Unix not Booting after defect HDD

Hi there,

Here I have an old HP LC3 server from a client of ours.
The server was running in Raid1 Mirror mode.
Yesterday the server didn't boot anymore and now
I have concluded that 1 drive is damaged.
I pulled it out so it can boot from the "good" one.
Unfortuanally this didn't work.

I see the Bios postings as it should and when normally
the OS is going to be started there is a blinking cursor
in the left upper corner.
There it blinks for 1 mintue or so and reboot.

To be honest, I don't know what kind of Unix version is running here
but to my client it's very important to get his data back.

All help is much appreciated and thanks already!

Regards,

Dennis

Google says that this hardware is x86 so maybe Linux? SCO? SUN OS/Solaris?

Is the raid controller setup integrated to the bios?
Does it have an extra CD to set it up?
Maybe the mirror was ok and the setup has to be directed to boot from the other disc or even the mirror was not ok. Maybe there is a log in the firmware/bios.

Else you might try some Linux distribution's boot/rescue/recovery CD (KNOPPIX Linux Live CD) and try to mount the filesystems containing your data and copy them over the network away to another box, if everything else fails.

Hi Zaxxon,

Thanks for your quick reply.

It�s a Adaptec AIC7880 raid controller intergrated on the mainboard.
While the Bios postings are on the screen I can access the raid settings by pressing CTR-A.

There isn't much to set here.
No boot settings or what so ever.

In the main (motherboard) bios the first startup device is the Raid Disc.
So everything is ok.

But when the Bios postings dissapear and the OS should start it hangs with a blinking cursor and then reboots automatically after 1 minute.

Dennis

Ok, then try a rescue disk like the knoppix I posted and see what you can mount and rescue.
Or put the surviving disc into a linux box and check if you can mount the filesystems there and rescue them.