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Installing OS/2 WSeB on an IBM eServer xSeries 440 (x440)

Started by RobertM, 2009.10.17, 09:11:47

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RobertM

So, the IBM x440 is not IBM Certified to run OS/2 WSeB. Nonetheless, after checking for drivers and evaluating the hardware in the machine, I decided to give it a go.

Currently, the machine is set up with dual Xeon Pentium 4 2.4GHz DP CPUs in one SMP backplane with 4GB of RAM and active memory mirroring enabled (BIOS function - mirrors the memory so in the event of a module failure, there is no downtime until someone decides to replace the module) which reduced the available memory to 2GB. The server had it's ServeRAID controller removed before it was shipped to us, so currently, the SCSI drives are connected to the internal onboard Adaptec U160 controller (something I plan on rectifying later - read more on that below)

In order to install, I had to go into the BIOS and disable Hyperthreading (hopefully only for the install phase). Otherwise, during the install's format phase (using either WSeB or eCS 1.2MR), the system would do something with the drive (dunno what, but the drive light goes solid) and sit there forever, regardless of whether a quick or long format was selected. Once disabling Hyperthreading, all proceeded fine.

The other possibility is that WSeB and eCS 1.2MR will not install with 4GB installed in the machine (the only other change I made that got formatting working was cutting the memory available in half by enabling memory mirroring, which is transparent to the host OS).

Anyway, the machine is installing blazingly fast with only a few caveats:
- There is currently no network card support on the WSeB CDs (may be with eCS 1.2MR and later, but eCS 1.x does not include SMP support). Not a showstopper, as the drivers do exist and can even be found on IBM's site (Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit drivers)
- One probably cannot install WSeB on one of these without updating the CDs to include the ServeRAID 6M drivers (included in the ServeRAID 6.11 CD and on the 7.0 disks - but not on the 7.0 CD). It is possible that the older drivers will work, but I dont know. Regardless, no big issue as the drivers exist.

ADDED NOTE:
One note on this... some IBM docs state that OS/2 support is non-existent above v6.11 for the ServeRAID Suite. That is not true... at the very least, v7 exists - it simply comes in a separate package. Not a showstopper either as it is not needed on the CD. That just makes it convenient for having the ServeRAID Suite and the OS drivers on one disk instead of on two - either way, one needs to boot to OS/2 through some method (direct OS boot, boot off CD, etc) and copy the drivers onto the OS/2 boot drive. On that note, you CAN simply copy/overwrite the existing drivers while the machine is running and then reboot. They do not get locked.

WSeB properly recognized the presence of multiple CPUs (the x440 uses MP1.4 specs for SMP as opposed to the newer ACPI methods). Both the installer detected them, and the OS itself reports initializing both of my installed CPUs on bootup. (they will both soon be replaced by eight 2.7GHz MP CPUs).

ADDED NOTE:
Whether intentional or as an error, enabling HyperThreading did not increase the number of recognized CPUs. WSeB still sees only two after I re-enabled HT on the machine... perhaps the CPUs I am using dont have HT capabilities, or perhaps WSeB simply does not support it for that series CPU (though theoretically, per Intel, any OS that works with the correct MP specs properly - in this case, MP1.4 - should be able to use HT if the CPU supports it).



As for the NIC card and RAID controller, IBM provides drivers for both for OS/2 on their site or elsewhere, leaving nothing I could find unsupported (except maybe USB, which I have not tested yet, but suspect to work). The video card, like most IBM servers of this age or earlier, is based off an S3 chipset fully supported and properly detected during installation.




So, the following notes for anyone wishing a rock solid server for WSeB (or possibly eCS v2 or an earlier eCS with SMP option):
(1) You will need to either disable Hyperthreading for install, or have less than 4GB of RAM available (if I figure out which, I will let you know)


(2) The ONLY ServeRAID controller supported for this machine and OS/2 is the ServeRAID 6M U320 adapter

- (2a) You will need to update the install disks if you are using this as a boot controller

- (2b) It is a 64bit PCI-X 133MHz card - ONLY install it in Bus C or Bus D (the only 133MHz slots in the machine) if you want full use of it

- (2c) Actually, per various references, it is the ONLY ServeRAID controller supported by any OS for this machine - the 128MB cache version is pretty cheap on eBay, while the 256MB is mutiple times the price.


