Scientific Linux 6.4 Live Media released
Sun Fire X4600
Server - Sun Fire x4600 - SL 43, 44 - i386, x86_64
Overall Summary
Very good server machine. It would only work with the newer distributions that are able to handle 16 CPU's. But on those distributions, this server is very nice.
There is a potential for conflicts if you have certain version of the bios. Se below for an explanation.
Tested By: Sascha Buecken and Troy Dawson
What worked
Scientific Linux 4.3 and 4.4 (both i386 and x86_64)
What didn't work
Scientific Linux 3.0.x (both i386 and x86_64)
Scientific Linux 4.0, 4.1, 4.2 (both i386 and x86_64)
The Good
My favorite part of this machine was it's lights-out management. Even though I was halfway around the world from the machine I was able to get out of any lockup I got the machine into.
And with all those CPU's and memory, it's just screaming fast.
The Bad
It doesn't work with S.L. 3.0.x or earlier S.L. 4.x, there just isn't support for that many CPU's or that much memory.
The following two sections were added by Martin Flemming
RHEL4 NMI Watchdog Timer Must Be Disabled In Servers With BIOS 38 (6486170)
The Non-Maskable Interrupt (NMI) Watchdog in RHEL4 is a mechanism used by software and hardware developers to detect system lockups during development. The NMI Watchdog periodically checks the CPU status to determine if a program is holding the CPU in an interrupted state for an extended period of time.
It has been observed in servers runnning BIOS 38 that the SMP kernel in RHEL4 will not boot without crashing when the NMI watchdog is enabled. If the watchdog timer is disabled, the server running RHEL4 will boot with no problems.
Workaround
Disable the watchdog timer on RHEL4 by performing the following steps:
- Log in as superuser (root).
- Edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst file.
- At the end of each line that begins with kernel, append this text:
nmi_watchdog=0s - Save the changes to the file.
- Reboot the system.
Other hints and notes from Sun
http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/hardware/docs/html/819-4347-14/software.html#58439
cpuinfo
processor : 0 vendor_id : AuthenticAMD cpu family : 15 model : 33 model name : Dual Core AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 885 stepping : 2 cpu MHz : 2613.696 cache size : 1024 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 2 core id : 0 cpu cores : 2 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 1 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni bogomips : 5230.07 TLB size : 1088 4K pages clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: ts fid vid ttp ... cut to save space ... processor : 15 vendor_id : AuthenticAMD cpu family : 15 model : 33 model name : Dual Core AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 885 stepping : 2 cpu MHz : 2613.696 cache size : 1024 KB physical id : 7 siblings : 2 core id : 1 cpu cores : 2 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 1 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni bogomips : 5226.90 TLB size : 1088 4K pages clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 40 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: ts fid vid ttp
dmidecode
Handle 0x0000 DMI type 0, 24 bytes. BIOS Information Vendor: American Megatrends Inc. Version: 080012 Release Date: 07/10/2006 Address: 0xF0000 Runtime Size: 64 kB ROM Size: 1024 kB Characteristics: ISA is supported PCI is supported PNP is supported BIOS is upgradeable BIOS shadowing is allowed ESCD support is available Boot from CD is supported Selectable boot is supported BIOS ROM is socketed EDD is supported 5.25"/1.2 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h) 3.5"/720 KB floppy services are supported (int 13h) 3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h) Print screen service is supported (int 5h) 8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h) Serial services are supported (int 14h) Printer services are supported (int 17h) CGA/mono video services are supported (int 10h) ACPI is supported USB legacy is supported LS-120 boot is supported ATAPI Zip drive boot is supported BIOS boot specification is supported Function key-initiated network boot is supported Handle 0x0001 DMI type 1, 27 bytes. System Information Manufacturer: Sun Microsystems Product Name: Sun Fire X4600 Version: To Be Filled By O.E.M. Wake-up Type: Power Switch Handle 0x0002 DMI type 2, 15 bytes. Base Board Information Manufacturer: Sun Microsystems Product Name: Sun Fire X4600 Version: To be filled by O.E.M. Features: Board is a hosting board Board is replaceable Location In Chassis: To Be Filled By O.E.M. Chassis Handle: 0x0003 Type: Motherboard Contained Object Handlers: 0 Handle 0x0003 DMI type 3, 21 bytes. Chassis Information Manufacturer: Sun Microsystems Type: Main Server Chassis Lock: Not Present Version: To Be Filled By O.E.M. Boot-up State: Safe Power Supply State: Safe Thermal State: Safe Security Status: None Heigth: Unspecified Number Of Power Cords: 1 Contained Elements: 0 Handle 0x0004 DMI type 4, 35 bytes. Processor Information Socket Designation: CPU 1 Type: Central Processor Family: Opteron Manufacturer: AMD Version: Dual Core AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 