This past weekend I needed to build a new LAMP/RoR dev box. We’ve got this old Compaq ProLiant DL360, a perfect candidate for a low-traffic development box. I’ve been using Ubuntu for a while now and decided I give Ubuntu 6.10-Server a try.

As I’ve come to expect from Ubuntu, the installation went without a hitch.

Wait, not so fast. After rebooting, and doing the initial boot sequence, Grub outputs a fatal error: cpqarray: error sending ID controller

I rebooted the box again, just to be sure. It’s an old Windows habit. But this error wasn’t going away.

Initially the error was frustrating, however, after googling a bit I managed to muster up a few links that gave some insight:

• http://www.mcnabbs.org/andrew/linux/proliant/
• http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=82466
• http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=255335

The gist of what I needed to do is outlined below:

Reboot the machine with the installation CD. Select “Rescue System”. Follow all the steps until it errors. This will present you with the advanced installation widget.

Select “Execute Shell”

After you enter the console. You need to execute the following commands:

$ mkdir target
$ mount /dev/ida/c0d0p1 target
$ chroot target
$ echo "cpqarray" >> etc/initramsfs-tools/modules
# for dapper
# $ echo “cpqarray” >> etc/mkinitramsfs/modules
# thanks jallen
$ update-initramfs -u
(I’ve skipped any steps outlining the implicit requirement to backup files)

Now simply reboot and voila you have a functional server.