(3) You will need either (a) the Broadcom drivers for the internal NICs, or (b) to disable them and install other NICs

- (3a) You can simply install/bind all of the networking stuff to "No Network Adapter" during install, and install and rebind to the Broadcom drivers later


(4) If you get a model with Xeon DP processors, expect to only be able to use 2 or 4 CPUs. Two CPUs if you have one SMP backplane, four if you have both SMP backplanes. This is an Intel design issue/aspect, as only two DPs work in a machine. The x440 "cheats" and allows 4 with both SMP backplanes installed because each backplane acts almost like it's own computer as each has their own bus.

- (4a) You can always replace the DP CPUs with MP CPUs (over or at least 3.1GHz is supported) and populate ALL CPU sockets (4 or 8 depending on how many SMP backplanes you have). The price point (currently) for MP CPUs is at 2.7GHz or lower... anything higher is many times more expensive... and besides, eight 2.7GHz CPUs on an OS that scales to SMP so well is blazingly fast... I have 8 on order now to give me a total of over 21GHz CPU power.

- (4b) READ THE HARDWARE MANUAL AND INSIDE (the machine) LABELS CAREFULLY: DP CPUs *MUST* be installed in sockets 1 and 4, MP CPUs should be installed in socket order. EITHER requires a VRM module for each CPU.

- (4c) Memory should MATCH for each bank for each CPU for each SMP expansion module (again, read the label for bank ordering) and be in pairs of 4 per bank. ENSURE that the memory you select (assuming it does not come in the x440 you purchase or in the SMP expansion unit) is fully compatible... best bet, buy used IBM memory for this series from eBay. It IS special memory (high quality ECC registered DIMMs)


(5) Expect a COM.SYS and VCOM.SYS error during boot/install unless you have enabled or installed a COM port.


(6) Read the Setup and Installation Guide and Options Installation Guide for info on how and where to install additional options... the machine has multiple PCI-X buses... use them. Don't waste a high speed card by installing two bus intensive cards on the same bus. Instead, take advantage of the fact that this machine has multiple separate buses and install each in a different bus. For instance, the ServeRAID 6M controller should have it's own bus, as should probably any high speed NIC card (assuming for some reason you dont want to use the built in NICs).


(7) Like most IBM Servers with multiple power supplies, lots of hardware, multiple buses, lots of massive fans and SCSI, expect this thing to use a lot of power - and generate a lot of heat (actually measured in BTUs just like a room heater as it puts out that much). And recognize you need TWO power cords to run this beast.


(8} Expect the machine to be blazingly fast - heck, a FULL WSeB install took barely longer than it took for me to write this post. Boot time is pretty darn quick as well (for an IBM server with this much hardware to initialize... just over 60 seconds for full boot - or less time than the machine itself takes to perform it's POST tests, hardware detection and hardware initialization). Inotherwords, even at just over 60 seconds for OS boot, it's kinda irrelevant, because like all the big IBM servers, this machine does a ton of checks, scans and initialization that take quite some time - all before it even tries booting the OS. So, no matter what, you will never get this machine to boot quickly. Even a soft reset or reboot starts the entire hardware boot sequence at the beginning.

Performance, for the little bit of testing I have done since it just finished installing, also seems as expected.


Anyway, this install was simply for testing purposes. Once I have the ServeRAID 6M, I will be doing a full reinstall, re-enabling HT and all memory (and testing with 8GB just for the heck of it), and let you know how things are going...


I took a chance with this server (and whether or not it would run WSeB), because the performance reviews of it were phenomenal - even with Windows Server installed it manages near perfect CPU scaling due to it's multiple buses for everything (from CPUs to memory to PCI cards).

Best,
Rob


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RobertM

With Hyperthreading enabled, the machine reboots and loads fine...

Next will be installing Warpin, EMX and xWorkPlace, increasing the memory back to the original 8GB that came with the machine (and disabling memory mirroring), and seeing what happens.


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miturbide

Very interesting RobertM.

Which is the server part number (xxxx-xxx) ??
Martín Itúrbide
OS2World.com NewsMaster
Open Source Advocate

Skype - martiniturbide
Google Talk - martiniturbide@gmail.com

RobertM

Quote from: miturbide on 2009.10.17, 15:53:01
Very interesting RobertM.

Which is the server part number (xxxx-xxx) ??

IBM eServer xSeries 440
Type: 8687-3RX

Got this one for about $125 plus shipping (which was about the same cost due to weight). But that was almost 2 years ago (yeah, it's been sitting that long unused... sad, huh?)

