Acer Altos G530 User Guide

Acer Altos G530 Series

User’s Guide

Copyright © 2005 Acer Incorporated
All Rights Reserved.

Acer Altos G530 Series
User’s Guide

Changes may be made periodically to the information in this publication without obligation
to notify any person of such revision or changes. Such changes will be incorporated in new
editions of this manual or supplementary documents and publications. This company makes
no representations or warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to the contents
hereof and specifically disclaims the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a
particular purpose.

Record the model number, serial number, purchase date, and place of purchase information in
the space provided below. The serial number and model number are recorded on the label
affixed to your computer. All correspondence concerning your unit should include the serial
number, model number, and purchase information.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of Acer Incorporated.

Acer Altos G530 Series

Model Name :

Part Number:

Purchase Date:

Place of Purchase:

Acer and the Acer logo are registered trademarks of Acer Inc. Other company’s product names
or trademarks are used herein for identification purposes only and belong to their respective
companies.

iii

Notices

FCC notice

Class A devices do not have an FCC logo or FCC IDE on the label. Class B devices
have an FCC logo or FCC IDE on the label. Once the class of the device is
determined, refer to the following corresponding statement.

Class A equipment

This device has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A
digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the
equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment
generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy, and if not installed
and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to
radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is
likely to cause harmful interference, in which case the user will be required to
correct the interference at personal expense.

Class B equipment

This device has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B
digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential
installation. This device generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency
energy, and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may
cause harmful interference to radio communications.

However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular
installation. If this device does cause harmful interference to radio or television
reception, which can be determined by turning the device off and on, the user
is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following
measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna

• Increase the separation between the device and receiver

• Connect the device into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which
the receiver is connected

• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for help

iv

Notice: Shielded cables

All connections to other computing devices must be made using shielded cables
to maintain compliance with FCC regulations.

Notice: Peripheral devices

Only peripherals (input/output devices, terminals, printers, etc.) certified to
comply with the Class A or Class B limits may be attached to this equipment.
Operation with noncertified peripherals is likely to result in interference to
radio and TV reception.

Caution! Changes or modifications not expressly approved by
the manufacturer could void the user’s authority, which is granted
by the Federal Communications Commission, to operate this
server.

Use conditions

This part complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the
following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference,
and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference
that may cause undesired operation.

Notice: Canadian users

This Class A/Class B digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian
Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations.

Laser compliance statement

The CD-ROM drive in this server is a laser product. The CD-ROM drive’s
classification label (shown below) is located on the drive.

CLASS 1 LASER PRODUCT
CAUTION: INVISIBLE LASER RADIATION WHEN OPEN. AVOID EXPOSURE TO
BEAM.

Important safety instructions

Read these instructions carefully. Save these instructions for future reference.

1 Follow all warnings and instructions marked on the product.

2 Unplug this product from the wall outlet before cleaning. Do not use

liquid cleaners or aerosol cleaners. Use a damp cloth for cleaning.

3 Do not use this product near water.

4 Do not place this product on an unstable cart, stand, or table. The product

may fall, causing serious damage to the product.

5 Slots and openings on the back or bottom side of the chassis are provided

for ventilation; to ensure reliable operation of the product and to protect
it from overheating, these openings must not be blocked or covered. The
openings should never be blocked by placing the product on a bed, sofa,
rug, or other similar surface. This product should never be placed near or
over a radiator or heat register, or in a built-in installation unless proper
ventilation is provided.

6 This product should be operated from the type of power indicated on the

marking label. If you are not sure of the type of power available, consult
your dealer or local power company.

7 Do not allow anything to rest on the power cord. Do not locate this

product where persons will walk on the cord.

8 If an extension cord is used with this product, make sure that the total

ampere rating of the equipment plugged into the extension cord does not
exceed the extension cord ampere rating. Also, make sure that the total
rating of all products plugged into the wall outlet does not exceed the fuse
rating.

9 Never push objects of any kind into this product through chassis slots as

they may touch dangerous voltage points or short out parts that could
result in a fire or electric shock. Never spill liquid of any kind on the
product.

