SBS08 Install Issues

T

TechieSooner

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
7,601
100% clean install. The first go-round, I installed it- configured some stuff- and then it updated at some time. After the reboot- it's like the thing was a P2 on 256MB of RAM... Explorer wouldn't pull up, I can't launch any programs, can't open Network, can't open IE, etc. But Safe Mode works 100% fine.

So eventually I said "screw it" and did another fresh install. First bootup it worked fine. Then the ONLY other thing I did was install the chipset drivers (Windows didn't install them), reboot- and BAM- same issues.

And actually, the first time: I didn't even install the chipset drivers. So I know those weren't the issue.

Any ideas at all? Again, works in Safe Mode 100% fine. That suggests driver issues, of course, but what the crap would it be?
 
marley1 said:
what type of machine? hardware? brand?
Click to expand...

It's a Dell Server...
Specs are off the top of my head, but four 146GB 10K SCSI drives in RAID5, 12GB RAM, Xeon Quad Core processor. More than snappy for this server to actually be "hung" up on processing something (indeed the CPU utilization is 0% when this is going on, and there's 10GB free RAM). There's something wrong that I cannot figure out.
 
so lets start from scratch, because i have done fresh installs on T610 the last few weeks.

boot off cd, raid drives are found
get to the network setings page, you go to explorer and run the broadcom exe, install just drivers, skip the rest, disable nic 2, go back to setup
get into windows, install just the intel chipset, not even needed i dont think.
go into the sbs console - this takes a little to load
setup the internet to get online
start banging out the updates

thats what you doing?
 
I recommend using the Dell server assistant CD, and loading the operating system via their loader.
It sounds like there is some type of driver or installation issue.
 
marley1 said:
so lets start from scratch, because i have done fresh installs on T610 the last few weeks.

boot off cd, raid drives are found
get to the network setings page, you go to explorer and run the broadcom exe, install just drivers, skip the rest, disable nic 2, go back to setup
get into windows, install just the intel chipset, not even needed i dont think.
go into the sbs console - this takes a little to load
setup the internet to get online
start banging out the updates

thats what you doing?
Click to expand...

The first time...
1) Boot off CD, RAID drivers are found
2) Pointed Device Manager to the extracted Broadcom EXE with the /a switch (so I'm not even running the EXE itself). Setup sees and installs them OK.
3) Windows is running. Configured some stuff. Updates get installed.
4) Time for reboot- BAM- problem.

The second time...
1) Boot of CD, RAID drivers are found
2) Pointed Device Manager to the extracted Broadcom EXE with the /a switch (so I'm not even running the EXE itself). Setup sees and installs them OK.
3) Windows is running.
4) Installed chipset drivers. Needs reboot. BAM- problem.



Now, I do notice that the little NIC icon in the taskbar is showing as disconnected (it's not) in running in normal mode during this problem. However I don't know if that means it might be a NIC issue now that I think about it, or just the fact that Explorer (or whatever it is), is crashing. The NIC works just fine in Safe Mode. But I can't run anything when this problem occurs for me to really troubleshoot wether or not the NIC runs. The extent of what I can do is run Task Manager, that's about it.
First on my to-try list is def. booting into Safe Mode and disabling the NICs and seeing what happens.

Edit- So, it could have something to do with me using that /a switch and extracting them, then. Very well could be. The Broadcom manual says you can do that though. At any rate, like I said, disabling the NIC ports should tell me what I need to know. I hope it's that simple. What's crazy is if the NIC drivers that got installed are bad, why it doesn't do this on the initial boot into Windows.
 
i think its the broadcom software

i always run the .exe because ive had issue spointing to the inf file.

run the exe only select drives, see what happens.

im going to bed, let me know tomorrow.
 
marley1 said:
i think its the broadcom software

i always run the .exe because ive had issue spointing to the inf file.

run the exe only select drives, see what happens.

im going to bed, let me know tomorrow.
Click to expand...

What do you do to run the EXE? How do you launch that from within the setup?
 
marley1 said:
ive always skipped the dell server assistant.
Click to expand...


Marley1,

I could spend a considerable amount of time on reasons why to use the server assistant cd, just as one would use the smartstart with an HP system, but before I do, I would ask of you to please list reasons why you wouldn't use the server assistant cd. And please provide more reasons than a new revision of a driver or etc.

