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The Vanishing Act of VA Linux Hardware Docs?
Joshua Johnston asks: "Yesterday, my roommate and I picked up a used (and slightly abused) VA Linux 2231 2U server system at a computer show here in New Hampshire. Given the manufacturer, I had expected that support documentation would be a piece of cake to locate. Unfortunately, I couldn't have been any further away from the truth. Only the
Internet Archive copies of the VA Linux/VA Software website had any information whatsoever on the system, with even Google striking out badly on almost any reference material. This comes as a complete surprise, as I had expected much more to be available in regards to a system once touted as a success for the Open Source movement. The current VA Software site has nothing even mentioning the fact they once made some solid server-class hardware, let alone a buried archive of the PDF manuals. What kind of options still remain for reviving some kind of community archive of these files? In the span of three years, are we left with nearly no trace of information on these machines?"
It's vaguely possible that they have some really funky firmware RAID controller, I've seen Dell server machines require a special microcode load into the RAID controller to work with Linux. That's a pain in the butt, and when the only thing is available is the binary and only from the vendor I just think the offending device is evil and punt it. (Lotsa RAID stuff is still this way, and sometimes it's even on the motherboard, which means you toss the motherboard).
We're potentially just a few EMPs away from losing a lot of information that's increasingly being stored on the Web in lieue of hardcopy.
Not being able to find server documentation is one thing; not being able to find, say, Planck's Constant is quite another.
I use several of these machines at work. The ones here have standard Intel motherboards in a black case. The motherboard has Phoenix BIOS with EMP, 2xU160 SCSI, 2xP-III, etc.
But seriously, what would you like to know that you can't find at Phoenix or Intel?
A.
...bringing you cynical quips since 1998
Have you actually called the company and spoken with a person there about this?
"Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world." - Alan Greenspan, 1999
Maybe I'm just being picky, but doesn't slashdot usually point out that it's owned by VA Linux whenever it runs a story about them? Just FYI.
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
I had a similar problem with a set of ebay-ed VALinux chassis . . .
I purchased a lot of 4 VALinux 2u rackmount chassis from ebay a few months ago for a good price (model "FullON 2130"). I knew they weren't going to be 'standard' atx but figured I could rewire things from documentation to get the power button and LEDs working. No dice. There is no documentation left at all. So im taking it upon myself to document/diagram what I did to make the power/reset headers ATX-usable and will post a procedure on my humble website. Hopefully google will pick it up and I can help the next guy that comes along wanting to do the same thing . . .
Anyway, you may want to try VA Linux Japan, who are still in the server business. ("UltraPossum 0.1beta is available now!") Like others have said, though -- I don't think there's anything especially unusual about those VA boxes, apart from blue LED's.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
California Digital bought VA's hardware line when VA got out of the hardware business.
Did you try contacting them?
The six servers (of three flavors) that I had were all Intel server motherboards, Intel CPUs, popular raid controllers (I forget brand/model), and VXA standard tape drives. What's confusing about that?
.sigs are for post^Hers.
The weirdest part of all this, is that the board in the system seems to contradict some of the information available from archive.org. I determined it was an Intel STL2 board, where the archive page copy showed it to be an L440GX which has a lower set of features. I was even able to flash the motherboard with a newer BIOS for the STL2. So now, I'm not sure if the machine is actually a complete unit that was rehabbed with a hard drive (Minspec from VA was 9G, I got mine with a 4.3G) or if it was a unit that had a motherboard upgrade some time ago, which now seems likely.
I suppose that with the motherboard information that I have, I can probably manage things just fnie, but there are still a few areas that make me wonder. My RAM seems to be the a slightly off speed, as I get an incorrect speed warning that requires an F1 to continue booting each time the system is turned on. That's going to make for an interesting day of eBay or Pricewatch next week.
Primarily though, I have to say I'm bothered by such a dearth of information being available. Why on Earth would VA entirely remove -all- information on the products they sold, not even archiving a manual?
My own pointless vanity vintage computing page
California Digital Corporation bought VA's hardware business back in 2002. Maybe they have information that'd help you.
Gabriel Ricard
Anytime I find a useful web page, I cache a copy on my local disk (strictly for personal/ time shifted use only). Personal sites have a way of disappearing when the owner loses interest and corporate sites have a tendency to flush old data when they reorg a site. Even with the cost of backups (I use 3 x 250 GB HDs for onsite/offsite backup), keeping a local copy costs a few tenths of a penny per MB.
The loss of old content is sad, really. The web is sometimes more like the spoken word than the written word. It is ephemeral -- if you weren't there when the page was posted, you have a high chance of never getting it.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
I thought about bidding on some VA units on Ebay [I'm sure the dude still has them up for sale].
Again, no online documentation. Fortunately, the guy was kind enough to go open a case and give me the motherboard part number [kudos to him for doing that].
Turns out VA just took a basic Intel boxed motherboard, with six PCI slots, slapped it into a two unit rackmount, and put in a riser card to give you [at least theoretical] access to two ["risen"] PCI slots.
Anyway, to make a long story short, in my decision to purchase or not purchase, I just used the Intel site for documentation, since VA was, in essence, just serving as one big Intel reseller.
You sound almost like you want to get eaten by George Bush.