[cobalt-users] Report on Raq3 restore CD

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I received a Raq3 restore CD from Cobalt (at a cost of $114) and used it on
my sickly 3i (database hopelessly mangled).

Included instructions are quite clear and succinct.  I used an HP Kayak
workstation as the boot device, with a 32x CD rom.   The CD has a self
booting Linux kernel with a DHCP server and other goodies.  The Raq must be
connected with 100mb Ethernet, either directly or through a dedicated hub.
I connected the Raq to a spare 8 port hub and ran a cable to the 3Com 905TX
card in the HP. Everything booted smoothly and the HP set itself up as a
host. Then using the front panel I instructed the Raq to boot from the
network and not its hard drive.  The display indicated this was happening
and I watched to see what happened.  The lights on the hub blinked a little,
but that was it.  After waiting 10 minutes it seemed that things were not
proceeding as expected, for the display had not changed and no data was
being exchanged.  I checked all the cables and started over again.  Same
results.  I then swapped hubs and cables to ones known to be good (i.e.
yanked off a production setup) and tried a third time.  Still no dice.
Keeping a cool head I moved to the PC end and swapped out the 3Com card for
an Intel Pro100B which was at hand.  This time everything worked as expected
and the Raq found the server quickly and started reading data. The front
panel kept me updated with status info as it repartitioned the drive and
rebuilt the system.   Total time was somewhere probably about 20 minutes.
After power down I then put the Raq back in its rack. On bootup I set the IP
info through the front panel and started the configuration procedure through
the GUI from my browser.  As expected it had become a "new" machine again,
with no trace of any old data.  After loading the OS and security upgrades I
was back in business.

As of today everything seems to be working properly and hopefully will stay
that way.

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Nick Braak - Connectivity Consultant
Expert advice, design and deployment for Business DSL
Host of "DSL for Business" at http://biz.dslreports.com
Voice: (212)269-7044 ext. 230 -  Fax: (212)269-6982
1 Wall Street Court, New York City, NY 10005
email: nickb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  - http://www.dsladvisors.com
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