10 Do not attempt to service this product yourself, as opening or removing

covers may expose you to dangerous voltage points or other risks. Refer all
servicing to qualified service personnel.

11 Unplug this product from the wall outlet and refer servicing to qualified

service personnel under the following conditions:

a When the power cord or plug is damaged or frayed

b If liquid has been spilled on the product

c If the product has been exposed to rain or water

v

vi

d If the product does not operate normally when the operating

instructions are followed. Adjust only those controls that are covered
by the operating instructions since improper adjustment of other
controls may result in damage and will often require extensive work
by a qualified technician to restore the product to normal condition.

e If the product has been dropped or the cabinet has been damaged

f If the product exhibits a distinct change in performance, indicating a

need for service.

12 Replace the battery with the same type as the product's battery we

recommend. Use of another battery may present a risk of fire or explosion.
Refer battery replacement to a qualified service technician.

13 Warning! Batteries may explode if not handled properly. Do not

disassemble or dispose of them in fire. Keep them away from children and
dispose of used batteries promptly.

14 Use only the proper type of power supply cord set (provided in your

accessories box) for this unit. It should be a detachable type: UL listed/CSA
certified, type SPT-2, rated 7A 125V minimum, VDE approved or its
equivalent. Maximum length is 15 feet (4.6 meters).

Notices iii

FCC notice iii
Laser compliance statement iv

Important safety instructions v

1 System tour 1

Features summary 3
External and internal structure 6

Front bezel 6
Front panel 7
Rear panel 10
Internal components 13

System boards 14

Mainboard layout 14
Backplane board layout 19

2 System setup 23

Setting up the system 25

Pre-installation requirements 25
Connecting peripherals 26
Turning on the system 27

Power-on problems 29
Configuring the system OS 30
Server setup 31
Turning off the system 32

Contents

3 System upgrade 33

Installation precautions 35

ESD precautions 35

Pre-installation instructions 35

Post-installation instructions 36
Opening the server 37

Removing the left-side panel 37

Opening the bezel door 38

Removing the front bezel 38

Removing the HDD cage bay cover 39
Configuring the four-bay HDD cage 40

Installing the four-bay HDD cage 40

Removing the four-bay HDD cage 52

viii

Installing an additional hard disk into the
HDD cage carrier 53

Replacing the CD-ROM drive 55
Installing 5.25-inch drives 57
Upgrading the processor 59

Installing the CPU 59

Installing the HSF assembly 60

Removing the HSF assembly 61

Removing the CPU 63
Upgrading the system memory 64

Memory module installation guidelines 64

Removing a DIMM 67

Installing a DIMM 68
Installing an expansion card 70
Upgrading the power supply 72

Installing a redundant power supply module 72

Installing a non-redundant power supply module 75

4 BIOS setup 77

BIOS setup 79
Entering BIOS setup 80
Main 82
Advanced 84

Processor Configuration 85

IDE Configuration 88

Floppy Configuration 95

Super I/O Configuration 96

USB Configuration 97

PCI Configuration 99

Memory Configuration 101
Boot 103

Boot Settings Configuration 104

Boot Device Priority 106

Hard Disk Drives 107

Removable Drives 108

CD/DVD Drives 109
Security 110

Setting the Administrator/User password: 111
Server 113

System Management 114

Serial Console Features 115

Event Log Configuration 117
Exit 119

5 Troubleshooting 121

Resetting the system 123
Problems following initial system installation 124
First steps checklist 125
Hardware diagnostic testing 126

Verifying proper operation of key system lights 126
Confirming loading of the OS 127

Specific problems and corrective actions 127
BIOS error messages 132
POST error messages 137
POST beep codes 141
Troubleshooting BIOS beep codes 142