885 Voltage: 3.3 V 2.9 V External Clock: 200 MHz Max Speed: 2600 MHz Current Speed: 2600 MHz Status: Populated, Enabled Upgrade: Socket 940 L1 Cache Handle: 0x0005 L2 Cache Handle: 0x0006 L3 Cache Handle: 0x0007 Handle 0x0005 DMI type 7, 19 bytes. Cache Information Socket Designation: L1-Cache Configuration: Enabled, Not Socketed, Level 1 Operational Mode: Varies With Memory Address Location: Internal Installed Size: 128 KB Maximum Size: 128 KB Supported SRAM Types: Pipeline Burst Installed SRAM Type: Pipeline Burst Speed: Unknown Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC System Type: Data Associativity: 4-way Set-associative Handle 0x0006 DMI type 7, 19 bytes. Cache Information Socket Designation: L2-Cache Configuration: Enabled, Not Socketed, Level 2 Operational Mode: Varies With Memory Address Location: Internal Installed Size: 1024 KB Maximum Size: 1024 KB Supported SRAM Types: Pipeline Burst Installed SRAM Type: Pipeline Burst Speed: Unknown Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC System Type: Unified Associativity: 4-way Set-associative
lspci
00:00.0 Memory controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 Memory Controller (rev a3) 00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 ISA Bridge (rev a3) 00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation CK804 SMBus (rev a2) 00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a2) 00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a3) 00:06.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 IDE (rev f2) 00:09.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCI Bridge (rev a2) 00:0b.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3) 00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3) 00:0d.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3) 00:0e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3) 00:10.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] AMD-8132 PCI-X Bridge (rev 12) 00:10.1 PIC: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] AMD-8132 PCI-X IOAPIC (rev 12) 00:11.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] AMD-8132 PCI-X Bridge (rev 12) 00:11.1 PIC: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] AMD-8132 PCI-X IOAPIC (rev 12) 00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration 00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map 00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller 00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control 00:19.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration 00:19.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map 00:19.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller 00:19.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control 00:1a.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration 00:1a.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map 00:1a.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller 00:1a.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control 00:1b.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration 00:1b.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map 00:1b.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller 00:1b.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control 00:1c.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration 00:1c.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map 00:1c.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller 00:1c.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control 00:1d.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration 00:1d.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map 00:1d.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller 00:1d.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control 00:1e.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration 00:1e.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map 00:1e.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller 00:1e.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control 00:1f.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration 00:1f.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map 00:1f.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller 00:1f.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control 01:06.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Rage XL (rev 27) 06:01.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper) (rev 03) 06:01.1 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper) (rev 03) 06:02.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper) (rev 03) 06:02.1 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper) (rev 03) 07:04.0 SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic SAS1064 PCI-X Fusion-MPT SAS (rev 02) 80:00.0 Memory controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 Memory Controller (rev a3) 80:01.0 Memory controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 Memory Controller (rev a3) 80:0b.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3) 80:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3) 80:0d.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3) 80:0e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
