How to change RAID level on configured IBM x225 with ServeRaid 6i...

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xtiansimon

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Jul 23, 2013
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...without an OS? This is how I got the box. I picked up this xSeries 225 for a project and it's _supposed_ to have installed 4 x 80G HDD in--I guess-- RAID 1.

The ServeRAID Support CD is not bootable. The ServeRAID Mini Configuration app is _supposed_ to have the following options (from the manual):

The following choices are available from the main menu:
- View Controller Status shows the current status of the ServeRAID
controller. (See “Viewing the controller status” for more information.)
- View Configuration shows the current configuration information for the
ServeRAID controller. (See “Viewing the configuration” on page 78 for more
information.)
- Advanced Functions is used to restore the controller to the factory-default
settings, import configuration from drives, configure BIOS settings, and view
the controller and PCI information. (See “Using the advanced configuration
functions” on page 78 for more information.)
Click to expand...

Only the second option is not on my system, and instead I have: "View logical drive status". Except there's no information there "No logical drives found"

My goals:
1 Identify the RAID Level & identify the drive capacities
2 Change the RAID to maximize storage, possibly changing to RAID 0.
3 Install Linux/CentOS

How can I do 1 without the ServeRaid manager application installed on a running system? Do I change the RAID level after install? But what about partitioning? I'm confused, because I've not owned a RAID before--but I do now! Woot.
 
Solution
popatim
its not in the pc bios, its in the raidcard bios which you access after the pc posts good. When you see the following, press CTRL+I

a2aa_0.gif
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xtiansimon

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The BIOS does not have anything I recognize as RAID support:
Code: 
- System Summary
- System Information: Product Data
+ Devices and i/o ports
  - IDE Configuration menu (the raid card is scsi)
- Date and time
- System security
+ Start Options
  - Hard Disk Boot Priority
+ Advanced Setup
  - Power Management
  - Chipset Feature
  - Processor Control
- PC Health
- Error logs
= Save settings
= Restore Factory
= Load default settings
Do they call it something other than RAID in BIOS? I don't recognize anything to change...
 
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xtiansimon

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Jul 23, 2013
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Solved! I lucked out; Its in the manual. What wasn't clear at the time:

Code: 
Complete the following steps to update the levels of BIOS and firmware code:
1. Insert the IBM ServeRAID Support CD into the server CD-ROM drive, and turn on the server.
The IBM ServeRAID ROM Update wizard automatically starts. The IBM ServeRAID ROM (read-only memory) Update wizard is a program that updates the BIOS and firmware code on ServeRAID controllers. The wizard automatically identifies and scans each ServeRAID controller.
If the BIOS and firmware code do not require updating, the wizard automatically stops and the ServeRAID Manager program starts. (source: IBM ServeRAID User’s Reference, p45)

The trouble was the IBM ServeRAID 6i Support CD didn't boot in one of my previous attempts to resolve the issue. I mistakenly believed the Mini utility was the only solution. As you can see the manual doesn't explicitly state the support cd is bootable, so I keep looking elsewhere untill a birdie told me so.

To set up the RAID I "reset to factory defaults" in the Mini utility. Then booted from the support CD and the rest "matched the pictures", so to speak, in the manual.

Thanks RONINTEXAS for your quick response!
 
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