Appendix A: System management utility 143

ASM 146

System requirements 146

System setup 147
RAID configuration 149

SCSI RAID configuration utility 149

SATA RAID configuration utility 149

Appendix B: Acer Altos G530

rack installation guide 151

Setting up the system rack 153

System rack installation 155

Vertical mounting hole pattern 156
Installing the system into the rack 158

ix

Appendix C: SATA RAID configuration 167

Configuring the SATA RAID 169

Enabling the onboard SATA RAID function 169

Using the SATA RAID configuration utility 169

Creating a RAID 1 volume 170

Appendix D: SCSI RAID configuration 173

Configuring the SCSI/SCSI RAID HBA 175

Using the SCSI HBA setup utility 175

Using the SCSI RAID HBA setup utility 175

Using the MegaRAID configuration utility 176

x

Index 179

1 System tour

The Acer Altos G530 server is a powerful dual­processor system loaded with a host of new
and innovative features. The system offers a
new standard for flexible productivity ideal for
multimedia processing, intensive graphics
applications, general business applications,
email, web service, file clustering and print
services.

Features summary

Listed below are the system’s key features:

Processor

• Single or Dual Intel® Xeon™ processors with 1MB or 2MB L2 cache

and 800 MHz front system bus

®

• Supports Intel

• Supports Intel

Chipset

• North bridge: Intel E7320 MCH (Memory Controller Hub)

• South bridge: Intel 6300ESB ICH I/O controller

Memory

• Supports up to four DIMM sockets for a maximum memory

capacity of 8 GB

• Supports 512 MB, 1GB and 2GB DDR2-400 registered ECC memory

modules

• Supports dual-channel memory bus

• Supports memory sparing technology

• Supports x4 SDDC (Single Device Data Correction)

Hyper-Threading Technology

®

EM64T (Extended Memory 64 technology)

3

Media storage

• Three 5.25-inch device bays supports:

• 3.5-inch, 1.44 MB floppy drive

• DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, DVD combo drive

• DAT72 tape drive

• AIT tape drive

• LTO half-height tape drive

4

1 System tour

Optional media storage

• Hot-plug HDD cage

• Supports up to four 80-pin Ultra320 SCSI hard disk drives

• Supports up to four SATA 150/300 hard disk drives

• Easy-swap HDD cage

• Supports up to four 68-pin SCSI hard disk drives

• Supports up to four SATA 150/300 hard disk drives

Note: The main difference between a hot-plug HDD cage and an
easy-swap HDD cage is the presence of a backplane board on the
rear side of the hot-plug HDD cage

.

SCSI controller

• Onboard SCSI: LSI® Logic 1020A Ultra320 SCSI controller

• Dual channel SCSI, SCSI RAID host bus adapter (optional)

SATA controller

• Onboard SATA: Intel 6300ESB ICH I/O controller supports dual
channel SATA 150 ports

• Eight channel SATA RAID host bus adapter (optional)

RAID

• Software RAID 0, 1 for onboard SATA ports

• Software RAID 1 for onboard SCSI port

Networking

• Intel 82541Pl Gigabit Ethernet controller

• Marvell Yukon 88E8050 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller

PCI I/O

• Five PCI bus slots with three separate bus segments:

• Two 32-bit/33 MHz PCI bus slots

• Two 64-bit/66 MHz PCI-X bus slots

• One x8 PCI Express bus slots (with x4 connectors)

Graphic interface

•ATI Rage® XL chipset with 8MB SDRAM

I/O ports

• Front panel

• Two USB 2.0 ports

•Rear panel

• PS/2 keyboard and mouse port

• Two USB 2.0 ports

• VGA/monitor port

• Serial port

• Two LAN ports (RJ-45)

Operating system and software

• Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003, X64 edition

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server (SP4)

•Novell

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0, EMT 64

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0

•SCO Openserver

• SCO Unixware

•SUSE

• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9.0 X86_64

• ASM (Acer Server Manager)

• EasyBUILD (includes SATA/SCSI RAID Configuration Utility)

®

NetWare® 6.5

™

5.0.7

®

7.1.4

®

Linux Enterprise Server 9.0

5

Power supply

• 600-watt single standard (non-redundant) power supply

• 610-watt (1+1) redundant power supply (optional)

6

External and internal structure

Front bezel

1 System tour

No. Component

1 Side panel release button

2 Security keylock

3 Front panel LED indicator

4 Bezel door

Front panel

No. Icon Component Description

7

1DVD/CD-ROM drive

Stop/Eject button

2DVD/CD-ROM drive

activity indicator

3 DVD/CD-ROM drive Disk drive for reading CD-ROMs.

4 Volume control Adjusts the volume of the CD drive.

5DVD/CD-ROM drive

6 5.25-inch drive bays Two empty 5.25-inch drive bays

7

Headphone/
Earphone port

Power indicator

1

Press this button to open the CD
drive tray.

