Help!!!! Hard Disk and the Bios

[ssosw]

Ok,here is the problem.I have this Compaq machine which used to be a novell server.Now the machine has NT.I need to reconstruct the novell system again on this machine using a hard disk which was part of the mirror set in the old system.I know its some thing in the BIOS,but I dont want to go in there by myself http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif and I need the NT system back as it was.

Is it possible to use this hard disk on a completely different machine and do the reconstruction.I would like to play safe.

[AwARe]

Hello ssosw! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif and Welcome!

Im going to try to take a crack at answering your questions, because I notice as of yet there has no been response to your query.....

From your original post there are alot of unanswered unknowns that are going to have to be answered before you're back up and running.....

Some of the more important question are, the specific age and type of hardware it is......
Also Im a bit confused as to weather or not you are trying to use the complete OS thats installed on that old HDD, or if you just want to try to steal only some parts of it.
If youre hoping to copy programs over to the existing drive and get them to work, most likely they will not........and I would suggest you dont even bother to try......

1st Im assuming you dont have the means to set this system up starting with a blank HDD?
If you do, I would highly recommend going that route instead....

"If" your motherboard supports the HDD you're trying to install, all you need to do is make sure the bios is set to "auto detect" the HDD.....

If it doesnt, youre going to need a HDD utility that will report the proper size etc of your HDD to the OS, in the case that the bios cant do the job.....

If your hardware is old and the Mother Board "doesnt have" auto detect, or your HDD doesnt report that information to the bios. You will need to set it manually, usually that information can be found on the case of the HDD itself. Simply find that info and set your bios to match.

What you need to do is, install the HDD in the computer, go in the bios set it to auto (or manually if needed), boot up your machine and see what happens. You might find thats all you need to do.

If you need the utility, you can usually get that from the HDD manufacturer. (You can probably find one online if you need it)

It is "extremely" important that the HDD is reported "correctly" through one of these means, or you could posibly lose some of the data on the disk.

After you get the HDD installed, and after you boot it up, you may or may not have any of a number of problems getting that system to run properly. You will need to address these problems one at a time as need be.

Unfortunately thats about all the help I can offer at this point, with the information I have about your hardware and the software installed on that HDD etc......

If you are not experienced with installing hardware, I cant stress enough, that you be extremely careful while removing and installing components. My Brother In Law "While trying to install a HDD" Broke off the speaker wire, shorted it to his Mother Board, and brought it to me after he melted half the wires in his case.....<- Hopefully that speaks to the point pretty well http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif

Hope You Find This Helpful....and Good Luck!

[This message has been edited by AwARe (edited 05-14-2001).]

[tjaymadison]

1. Compaq was ---- Novell Server with mirrored disks

2. Compaq now ---- NT

You now want the Compaq to be a Novell Server again,
by using one of the disks from when it was configured as in #1.

Is this an accurate summary of what you want to do?
Is the Compaq an actual server model or a 'home brew' converted tower?
Is the mirror disk drive data only or data + NOS ??

================================================== ==

There seems to be a basic contradiction in the following:

I need to reconstruct the novell system again on this machine...


...and I need the NT system back as it was.

Can you clarify? One machine or two?


------------------
"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)
-- (Question: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?')



[This message has been edited by tjaymadison (edited 05-14-2001).]

[ssosw]

Hi http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif ,thanks for helping me out.AwARe,I have read your message ,but I will wait a bit before trying anything.Here's more on the machine.
Its a COMPAQ Proliant 1600 Server.The kind where you can slide the HDDs in or out.I had used the server setup utility CD that came with the machine to clean up the machine and Install NT on it.

Tjaymadison,hope this will make it more clear

1. Compaq was ---- Novell Server with mirrored disks --TRUE
2. Compaq now ---- NT --TRUE ,with the same mirrored disks cleaned up with the server's SMART START(setup) utility.