Best,
Rob


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RobertM

With it's current 8GB installed and accessible, the machine boots fine and runs fine as well. Yeah, I know that WSeB only sees 4GB of it, but the test was to determine if it would run with all 8GB online.

Memory for these aren't that cheap, so this test shows if one buys an x440 with more memory, and cannot remove enough to make it 4GB or less, that the machine will still run. The thought being, since the memory needs to be populated in pairs of 4 per CPU, if I had the larger modules installed, I'd have 16GB and only be able to limit it to 8GB by memory mirroring. So, since getting the smaller memory would have been a decent sized added cost, I (well, any of you considering buying one) now know you can still run the machine with the banks populated as minimally as possible even if it exceeds 4GB. You may though have to remove enough CPUs and related memory to get below the 4GB mark for installing.

The suggested requirement is 1 full bank per CPU, with each such bank matching each other in every respect for maximum reliability and mirroring. If I recall how this series does this, memory is actually RAID mirrored. And again, if senility has not set in, on these machines, it is done by onboard (on the SMP backplane) RAID chips - while in the Netfinity 7000 M10 and related series, the RAID controllers/chips are on the memory DIMMs themselves.




And finally, the S3's video performance is blazingly slow ;)

But that should be expected from such a chip... the x440 is designed to be a high end server... not a high end workstation or gaming machine. I may try another video card and see if the BIOS' device table recognizes it and will run it. Regardless, though I will gain better video performance, it still wont be anything phenomenal since the system only has PCI-X slots (and I havent found a video card that takes advantage of such).

Before that, I may change from the IBM S3 GRADD drivers to SciTech SNAP and see what happens. Video performance on the Net700M10 definitely noticeably/drastically improved. Nothing phenomenal still, but the difference was very noticeable for certain things.


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RobertM

And a WARNING on configuration. This BIOS and chipsets actually monitor such things as OS boot. It DOES properly recognize that OS/2 has successfully booted - but in the event you do not allow the machine to properly boot (ie: YOU interrupt the boot sequence, or so on), the machine will RESET THE BIOS TO DEFAULTS on the third such occurrence.

Just something to keep in mind in the event, like me, you cause something to happen that creates a 3 reset/no boot scenario (I kept missing the CTRL-A SCSI message which I was trying to get to so I could do a media verify on the second hard drive, so I kept C-A-D'ing the system during the Warp boot process - which the server correctly recognized as "OS started booting and failed" (paraphrased explanation))... expect to have to go back into the BIOS and change things back to how you wanted them (the machine will tell you it has done so, btw - and log the problem and action it took to it's logs).


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Fahrvenugen

Thanks so much for your post!

I'm always on the lookout for server hardware that is known to work will with OS/2, especially when you can often pick up a slightly older server for little cost, add Warp, and have it run circles around the newest stuff out there.

Thanks again!

RobertM

Quote from: Fahrvenugen on 2009.10.18, 18:51:20
Thanks so much for your post!

I'm always on the lookout for server hardware that is known to work will with OS/2, especially when you can often pick up a slightly older server for little cost, add Warp, and have it run circles around the newest stuff out there.

Thanks again!


Any time! And fast indeed! I dont know what the highest CPU speed is that it supports, but I suspect it is any Xeon MP with the same core/design as the 2.4GHz models... at the very least, I know the 3.1GHz is reported to work (ie: I haven't tested it, but others have and reported success).

That means the machine can have a total of 24.8GHz CPU power internally. Theoretically (something I cannot afford to test right now), two of these beasts can be chained together via their special fiber channel connectors (the cables cost a lot, hence I will probably never try this) meaning a total of 16 CPUs, and at least 49.6GHz total CPU power.

Regardless, even if OS/2 does not work on a "two systems chained together as one" this box can still handle eight 3.1GHz (or higher) P4 Xeon MP CPUs for amazingly fast speeds.


My next test will be trying to get a video card to work in it... as noted earlier, the S3 stuff is really slow; and while servers generally dont suffer from such, I kinda like having a usually useless (ie: if there are no problems or weird traffic going on) display of various stats from the OS and various server apps running. With the slow refresh rates and such on the S3, I dont wanna even try that.


Here's the criteria for a different video card:
(1) It has to be PCI (AGP not supported)
(2) It has to be recognized as a video card by the IBM BIOS & system initialization programs
(3) It's resources (address, IRQ, etc) must be changeable as/if needed by the IBM BIOS & system initialization programs


I've got an ATI PCI dual head card I am going to try, followed by some older Matrox dual head cards. Will let you all know.