When the LED indicator is lit, there
is activity in the CD drive.

Connects to microphones or
earphones.

allow installation of additional
devices.

Indicates AC power is present or
system is turned on or off (green).

8

No. Icon Component Description

1 System tour

8 Hard disk activity

indicator

2

9 LAN activity

indicator

3

LAN activity
indicator

4

10 Hot-plug HDD power

indicator

5

11 Four-bay hot-plug

HDD cage

Indicates the status of the system
hard drive.

Indicates an active link on the LAN1
port (green).

Indicates an active link on the LAN2
port (green).

Indicates drive activity (green).

Houses four hot-plug or easy swap
SCSI/SATA drives.

12 HDD cage bay For additional storage options.

Supports a four-bay hot-plug HDD
cage.

13 USB ports Connects to USB devices.

14 Power button Press to turn on the system.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 For more information about the status of the LED indicators, see

Front panel LED indicators table on page 9.

Front panel LED indicators

Below table lists the LED states on the front panel.

LED Color Status Description

Power Green On Power on

Blinking System in ACPI sleep mode.

HDD Green Blinking HDD activity

Off No HDD activity

LAN1 and 2 Green On Network is established.

Blinking • Network activity.

• Network is established and
running at its supported
speed.

Off Network link is not established.

Hot-plug HDD LED indicators

9

Below table lists the possible disk drive status.

HDD Status Green Amber Description

HDD access Blinking — HDD activity

10

Rear panel

No. Icon Component Description

1 System tour

1Power supply

module bay

2 USB ports Connects to USB devices.

3 PS/2 mouse port Connects to a PS/2 mouse.

Allows installation of a redundant
and non-redundant redundant
power supply module. The hot-swap
redundant power supply module
may include three LEDs that will
indicate its operating status.

Note: If the system comes bundled
with only a single redundant power
supply module, you have the option
to separately purchase an extra
power supply module to provide the
system with redundant power
source.

No. Icon Component Description

11

4 PS/2 keyboard

port

5 VGA/monitor

port

6 Serial port Connects to serial devices.

7 Gigabit LAN

ports (10/100/
1000 Mbps)

8 Expansion slots For installing expansion cards.

9 PCI slot lock

lever

10 Rear system fan Optimizes system airflow.

Connects to a PS/2 keyboard.

Connects to monitors.

Connects to network cables.

Secures the PCI card to the system.

12

1 System tour

Rear panel LED indicators

Below table lists the LED states on the LAN port.

LED Green Yel lo w Status

Link On — • Indicates 100MBps Ethernet

operation.

• Network link is established.

Blinking — Indicates transmission or reception

of data in the network.

Off — • Indicates 10 MBps Ethernet

operation.

• Network link is not established.

• The LAN cable is not working.

Activity — On Indicates 1000 MBps Ethernet

operation.

— Off Network is idle.

Internal components

No. Component

13

1

Power supply module (600 or 610-watts)

2 Rear system fan

3 Mainboard, CPU and heat sink fan assembly

4 PCI bus slot

5 Four-bay hot-plug HDD cage

1 The system supports a redundant or non-redundant power supply module. If the system
comes bundled with a single 610-w redundant power supply module, you have the option
to purchase an extra power supply module to provide the system with a redundant power
source.

1

14

1 System tour

System boards

Mainboard layout

The mainboard becomes accessible once you open the system. It should
look like the figure shown below.

