Need help using SmartStart on a Proliant 8500R

[Marc Dupras]

Ok - I have been working on this issue for a while now and I am fairly new to Proliant servers(and well servers in general).

I have a Proliant 8500R and I am trying to install Windows 2003 on it.

I am using SmartStart 5.5

I continue to have several different errors when trying different scenerios.

Example 1 : Spawn error: Exec format error running hwdisc-2.exe

Example 2 : Smartstart can't continue because there are no physical or logical disks on the primary controller. This occured when I did a system wipe and just let the Smartstart cd try and install. So not setting up a drive array.

Example 3: SMRTSCSI not installed

Example 4: Unable to find any AIC-7899. ASPICPQ.SYS failed.

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So anyhow, could anyone put together a step by step bare essentials of what I need to do to get this darn server to work? I'd follow the instructions and report any errors along the way.

Basicaly what I am trying right now is

1. Doing a system wipe to start off clean.
2. I pop in the Smartstart CD and reboot.
3. The smart array initializes and says there are no arrays setup. I press F8 to enter option rom configuration Arrays menu (Version 1.68) I have 2 SCSI drives, Both 15k speed and same size. In slots 0 and 1. I select them both and do a raid 1 (0+1)
4. Then Smartstart gives me the screen of the guy with his arms in the air and some chick is sitting on a van seat while they are beside the van (to me this picture means the guy is as frustrated as I am and there should be a caption that says "Shoot me now! I give up on this server" Hey we gotta laugh :) ) Anyhow, I found out that by pushing Esc that picture goes away and you can actually see what is happening with Smartstart.
5. In that screen you see a lot of could not find this, that failed and some other successful things. Is it important? I know some install just look for some components and if they are not found it gives you an error message but it continues and does not really affect the install.
6. I sometimes eventually get to an option that says F10 to Run Quick Configuration Options. When entering that I have 3 choices. a. Configure system
b. Configure system and create system partition
c. Exit
Anyhow, when I go into either a or b I have to choose an operating system. I noticed that under windows they do not have Windows 2003 as an option. Do I need to update this menu or whatnot? Can I choose Windows 2000 for now or something? I usually just pick Windows 2000.
7. Sometimes I will get to the point where it says Checking Hardware. Hardware successfully loaded. After that it will just sit there with a cursor at the top left of the screen or I get into a loop with an error that reads "An unrecoverable error occured while running Smartstart. Error code 24. The system erase utility must be run to prepare the system to run Smartstart again."

Anyhow, I have email notification on so if you have any questions or information that is needed to further help me I will try to answer as soon as possible.

Thanks in advance

[chongkan]

For me, it sounds like defective media, why don't you re-burn that SS CD from scratch?

Here is the ISO image link:

http://h18023.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/22678.html

[Stephen Kebbell]

Hi,

have you tried wiping the server using the floppy-based version of the system erase utility?
http://h18023.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/17918.html

This is a more effective system wipe than the one off the SmartStart CD (but I don't know the exact details). Then try again, with a freshly-burned SmartStart CD from the link Chonhkan provided.

Regards,
Stephen

[Jaragon]

Do yo really need SS right away??

If you are going to use W2k3 I would say it's better to do a regular install and then install the psp, just remember to install SNMP on windows, 5.5 will propably do weird things if you try to install w2k3...

[RaMpaNTe]

Hello Marc!
"Then Smartstart gives me the screen of the guy with his arms in the air and some chick is sitting on a van seat while they are beside the van (to me this picture means the guy is as frustrated as I am and there should be a caption that says "Shoot me now! I give up on this server" lol that was funny.

Going back to your inquiry, SSCD 5.5 and W2K3 will not work, since you won't get, the option to choose W2K3 from SmartStart,, so what you can do is, create the array and its logical drive, once this is done put the W2k3 in the server and boot from it, the installation will start.

RaMpaNTe

[Stephen Kebbell]

OK, I will add to my contribution:
You can use SS 5.50 to install W2K3, just not using the assisted method. It's quite an old version, and stopped shipping in 2002 or so (long before Windows 2003 came out, so that's why there's no option for it). The main reason you would use SmartStart is to configure the array, to select the OS and get System Configuration Utility installed. You are right in selecting Windows 2000 using the manual installation path. When SmartStart asks for the OS CD, put in your W2K3 CD and reboot. Windows 2003 has the driver for Smart Array Controllers, so you don't need the F6 option during Windows setup.

Some of the "errors" during some of the parts of SmartStart are probably safe to ignore, as you already suspect. It tries to load drivers for all possible disk controllers, most of which are not in a PL8500R.

Good luck,

Stephen

[Marc Dupras]

Thank you for the replies everyone.

I had Friday off so this is why I did not reply until now.

You have cleared up a few issues for me and I will be awarding the points shortly.
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Anyhow, I did try installing Windows 2k3 by just booting off the win2k3 cd. It installs the mini setup and copies all the files on disk after I create and format a partition for it. After the reboot which should boot me into a graphical windows setup I get a blank screen.

I'm gonna check more on this today.

Also I do have a system erase utility diskette. I run it often when trying something new on the system or when it says a system erase is needed.

[Marc Dupras]

HUZZZAHH!!!!

I don't know if you guys sent me some good karma but if you did.. thanks! :)

I started off this morning by running the system erase diskette. I then popped in the w2k3 cd and started the setup. I created a partition but last time I did a quick format with ntfs file system. This time around I did a normal format. Maybe this is what was causing problems earlier as it might not of erased everything off the drive and it was causing conflicts? Regardless, it just installed smoothly without a hitch.

Thanks for all the suggestions and tips. I am certain I'll be back on these forums with more questions in the future :P