Rob


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miturbide

RobertM. Do you want to include the info on the wiki?

I had created a page with some templates on the OS2WOrld.com Wiki.

http://www.os2world.com/wiki/index.php/IBM_eServer_xSeries_440

(Note: You require to register on that page)
Martín Itúrbide
OS2World.com NewsMaster
Open Source Advocate

Skype - martiniturbide
Google Talk - martiniturbide@gmail.com

RobertM

Hey Martin,

Definitely - but as soon as I have thoroughly tested the machine and installed the available drivers to ensure that all does indeed work as it should. Only playing with it at the moment as I am waiting on the rest of the components (some are upgrades, like the CPU; some are replacements for missing ones, like the ServeRAID 6M card).

-Rob


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RobertM

Cost of this machine was over $20,000 as configured when new. FAR more for the 8-Way Xeon MP populated versions. My cost was about $250 including shipping (shipping was as much as the machine) - and I have seen them ranging from $125-$1000 on eBay. At either end of that range, it's a worthy purchase.


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Blonde Guy

I built an eServer, too. They are pretty nice. I won't use one myself, because the noise is more than I can bear, and because the electricity for the computer costs $0.09 per hour. Add it up, and I can have a new computer for a lot less. The new computer, running a Pentium Core 2 Duo and standard SATA drive, will be quite comparable in speed.

But if the noise is not a concern and you live in a place with cheap electricity, then look into this machine. It is really nice. It's big, black, high quality. This machine will make an impression on people.
Expert Consulting for OS/2 and eComStation

RobertM

Quote from: Blonde Guy on 2009.10.21, 15:20:21
I built an eServer, too. They are pretty nice. I won't use one myself, because the noise is more than I can bear, and because the electricity for the computer costs $0.09 per hour. Add it up, and I can have a new computer for a lot less. The new computer, running a Pentium Core 2 Duo and standard SATA drive, will be quite comparable in speed.

To 21GHz of CPU power and separate buses for each device? As for the price, we just bought our second x440 for a whopping $99 (plus freight) which should cost about $100 more. All a matter of finding the correct deal.

Yeah folks, sorry I didnt post the link to the $99 one (fully operational, with drives and all no less), but I was in the process of clicking "Buy it Now" when I found them all. The only drawback on it was it was missing it's faceplate... something I rectified for an additional $40.

- Quad MP CPUs

- ServeRAID 4Mx controller
- ServeRAID 4M controller (both of these work in the x440, but were not on IBM's newest compatibility list)
--- Their pages on IBM say both are also supported by OS/2, meaning these are a cheaper (if slower: U160) solution

- 12GB RAM
- (2) U160 18GB drives
- Intel Pro100/1000MT NIC
- Intel Pro100/1000MT Dual Port NIC

For that, I'd gladly live without the bezel, but fortunately one (and only one at the time I looked) was available at a reasonable price.



The first x440 cost us under $180 (plus freight). If you guys want one of these, keep an eye out for deals. The 11 server lot is a great deal for anyone with the time (and money) to buy them, fix em up and resell whatever quantity they dont want. They come down to about $130 a piece.


Quote from: Blonde Guy on 2009.10.21, 15:20:21
But if the noise is not a concern and you live in a place with cheap electricity, then look into this machine. It is really nice. It's big, black, high quality. This machine will make an impression on people.

LoL... mine quiet down considerably when the room is in the 60-70 degree range. Just a gentle hum. When you first turn it on, or when the office reaches the 80's (if the AC for instance is accidentally turned off), it sounds like someone is running a leaf blower in here. No, seriously it gets that loud.

As for the electricity, yeah... 300-500W. But worth it for that CPU power - and about in line with what a decent home brew server uses (if not less). We just measured the x440 the day before yesterday, and it runs on under 400W (even though it has dual 1050W power supplies). Of course, AC running 24/7 bumps up that electric usage a bit... but we save some money back in the winter when we use absolutely no heat in the office (it's a detached structure, so gains no heat from anything but the servers themselves). Last year, the Netfinity 7000 M10 managed to heat the office all by itself, and better than a 1500W ceramic heater managed (at less power used no less). This year, I suspect that with the addition of the x440, it will be very toasty in here.


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RobertM

One note: it is far cheaper (or seems to be whenever I have checked) to pick up one of these that has either very few CPUs, or Xeon DP CPUs and then buy new CPUs, the second SMP expansion unit and VRMs separately. Getting an 8-way Xeon MP version is about 3-5 times the price of doing it yourself.



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