Windows 2000 hangs on boot on Netserver E60

[David Rashleigh]

I have three Netserver E60's, all running Windows 2000 Server.

This problem affects all three servers.

Occasionally, when I reboot the servers they get as far as "Preparing Network connections" and go no further. I generally wait for 30 minutes before deciding if I have a problem. This happens about every 5 reboots or so.

About 50% of the time the server will respond to network connections so I am able to use the Shutdown program on the Resource kit to perform a remote shutdown.

The other 50% of times there is no response at all so a hard reboot is required.

Up until now the servers have come back on the next reboot and carried on as normal but today one server did not come back after 5 attempts so a rebuild was required.

The servers all have different functions and run different software so I don't think there is a connection there. All the software is mainstream stuff so nothing special there.

Microsoft were no help at all. All they could suggest was to use the remote Shutdown software!

Has anyone had any similar experiences and have any advice to share?

Thanks in advance.

[Marino Meloni_1]

hi
if I well understand, you seens to have network connection problems, it is not so rare that the server E60 have truble connecting to the LAN due to the sensibility of the integrated lan to disturbs, in other word you need to respect the cable specification (need Class 5 cabling).
probably some time the speed negotiation from the integrated lan and the hub or switch may fail.
then try replacing lan cables, or fix your connection speed to 10 Mb
bye
marino

[Marino Meloni_1]

for trubleshooting you problem you can also desable your internal lan adapter and insert another D5013A card (it is the hp 10/100 tx lan adapter, the same as the integrated one) if the problem solve, it was related at what I wrote you
bye

[Theo Hill_1]

First, you need to verify that the drivers you are using are the ones HP recommends. Using the latest and greatest doesn't always work the best with HP products. Here are the drivers.

http://www.hp.com/cposupport/servers/software/e60drvw2k.exe.html

Make sure to remove the old driver first, then add the correct drive from the floppy made from the above link. Also, you can run the HP set utility diagnostics on the the card to see if it is functioning correctly. You should have an HP SET icon located in the control panel. If not, then the wrong driver is being used.