I am not trying to flame or argue, but I genuinely would like a comprehensive list of reasons why one wouldn't, vs one would.
 
why would you use it? what does it do? i don't think it does anything for you that productive, i like to load the most recent drivers, and then load openmanage myself at the end. so spend your time and tell me why to use it.

TechieSooner - when it gets to the point where it cant see a NIC, you just do Ctrl Alt Del and run Explorer, then browse to the exe and run it.

Captain - it asks to see the NIC before continuing setup.
 
guile said:
Marley1,

I could spend a considerable amount of time on reasons why to use the server assistant cd, just as one would use the smartstart with an HP system, but before I do, I would ask of you to please list reasons why you wouldn't use the server assistant cd. And please provide more reasons than a new revision of a driver or etc.

I am not trying to flame or argue, but I genuinely would like a comprehensive list of reasons why one wouldn't, vs one would.
Click to expand...
Mine didn't come with an OS pre-installed, no disk for me anyway.

marley1 said:
TechieSooner - when it gets to the point where it cant see a NIC, you just do Ctrl Alt Del and run Explorer, then browse to the exe and run it.
Click to expand...
Won't CTRL ALT DEL reboot the machine at that point? I'm assuming it'll just open Task Manager now that you said that...
 
marley1 said:
why would you use it? what does it do?

Captain - it asks to see the NIC before continuing setup.
Click to expand...

Didn't know that about the NIC, I guess I just use the HP SmartStart disk to install the OS so I never have to bother with that.

As for why you would use the Server Assistant or SmartStart disks, they automatically load all the drivers for the system during OS install to avoid problems like the one TechieSooner is having. After the OS is installed you can upgrade any drivers you wish. Or, in the case of HP's SmartStart anyway, you just download the latest version from HP's website and boot from it. You can setup your RAID arrays and custom partitions and then bake the install with your drivers, etc automatically.
 
ctrl alt del goes to task manager (since windows is already loaded).

i never use the disks, never any issue either, i always format the dells when i get them and start over, make the raid partition, boot off sbs 03 or 08, load raid if its 03, boot up and go.

doubt it makes any difference =)
 
Safe mode, deleted the NICs and chose to delete the software as well... Rebooted into normal mode and it's the same freaking thing.
 
weird, want me to make a ISO of hte server assistant and you can try that?

I would wipe again, go into Perc, delete the array, recreate
Install SBS 08 on the partition
Install Nic drive without any of the software (uncheck all but the top driver)
Install Intel Chipset

if you need me to make the ISO i can, and put it on a ftp for ya.
 
Well, as of right now... I just let it sit there. I started working on something else. I'm looking at it and it finally got "caught up" and it's working now. It's like the SBS Console won't let anything run until it's done scanning the system or something, I don't know....

Perhaps just a case of impatience... We'll see and I'll post back.
 
Have you done sbs 08 before?

Yes the console does take a bit to load up, bunch of reports behind the scene.

If you boot the machine up and don't go to the sbs console are you all good?

Install the drivers like I said, start running through the setup and get all toe updates, bunch of em, gottta approve through the updates tab in console and bucnh of restarts
 
I would definitely wipe that server and start over from scratch, using the server assistant CD...
Click to expand...
This.

IBM, HP, etc all have hardware specific drivers integrated into the "assisted installation". They are there for a reason. There is no reason to ice-skate uphill and do extra work.
 
marley1 said:
Have you done sbs 08 before?

Yes the console does take a bit to load up, bunch of reports behind the scene.

If you boot the machine up and don't go to the sbs console are you all good?
Click to expand...

Never done SBS 08.

It seems like the console won't let anything else run properly until it's done building those reports. It's running fine now.
 
Just an update... It was "running fine" the first time, until I discovered I accidentally installed Windows to the 400GB data partition instead of the 60GB OS partition :rolleyes:

I figured a reinstall was quicker. So, my steps (that worked) were:
1) Install Windows
2) Install NIC drivers when prompted (Launching explorer.exe and running the Broadcom driver setup.exe file)
3) Install finishes- I let the Console at first boot load up all the way and query everything.
4) Reboot for good measure, everything still works fine- I figure it works now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top