UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi I'm trying to install SuSE Linux 7.2 Professional on a IBM Netfinity system. It says that setup could not find a Hard Disk Drive. I have never used a server or any system with a SCSI HDD so I'm not really sure how to install an OS on one. Could someone please help me out thank you.

Hi.

There is not much different for the install onto a server, nor onto a server with SCSI disks. Often you don't have a sound board, and the video is barely good enough for simple displays. The key is that the driver for the SCSI needs to be available at install time, either on the CD, or you need to make it available otherwise, such as on a floppy.

I use a Netfinity 3000 for some tasks. However, I am running SuSE 9.x on it. I did nothing extraordinary for the install. The 7.x version is quite old, and I no longer can find updates even for 9.x. Perhaps the easiest solution is to use a version later than 7.x. Can you use a more recent version of SuSE or anything else? ... cheers, drl

I don't have the drivers for the SCSI and can't seem to find them. I got the server for free from a family friend but he does not have them either. And as far as installing a newer version of SuSE I don't know where to get it at, plus I'm not looking to spend a whole lot of money either.

Hi.

If you are inclined to stay with SuSE, you can download openSuSE for free at Software.openSUSE.org

I installed it recently in a virtual machine of VMware. The virtual disk supplied by VMware is a simulated SCSI, so at least some SCSI drivers are available out-of-the-box in openSuSE 10.3.

There are probably a number of other distributions you can use as well, and most of them are free. See DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD. for descriptions of many of them.

Best wishes ... cheers, drl

Thank you so much drl. I really appreciate it.