No Netware partitions found

[JBruyet]

Hey all,

First, I'm a Windows guy without much experience in working with Netware. I have two Novell servers running 5.1. One is production server and one is for "testing" purposes. They are both Compaq Proliants. My "test" server recently had a problem where it had booted up to a colon ) and nothing else. I rebooted and it did the same thing. I thought maybe it had a slight glitch so I ran VREPAIR, but VREPAIR said it coulnd't find a Netware partition. Nothing was changed on the server. No software installed, no service pack, nothing.

I'm going to reinstall the software this evening, but I'm wondering if I should be concerned about the production server. I'm sure this was just a random event, but is there anything I should be looking for on the other server?

Thanks,

Joe Brouillette

 

[marvhuffaker]

It's not Windows. You probably don't need to reinstall.

Check and see if CPQRAID.HAM or CPQARRAY.HAM are loaded, (assuming a RAID). Do this by typing "MODULES CPQRAID" at the prompt. If it's loaded, it will report its name and version number etc. If one of them is not loaded, try loading them manually and see what happens.

You should also down the server (from where you're at), and look at the C:\NWSERVER\STARTUP.NCF file and see if contains several lines, some of which load a .HAM driver.

Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[JBruyet]

Thanks for the tip marvhuffaker, but I've already reloaded Netware. I was able to reinstall it without any trouble. The problem "feels like" just a random event. I've already done some testing by copying a couple of gigs of files in one fell swoop without any trouble. I guess I should have waited a little longer before I reinstalled the OS, and I guess that comes from being a Windows guy.

Thanks again,

Joe Brouillette

 

[ITsmyfault]

Joe - for next time (if it happens again) go to support.novell.com and search the knowledgebase for TID# 10018811 This describes the process of stage loading a Netware server and finding the actual problem. Netware boots from a DOS partition and a number key files are located here. It sounds as if your server never was able to mount the SYS volume and it stalled (notice how it did not crash though..) The HAM, CDM, and other hardware drivers are located in c:\nwserver\drivers If you want to take a look at what's there, from the console and type "DOSFAT" (no quotes) this will mount the DOS partition and you can map it from a workstation \\myserver\dosfat_c
When you stage load the server, you will see the actual error occur and chances are you can just replace the one file you need or whatever and be back up and running in minutes esp since you have another server that is the same (and working..) to compare notes with or copy files from.. In windows a re-install is the answer bc they don't allow this kind of boot control, this comes from the mainframe world, and MSFT comes from the PC world. Just different philosophies and ways of approaching problems.
I would get on the Novell support forums (they are free) and see if there is a bug with your version of firmware or drivers. You should not be losing drivers like that.
jm2c - Another Joe.