well as the CPU. Conventional multiprocessor support is not enough to take advantage of hyper-threading."

So still don't know whether WSEB is counting "all" processors; the 30% increase isn't in line with OS/2's direct scaling, given that specialized apps are implied.

Meanwhile, much else to do. -- By the by, original problem seems due to TWO of four memory sticks going bad at once, which I just couldn't believe, and somehow didn't hit on the right combination in swapping. Otherwise, an exceptionally nice box, with good control of fan speed by the BIOS, lowers their speed soon after power-on.

Saijin_Naib

Well, take this for instance. Windows 2k Pro does not actually support HT, but it will still show my setup as a dual CPU setup. This same behavior goes for eCS with the SMP kernel of the latest revision in conjunction with the latest APM/ACPI package from the Mensys Betazone. I'd assume that W4 would be able to support the HT logical CPU in much the same way as eCS and 2k Pro did as treating it as a separate physical CPU. Have you looked into the other ACPI switches? Sometimes it's necessary to use the /!NOD switch though I'm not sure what it corresponds to. I used it on my friends ATI/AMD X64 setup to stop ACPI conflicts.

ddan

Still ambiguated. Turning off hyperthreading in BIOS leaves me with 2 processors, only changes what BIOS reports just before going to the HD. "/P=4" on the OS2APIC.PSD line didn't help, either. Since I don't have anything later, guess I'm stymied for now, will just console myself that I have twice as many CPUs over there as here, and each is probably twice as fast as this 1.6G core AMD, too.

Haven't tried a new kernel either (have the latest SMP 104 around somewhere), but will wait while I dither over whether to use the Adaptec 3000s controller, that I assume is RAID, but doesn't seem to appear on their site.

ddan

Whew. The RAID controller seems to be flaky too; won't reliably recognize even the two drives which I KNOW to be good because have installed on them, though will assume that the two which flash continually and the one which has a steady green are bad. For now, I refuse to believe that I don't know how to plug drives into an SCA rack and have them show up on the scan list, but that's the symptoms I get. Tried all combinations of racks and channels with same results, usually only one of up to 3 drives is listed, whether re-scan is started from software, hard reset, or powered down for a minute. But the on-board LSI controller recognizes and spins up the 3 drives, and WSEB on one still boots.

Anyhoo, title of this thread is still apt. I'm sure you're all breathlessly awaiting my next report, but at the moment, I'm a little low on humor.