PARSEC Technical Information

Compaq was where the “famous” DL series servers (now owned by HP) got their start. They used to come with bright white Compaq faces rather than grey HP facades. One of the main reasons that HP bought Compaq was to gain control over their server line and capture the Alpha processor and related tech.

The Compaq Smart array controller has had a very long product life. It's always been a RAID card. Most of them are SCSI controllers but I believe there are a few modern x86 models that do both SAS (modern serial SCSI) or SATA, also.

There are three ways to change the settings and build logical volumes on a Compaq Smart Array controller. Here they are with a description of their pros and cons.

1. Use ORCA from the ROM or pre-boot environment.
   • PRO: It's always there and loaded onto the controller ROM
   • PRO: It's very straightforward. The interface makes sense
   • PRO: It's fast and works on a text-based console mostly-kinda-sorta.
   • CON: It only works from the console. You cant be fully booted up to use it.
   • CON: It looks like hammered poop on serial terminals
   • CON: The hook-ROM message “Press F8 to enter array contoller setup” rarely appears on serial setups only tends to work on graphics-capable systems.
2. The Array Configuration Utility (hpacucli / hp ACU)
   • PRO: Works from the operating system, not the pre-boot ROM
   • PRO: Allows you to see the status of a logical drive from the operating system and monitor it's health.
   • PRO: Standard UNIX CLI style utility with a nice manual page.
   • CON: Isn't available for all operating systems.
   • CON: Isn't updated with the same vigor on some operating systems versus others
   • CON: It's a proprietary/opaque binary.
   • CON: You have to have the OS fully setup and ready before you can install it.
3. Novell CPQONLIN or “HP Online Array Configuration Utility for NetWare”
   • PRO: Allows you to configure your controller from within a booted Netware server.
   • CON: It only works on NetWare. You have to have a fully setup NetWare server to use it.
   • CON: It's super proprietary and only works for older controllers

Be aware that on FreeBSD, some of the regular system utilities can be used to build, monitor, and tear down logical drives on your Compaq Smart Array controller. It doesn't seem to need hpacucli or other tools. Good for them!

We have the following models for sure available on the Alpha:

1. Compaq Smart Array Controller 5300
2. Compaq Smart Array Controller P400 (widely available on many hardware platforms)

The following controllers are known to be PC-based and may also occasionally be found on the HP Integrity (Itanium) systems:

1. Compaq Smart Array controller P410
2. Compaq Smart Array controller P812

In general, you want to try to watch for the console message about the adapter loading it's ROM image after the system finishes it's POST. It'll generally want F8 to enter the ORCA built-in ROM application.

When booting an Alpha using the graphics based video console you will be able to see the ROM hook messages as the system boots up. You should be able to access the ORCA screen using these keystrokes. However, on serial you may or may not see the message. If you do, the “normal” key sequence might not work. Here is a list of the keystrokes for SA5300 controller (and others). The escape key sequence or alternate might be needed on if you are using an oddball serial console. Since some serial terminals lacked an escape key (none I ever saw, but IBM claims this) they have a way to use these sequences using the control key, too.

First off, this isn't a super wonderful idea, it just happens to be necessary sometimes. The ORCA interface is a text based user interface or “TUI” which draws a lot of lines and boxes and uses lightbar-based menus. It will not be easy to to setup any type of emulation which is going to work properly with the strange requirements it has. To see it “properly” you'll definitely want to be using the framebuffer (graphics) and a PS2 keyboard. The problem with this is that a lot of alphas simply do not have any framebuffer. In this case, you have to kind of struggle and limp through the garbage characters and screen corruption. It's not fun.

You may need to setup your controller for boot-abil-ity using this sequence. You can find/confirm your interface name by doing a “show device” from the SRM chevron prompt.

P0>>> set HEAP_EXPAND 2MB
P0>>> initialize
P0>>> set BOOTBIOS pya0
P0>>> initialize

Additionally, if you cannot access the ROM from the boot sequence then you might have to do it from the SRM prompt. If you are in this situation you can use this method:

P0>>> show device
P0>>> run BIOS PYA0

Here are some tips and tricks to help you administer your Compaq Smart Array controller.

1. You have to have at least one logical drive to install OpenVMS or Tru64
2. All physical drives in a logical drive must be the same size or larger
3. All physical drives in a logical drive must share the same technology (SAS or SATA)
4. The ACU utility is available for Tru64, Linux, or Windows. Finding it isn't always easy.
5. For Linux and Windows, the “Proliant Support Pack” used to be the go-to spot to find the hpacucli utility.
6. HP won't give up the utility without a bunch of signing up, signing in, and plus they bury it in a package. All you really need is the binary.

HP and HPE cannot seem to run a web server to save their lives. Their sites are constantly going down and orphaning some of the documentation we'd love to be able to find in a reliable fashion.