DL380 OS install - Windows 2003 - SmartStart won't boot

[SPa]

Your initial Post says the system had Windows 2003..

Do you also get an F10 prompt when you boot the server to go into System Configuration utility.

If Yes,Check the Boot order there to ensure CDROM is the first.

If No,it would be worth checking first of all if the CDROM is functional.Connect it to some other machine to see if it can read CD's.

If the CDROM is ok,try erasing NVRAM through the Dip switches on the system Board and then try booting with Smart Start 5.5 .

I presume you would have checked the Smart Start 5.5 to see if the CD is readable.

[Brian_Murdoch]

Hi,

You probably have the TEAC Slimline CD rom drive in your server. It was known for problems when reading or booting CD's in a few G1 Proliants. Compaq came out with a firmware fix so please try this. You will need to get hold of a bootable DOS diskette and copy the files to it, then run the update. Instructions are included.

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/9026.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN


This may resolve your install issues.

Regards,

Brian

[charger]

I got the download to fix TEAC cd problems, however according to the readme.txt file, the TEAC has the eject button to the center of left and LED light one inch to the right of that, and my Slimline CD does not match that description, so the TEAC is not the issue.

A few posts describe how to proceede using a bootable floppy -- I finally got my paws on a USB floppy drive for my desktop today and am now going to try some of your suggestions. Thaks by the way for all suggestions and when I get this thing solved I wil award points like the Pentagon awards free money to defense contractors!

[charger]

It turns out the SmartStart 5.5 CD I created had errors on it. The blank CD's I was using (GQ great quality brand) were faulty. Why most CD writing software didn't mention this I don't know. ImgBurn is freeware CD/DVD software that does a thorough compare of CD to ISO and showed me the errors.

Also I was able to get a USB floppy drive for my desktop and created and ran the Compaq system erase utility and then made and ran the CPQ system configuration from a mess of floppy's.

So now I am able to boot to a SS CD but it is now telling me I SMRTSCI is not installed and W2003 install finds no HD. Looks like I need to get another driver going and I might just be on the path to success here!