No. Code Description

1 USB_1~2 USB ports

2 MS/KB Top: PS/2 mouse port

Bottom: PS/2 keyboard port

3 SERIAL A Serial A port

4 VGA VGA/monitor port

5 JA2 NIC_1 Gigabit LAN 1 port (RJ-45)

JA1 NIC_2 Gigabit LAN 2 port (RJ-45)

6 SYS_FAN_1 System fan 1 connector

7 P/S AUX SIG Auxillary power supply signal connector

8 SYS_FAN_2 System fan 2 connector

9 MAIN PWR Power supply connector

10 DIMM_1B - 1A DIMM 1B to 1A sockets

15

11 DIMM_2B - 2A DIMM 2B to 2A sockets

12 CPU PWR CPU power supply connector

13 CPU_1 CPU 1 socket

14 CPU_2 CPU 2 socket

15 CPU_1 FAN CPU 1 fan connector

16 CPU_2 FAN CPU 2 fan connector

17 J17 Clear CMOS, Clear password and Recovery boot

jumper

18 PRIMARY IDE Primary IDE connector

19 FLOPPY FDD connector

20 LVD SCSI CH A SCSI channel connector

16

No. Code Description

21 SATA_A1- A2 SATA connectors

22 HSBP_B Hot-plug backplane connector

23 J38 Front panel LED connector

1 System tour

24

2

I

CI

2

C connector (reserved for ARMC/2)

25 BATTERY CMOS Battery

26 USB3~4 USB 3 and 4 connector

27 J19 Chassis intrusion connector

28 SERIAL B Serial B connector

29 J26 SCSI LED connector

30 SLOT_1 and 2 PCI-X slots (64-bit/66 MHz)

31 SLOT_3 and 5 PCI slots (32-bit/33 MHz)

32 SLOT_4 x8 PCI-Express slot (with x4 throughput)

Jumper settings

J17 jumper

The J17 jumper provides a total of 3-pin blocks that are used to
configure several system recovery and update options.

The table below lists each jumper option

Pin no. Pin function Description

17

1-2
2-3

5-6
6-7

9-10
10-11

Normal boot (default)
Force erase

Protect (default)
Erase

Normal boot (default)
Recovery boot

Clear CMOS settings

Clear password settings

Recovery boot settings

J38 jumper

The J38 jumper is a standard SSI 34-pin header that supports the system
front panel.

18

The following below lists the pin-out of the J38 header.

Pin no. Signal name Pin no. Signal name

1 ACPI LED gm 2 SB5V

1 System tour

3 Key 4 Fan fault LED*

5 ACPI LED amber 6 Fan fault LED*

7 HDD LED 8 System fault LED*

9 NMI button 10 System fault LED*

11 ACPI switch 12 LAN 1 Activity LED

13 ACPI switch (GND) 14 LAN 1 Activity LED#

15 Reset switch 16 SMB SDA

17 Reset switch (GND) 18 SMB SCL

19 Sleep switch* (no support) 20 Intruder*

21 Sleep switch (GND) 22 LAN 2 Activity LED

23 NMI switch# 24 LAN 2 Activity LED#

25 Key 26 Key

27 NC 28 NC

29 NC 30 NC

(no support)

(no support)

31 NC 32 NC

33 NC 34 NC

* and NC = No connection

Backplane board layout

The backplane board attached to the four-bay hot-plug HDD cage
provides a convenient interface between the SCSI or SATA drives and
the mainboard.

SCSI backplane board layout

19

Front

No. Code Description

1 SCSI HDD connectors

2 W83792D_ID1 792D_ID1 ADDR select jumper

Jumper setting:
Short 1-2 — 5EH (default)
Short 2-3 — 5AH

3 3-pin fan connector

4 4-pin power cable connector

5 68-pin SCSI data cable connector

Rear

20

No. Code Description

6 J3 LED indicator jumper

Jumper setting:
Short 1-2 — Link LED on
Short 2-3 — Link LED dark

7 SAF-TE ID SAF-TE ID jumper

Jumper setting:
Short 1-2 — ID8 (default)
Short 2-3 — ID6

1 System tour