Q) "You now want the Compaq to be a Novell Server again"

Yes,I want it back to recover a file which I had thought was a Novell system file,and therefore did not backup.Screwed up really bad ,the file belong to the Accounts dept.


Q) "by using one of the disks from when it was configured as in #1."

Not exactly.Consider those disks as D1 and D2.
There is another disk D3 which is a mirror of D1 (made as a backup when the server was configured as in #1)
D1 and D2 is being used in the NT system now.


Q)"Is the Compaq an actual server model or a 'home brew' converted tower?"

Yes ,an actual server

Q) "Is the mirror disk drive data only or data + NOS ??"

It is not just data.I think it must have the Novell OS since it was the mirror of D1.


I tried to boot the system by removing D1 and D2(now NT system) and putting in D3.I got the "non system disk or disk error"

What I want is to get the Novell server up long enough to get a copy of the files I need,and then I need the NT system back as it was.Its important bcos the NT system contains the Lotus Notes Server.

[tjaymadison]

With Novell HD installed, can you boot from floppy drive?

Not sure of the requirements for Novell boot disks. May be just DOS.

You can try at www.bootdisk.com/ (http://www.bootdisk.com/) .

Or can you create one yourself on another operating Novell system?

Good Netware site at http://computing.net/netware/wwwboard/wwwboard.html

Or try www.google.com (http://www.google.com) and search "netware and boot".

------------------
"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)
-- (Question: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?')



[This message has been edited by tjaymadison (edited 05-14-2001).]

[ssosw]

Hi http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

I got the server running,well some what http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif.I downloaded a dos boot disk and booted the server with it. I ran fdisk and I could see the dos partition and the netware partition.

I went in to the dos partition,and ran SERVER.exe from the NWSERVER directory.It started up the server but it only went a short way.It got stuck where the TIME module is run with a message <NO TIME ZONE> and <TIME ZONE NOT SYNCHRONISED>
Can you tell me what to do.

Thanks and Regards

[AwARe]

ssosw,

I dont have enough understanding of Novell etc to offer a solution...... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

Perhaps the boot disk found here -> http://www.compaq.com/support/files/server/us/download/7390.html can help you.....

Hope it does http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

If not, perhaps tj or someone else here can help further.......

Don't give up! Im sure if the file you need is intact on that other HDD there "Is" a way to recover it......Sorry I dont know what that is

Good Luck!

[tjaymadison]

Not specifically. Know nothing of Netware commands or switches.
I have to assume there is some sort of 'time stamp' in a file on the HD,
which disagrees with the time as reported by the system.

Do you change to 'Daylight Savings Time' in the spring, like we do here?

DOS has the commands 'DATE=' and 'TIME=' .
Are there equivalent commands in Netware?

If not, can you reset time in BIOS setup program?

Otherwise you may have to do all your work from DOS.

Is the file you need too large to fit on a diskette?
Is there a way to copy to a different medium, like Zip disk?

You can use the DOS 'Copy' command to copy to a parallel or serial port.
This requires special syntax and command line switches.
If you type copy /? at the DOS prompt, you will see the options.
Destination can be COM1: or COM2: or LPT1:

The command may end up looking something like this, for example:

COPY (* complete filespec here *) (destination) /V
* -- must be complete path to the file

Example: COPY C:\LOTUS\NOTES\ABC\DEF\FILENAME.EXT COM1: /V

That command would copy a file to the serial port #1.
You may have to use /B parameter switches also, if the file is not ASCII.

Good luck.


------------------
"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)
-- (Question: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?')

[This message has been edited by tjaymadison (edited 05-14-2001).]

[ssosw]

Hi http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif,
Its no use,I have no idea what to do.Maybe I'll wait for the weekend and run away http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif.Your ideas were great,but there is something I missed.This HDD was last synchronised six months earlier,thats four months before the novell server was shut down.Thats four months of changes to the file.

One good thing though http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif,I still have the last backup tape.So now I HAVE to get the server running as it was and then recover from backup to get the file.Wish me luck.And I still need your suggestions.

Thanks