Dell PE 2650 Windows Server 2008 x86 can’t find drives druing install

I have a few Dell PowerEdge 2650’s on which I’m attempting to install Server 2008 x86 Standard Edition. When the OS Install GUI loads, and I click Install Now, I get a message that the OS Install Wizard can’t find any drives.

I rebuilt the RAID Array, and updated the firmware.
I updated the BIOS to the current revision.
I updated the CD/DVD drive firmware to the current version (it’s a HLDS: GDR-8081N SCSI CD/DVD Combo drive).
I even updated the SCSI drive firmware and drivers.
I also had a copy of the Perc driver on a floppy to browse to during the OS Install…

No Dice.

WTF?

Thanks,

NWCenter IT

Oh, I’ve seen this problem before.

You’re in luck, I have a solution. I looked for this solution for days on the forums, but couldn’t find anything.

Okay, here’s what you do:

Find a really old, crappy driver for the CD/DVD drive… I’m talking old, like 2002 old. Flash the firmware with it, and then Windows Server 2008 will see the drive, and allow you to then browse out to the RAID driver to pick the logical drive on which you want to install the OS…

Don’t ask me why, cuz I don’t know. I wasted two days on this one. Just about gave up on it.

Good luck.

Configuring Microsoft Server 2008 and Domain for Use as a Software Router with Ipv4 and Ipv6 Functionality

Greetings;

First, I shall give you a summary of what I am trying to accomplish, followed by more in-depth information below. Please let me know how I can help you to help me and I will do my best. Hopefully this wont end up being another one of my unanswerable questions. I also hope that I have not provided too much information and confused things.

GOAL: Server 2008-based Domain LAN (running in Server 2003 compatibility level) configured so that when a workstation is joined to the domain it will have the following:
” A non-routable IPv4 address (in the 10.x.x.x range)
” A routable IPv6 address
” Ability to access IPv6 enabled Internet sites via Internet Explorer 7 and show as accessing via IPv6 rather than IPv4. (Example: http://www.ipv6.org/ will indicate if you are using IPv4 or IPv6.)
” The ability to access the workstation directly from the Internet via IPv6 rather than having to go through NAT
” **OPTIONAL**: it would be nice to be able to configure some servers or workstations with IPv6 ONLY.

NETWORKING HARDWARE:
” WAN Access to shared T1 via Cisco 1700 Series router. NOTE: this device is owned and operated by XO communications and outside of my control. We have a range of 30 IPv4 addresses via this switch, the majority of them already in use by the in-production domain.
” Simple 5-port switch for sharing the WAN between the production domain, the R&D department, and the new domain (this project)
” Host Server for virtual servers with multiple NICs. This box is running Server 2008 Enterprise 64-bit with Hyper-V configured for Virtual Guest Servers and Virtual Networks as needed

ASSUMPTIONS:
” XO communications does not have Global IPv6 addresses for us
” Assuming that my understanding of IPv6 Link Local addressing is correct and that these are non-routable addresses, that it would then be preferred to assign internal IPv6 addresses via DHCPv6 reservations and not rely on the IPv6 link local addressing
” My interpretation of Understanding IPv6 Second Edition (page 365) indicates that the creation and automatic assignment of pseudorandom unique local address is optional but advised.

FIRST ATTEMPT (FAILED): The following describes the configuration that I _tried_ on my initial attempts to get this working. It went through various modifications. The following is where I left it last night and what I am facing today. NOTE: the current configuration DOES NOT work for IPv4 or IPv6 due to failed attempts at getting both to work last night.
” On my Virtual Host server I have allocated 2 NICs for the project.
o One is connected to the WAN by way of XOs Cisco 1700 router. It has a static IPv4 address from our range.
o The second NIC has a direct connection to an extra NIC in my workstation (also running Server 2008 with Hyper-V) for increased ease of access to the new virtual domain.
” VIRTUAL GUEST SERVERS: For the purposes of this configuration all virtual servers are running Server 2008 64-bit.
o GPB-VWDS is the domain controller for the new domain. It has the following roles: AD DS, DNS, and Windows Deployment Services (unrelated to this project)
o GPB-VRRAS is my routing server. It has the following roles: RRAS, DHCP
o GPB-VWSUS is being used as a client for this test (but it was built as a WSUS and KMS server). It has the following roles: AD CS, IIS, WSUS, KMS
” IP ADDRESSING:
o GPB-PRIME (the virtual host server) has two NICs allocated for this project. They are configured as follows:
§ WAN: a static IPv4 address of 205.158.120.200, subnet mask of 255.555.255.224, gateway of 205.158.120.193, and no DNS. It has automatic IPV6 configuration enabled which gives it an FE80-based link local address and three DNS servers: FEC0:0:0:FFFF::1, FEC0:0:0:FFFF::2, and FEC0:0:0:FFFF::2
§ LAN: a static IPv4 of 10.7.7.5, no gateway, no DNS. NOTE: it is not a member of the new domain due to membership and other functions in the old domain.
§ Other NICs not in use for this project are not listed.
o SGT-JRICE (my workstation) has a NIC allocated for this project with a static IPv4 of 10.7.7.6, no gateway, no DNS. It does not have IPv6 capabilities activated on it. Other NICs not in use for this project are not listed. NOTE: this machine is not a member of the new domain due to its uses in the production domain.
o GPB-VWDS has a static IPv4 of 10.7.7.250, gateway of 10.7.7.254, and DNS of 10.7.7.250. It has a statically assigned IPv6 address of FCBE:DEAD:DEAD::A07:7FA, no gateway, and DNS of ::1
o GPB-RRAS has two NICs attached to the appropriate virtual networks on GPB-PRIME. They are configured as follows:
§ WAN: a static IPv4 address of 205.158.120.202, subnet mask of 255.555.255.224, gateway of 205.158.120.193, and DNS of 10.7.7.250. It does not offer IPv6.
§ LAN: a static IPv4 of 10.7.7.254, no gateway, DNS of 10.7.7.250. RRAS is configured on this machine and works as far as IPv4 is concerned.
o GPB-WSUS has a dynamic IPv4 reservation for 10.7.7.30. It is not getting an IPv6 address from GPB-RRAS but it does have its FE80 link local IPv6 address.
” It should be noted that the DNS server has both A and AAAA records for machines with statically configured IPv6 addresses, but does not list AAAA records for any of the FE80 link local connections.
” I have three reverse lookup zones configured: 0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.8.e.f.ip6.arpa, 0.0.0.0.d.a.e.d.d.a.e.d.e.b.c.f.ip6.arpa, and 7.7.10.in-addr.arpa

