I've just spent two days beating our company's new ML110 G5 with a stick in order to force it to accept an installation of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard (x64). Having finally got it working I thought I'd share what I did in case anyone else has the same issues I came across.
This is a long-winded post but hopefully the gory details will make a difference somewhere.
This is a "works for me" post. Your milage may vary. Discussion is welcome, but my server is now commissioned and in use, so I am unable to carry out any further tests.
My hardware:
HP ML110 G5 server
3 GB RAM
2 x 250 GB SATA HDDs (which I want to run as a RAID-1 mirror)
These instructions assume you are performing an installation from scratch, and that the disks hold no data that you wish to keep. FOLLOWING THESE INSTRUCTIONS WILL ERASE THE HARD DISKS! Back up any data you want to keep before starting.
1. Boot the machine and hit F10 to enter the BIOS configuration utility.
2. Press F9 and confirm the dialog to reset the BIOS to its factory default settings.
3. Under the "Main" menu, under "Boot Features", change "Virtual Install Disk" option to "Disabled".
4. Under the "Advanced" menu, select "Advanced Chipset Control" and set "SATA RAID Enable" to "Enabled".
THIS NEXT STEP IS CRITICAL. The Windows 2008 Server installer won't recognise the RAID array unless you do this.
5. Under the "Boot" menu, highlight "+ Hard Drive" and press <+> twice to move it to the top of the list.
6. Save and exit from the BIOS. The machine will reboot.
7. Press F8 when prompted to enter the RAID controller configuration utility.
8. Configure your RAID array according to taste.
IMPORTANT: If a RAID array is already configured DELETE IT and reconfigure, even if the existing configuration is the same as the one you want. The act of deleting the array clears the disk partition tables. If this isn't done, the currently installed operating system will boot instead of the install CD. This is an artifact of the requirement for the Hard Drive to be set first in the BIOS boot order, and is also the reason why it's not possible to perform an installation using these instructions without erasing the disks.
9. Go back into the BIOS and check the boot order again. I have found that sometimes the "removable device" entry gets moved to the top of the list after the RAID array has been configured. If this has happened, move "Hard Disk" back to the top of the list, save and exit.
10. Insert the installation media (I used the Windows Server 2008 Standard x64 DVD from the Microsoft Action Pack).
11. Follow the installation wizard steps up to the point at which you have to choose where to install Windows.
There are *two* drivers that you have to install:
* cp008698 - Install this first (this seems to be the 64bit driver that windows uses when it boots from disk).
Get it from
ftp://ftp3.hp.com/ftp1/pub/softlib2/software1/sc-windows/p1431394271/v45437/
* cp008697 - Install this second (this seems to be the driver that the installer needs so it can see the disks in order to install windows onto them).
Get it from
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=3580609&prodNameId=3580646&swEnvOID=1005&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-295381a9a94e4182a62f7127b5
12. Insert a USB stick with these drivers on it, and click "load driver".
13. Click "Browse" and navigate to the "CP008698" folder on the USB stick.
14. Select "Adaptec Serial ATA HostRAID (c:\path\to\cp008698\aarachi.inf) - this should be the only entry if you have checked "Hide drivers that are not compatible with hardware on this computer".
15. Click next, and "OK" on the subsequent "load driver" dialog.
When you return to the "Where do you want to install windows" screen, it will look exactly as it did the first time (the disks will not appear in the list). However the driver will have been loaded into memory and will get copied to the system directory when the OS installs.
16. Now repeat the above steps, substituting cp008697 for cp008698. This will load the 32bit driver.
17. Back at the "where do you want to install windows" screen, you should now have a new disk entry: "Disk 1 Unallocated Space". Select this entry and click Next.
All being well, Windows should now install. The installer will use the 32bit disk drivers to install Windows, but will also copy the 64bit drivers to the system drive.
The machine will reboot automatically when installation is complete. Remove your USB stick when this happens. If you don't remove the USB stick in time you may need to press CTRL-ALT-DEL to reset the machine after it reboots.
With any luck, when the operating system loads from disk, it will use the 64bit disk drivers and you will be presented with the first-run configuration wizard. w00t!
Theories on a postcard, please, as to why both the 32- and 64-bit drivers are required. Also, sharp-eyed readers will note that the drivers I've linked to here are the Windows Server 2003 versions, not the Server 2008 ones. I did try the latter using this process, but they didn't work (GPF on reboot). I guess only HP can tell us why that might be.
I hope this information helps save someone some time and effort :o)
