Subject: Re: StorageWorks SWXRC-05 (aka HSZ40) info needed....
To: NetBSD/alpha Discussion List <port-alpha@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Greg A. Woods <woods@weird.com>
List: port-alpha
Date: 10/24/2004 01:10:25
[ On Tuesday, October 12, 2004 at 21:16:52 (-0400), Greg A. Woods wrote: ]
> Subject: StorageWorks SWXRC-05 info needed....
>
> Can anyone give me any information, manuals, etc. for the StorageWorks
> SWXRC-05 controller? I've now got a SWXRA-YY pedestal with such a beast
> in the bottom of it and I'm searching for some more detailed technical
> information about it.
Well it turns out the standard DEC cabling prevails! A standard BN24-H
console cable with a normal RJ-12 (6C/6P) connector (instead of the
traditional MMJ) works perfectly with my console terminal server.
The next trick was to fix the NVRAM battery holder (I though the battery
was dead but it turned out the last fumble-fingers to change it almost
pulled it right off the board -- the damn thing is only surface-mounted!).
Then of course I had to reset the controller's serial number before it
would function. Those damn DEC lawyers were just too stupid/lazy I
guess and it seems their engineers were able to sneak a good one past
them. (or maybe it was crypto export laws that reigned them in and
prevented them from making their licensing controls more bullet-proof)
Apparently the NVRAM battery where the serial numbers and license keys
are stored was not considered to be field replacable and if you screw up
your NVRAM, or it screws up on you, or the battery goes dead, the whole
controller usually needed replacing (officially), or if you had a
service contract they'd send a service rep out to use the magic
"dangerous" command to fix it for you, though they would warn that the
serial number value needed to be computed with some magic software only
the service reps had. That was pure F.U.D. of course. The annoying
thing is that this series of models was never even Y2K qualified and
they were declared past EOL before the end of 1999 so even if I wanted
to buy a service contract now I couldn't. DEC, or some departments
within DEC at least, like many other big companies wanted to see their
old gear go to to the crusher instead of having it turn up on the used
equipment and surplus markets.
Hopefully I can now add to the body of lore about these systems and help
more of them be rescued.
Anyway I found the following list archive that contained a posting
giving the necessary hints I needed:
http://mvb.saic.com/freeware/info-vax/2003_107.txt
Note there's no on-line help for the "dangerous" command of course, and
it is not even mentioned in the service manual either. However the
following two commands did the trick for me:
HSZ> dangerous x manufac=3 op=4 hardware=" A01"
HSZ> dangerous x serial="CX20101234" PRE
I took the " A01" from the stickers on the board, and the "1234" I made
up out of thin air instead of trying to use the actual serial number by
just expanding on the "CX2010000" pattern shown by the system when it
was in the blank state. :-)
Keep in mind this is an SWXRC-05, aka HSZ40, that I'm playing with.
Everything seems to work but only if I can complete the setup commands
within the 4-minute window before the controller discovers that the
write-back cache batteries are toast.
HSZ> show this full
Controller:
HSZ40 (C) DEC CX20101234 Firmware V31Z-0, Hardware A01
Not configured for dual-redundancy
SCSI address 7
Time: 20-OCT-2004 19:04:54
Host port:
SCSI target(s) (0), No preferred targets
TRANSFER_RATE_REQUESTED = 10MHZ
Cache:
32 megabyte write cache, version 2
Cache is GOOD
Battery is LOW
No unflushed data in cache
CACHE_FLUSH_TIMER = DEFAULT (10 seconds)
CACHE_POLICY = A
NOCACHE_UPS
Host Functionality Mode = A
Licensing information:
RAID (RAID Option) is ENABLED, license key is INVALID
WBCA (Writeback Cache Option) is ENABLED, license key is INVALID
MIRR (Disk Mirroring Option) is ENABLED, license key is INVALID
Extended information:
Terminal speed 9600 baud, eight bit, no parity, 1 stop bit
Operation control: 00000004 Security state code: 43542
Configuration backup disabled
HSZ> show ftp
Name Storageset Uses Used by
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FTP raidset DISK400 D1
DISK410
DISK420
DISK430
DISK500
DISK510
DISK520
DISK530
DISK600
DISK610
DISK620
Switches:
POLICY (for replacement) = BEST_PERFORMANCE
RECONSTRUCT (priority) = NORMAL
CHUNKSIZE = 128 blocks
State:
RECONSTRUCT 3% complete
DISK600 (member 0) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK500 (member 1) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK400 (member 2) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK430 (member 3) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK620 (member 4) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK410 (member 5) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK610 (member 6) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK530 (member 7) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK520 (member 8) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK510 (member 9) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK420 (member 10) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
Size: 83759810 blocks
Partitions:
Partition number Size Starting Block Used by
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1 83759805 ( 42885.02 MB) 0 D1
HSZ> show home
Name Storageset Uses Used by
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME raidset DISK100 D0
DISK110
DISK120
DISK130
DISK200
DISK210
DISK220
DISK230
DISK300
DISK310
DISK320
Switches:
POLICY (for replacement) = BEST_PERFORMANCE
RECONSTRUCT (priority) = NORMAL
CHUNKSIZE = 128 blocks
State:
RECONSTRUCT 3% complete
DISK100 (member 0) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK220 (member 1) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK200 (member 2) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK120 (member 3) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK130 (member 4) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK230 (member 5) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK300 (member 6) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK110 (member 7) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK210 (member 8) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK320 (member 9) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
DISK310 (member 10) is RECONSTRUCTING 3% complete
Size: 83759810 blocks
Partitions:
Partition number Size Starting Block Used by
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1 83759805 ( 42885.02 MB) 0 D0
It never gets all the way through reconstructing within the four minute
window for the battery check of course....
So now the last thing I need to do is to replace the write-cache
batteries. Seems the original part is worth a small fortune now
($130-$170[usa] for each of the two cells needed!). They're just
special form factor lead-acid 2v 5ah cells though so I should be able to
rig something less specialized up and wire it into place, provided that
the charger circuit really does still work, though I do have a spare
cache board too, but no spare/redundant controller :-( .....
84GB of space, which will include two hot-spare drives, is nothing huge
these days (especially given the power it's going to consume), but
despite the teething pains it's better than nothing, especially given
the price I paid.
--
Greg A. Woods
+1 416 218-0098 VE3TCP RoboHack <woods@robohack.ca>
Planix, Inc. <woods@planix.com> Secrets of the Weird <woods@weird.com>