I am sure that I have done numerous things quite wrong and perhaps even some of my assumptions are incorrect. I am hoping for some useful feedback so that I do not waste as much time blundering through this. At this time I do not have a budget for purchasing any additional hardware or services; I have to make do with what I have described above.

Thank you for any attempt you make at understanding and helping me with this.

Johnny-dog Duane Rice
Senior Technology Officer
Gamma Phi Beta Sorority
jrice@gammaphibeta.org

This is the third or fourth question I have posted that has gone without response at all.  Is there something wrong with the way I am wording my questions?  Are the problems that I am dealing with beyond the experts here?  This is very frustrating.
 
HOWEVER&
 
I have solved the problem myself.
 
To hopefully help someone else, here is what I did:
 
1.      Shutdown all virtual servers and removed all virtual networks from Hyper-V. 
2.      Corrected any configuration errors on the Host server’s physical NICs.
3.      Recreated the virtual networks from within Hyper-V.
4.      Because I was not able to get everything working exactly as I desired, I created an account with Freenet6 http://go6.net/4105/freenet.asp and installed the Gateway6 client for Hexago.
5.      After this, nearly everything worked fine and I was able to configure RRAS and DNS to do what they needed to do.
6.      NOTE: I am still working with DHCP but indications are that it will nto be a problem either.
 
I tend to be stubborn about wanting to be able to do things on my own.  To this end, I am also investigating a compromise between the Freenet6 account and a 100% RRAS-based solution by testing the performance of a D-Link DIR-615 IPv6 Ready wireless router (http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=565).  This device has both stateful and stateless IPv6 DHCP support and for less than $50 I purchased it out of my own personal funds.
 
Best of luck to you in your IPv6 migrations & deployments.
Not what you’re looking for? Ask an Expert.

Windows Firewall service won’t start - 2008 Server Standard

Hi guys,

For some reason my windows firewall service will not start on a 2008 server standard machine. It throws an error to the event log about service-specific error 5. Tried netsh winsock reset and no luck. ANY suggestions are welcome.

Instead of spending hours trying to find out what caused this I reinstalled and thankfully no problems yet.

activate windows 2008 DHCP

I’ve just set up a new Windows 2008 server and added it as a DC. I’ve set up DHCP but am unable to get the IPV4 to activate (red down arrow). It looks like the server is authorized b/c my only option under actions is to unauthorize. I have the option to deactivate/activate the individual scope under IPV4 but without activating this nothing is happening. What needs to be done to get this active and supplying IP addresses?

Thanks for your help.

There are a couple things you can try to help update DHCP with its authorization status.

1. Restart the DHCP Server. At the commpand prompt, type:
NET STOP DHCPServer & NET START DHCPServer
2. If you have multiple domain controllers, force them to replicate, then run the command above.
3. Restart the server entirely.

Mapped drives losing connectivity in Server 2008

I’m running to a problem with mapped drives on a Windows 2008 server. If a user goes into the mapped share and deletes files it causes the mapped drive to lock up for all connected users. I can remote into the server without a problem but no one can access the mapped shares until a reboot. I’m running Server 2008 Standard with Symantec Client Security ver. 10.2.0.276. DEP and network scanning are both off and I’ve added the mapped shares to the Symantec folder exclusions. The users have “Full Control” of the mapped share.

SEP is your problem. Call Symantec to get the cleanwipe tool and remove SEP. SEP has been causing these issues for a while now and Symantec still hasn’t fully fixed the issue. If you call MS they will ask you to remove SEP before they start troubleshooting the problem.

Also, if you right-click you Local Area Connection go to properties then select configure. Once you select configure click on the Advance tab then disable IP Checksum, TCP Checksum, IP Offload, and TCP Offload.
Not what you’re looking for? Ask an Expert.