SmartStart Error Code 13

[Christian Gerbracht]

Hi!

For maintenance purposes I boot a Proliant DL380 (P17) with COMPAQ's SmartStart CD v. 5.10. Unfortunately, it terminates loading SmartStart with the message "SPAWN ERROR: Path or file not found for win.com. an unrecoverable error occerred while running Smart Start. error code: 13. Pressing any key starts a re-boot, and the process repeats."

[Brian_Murdoch]

Christian,

Some of the DL380 G1 (P17) systems had a problem with the slimline CD-ROM (TEAC Model only). The problem usually showed up when booting the Smartstart CD. You can upgrade the firmware on this Teac model CD-ROM drive to fix this issue.

Please check and apply the following: -

NOTE: A Teac (slim line) CD-ROM drive can be identified using either of the following methods:


Visually inspect the front of the CD-ROM drive. On the Teac (slimline) CD-ROM drive, the EJECT button is located on the left and the light-emitting diode (LED) is located on the right. The EJECT button and the LED are approximately one inch apart.
Run the Survey Utility, available for download at:
www.compaq.com/support/files/server/us/index.html

The utility displays Teac CD-ROM drive information similar to the following:

Disk Controller 0.............Miniport Device
Device 0..........COMPAQ CD-224E
Logical Unit ID 0...........COMPAQ CD-224E
Device Type...........CD Rom
Firmware Version..........9.0B

RESOLUTION/SOLUTION
To resolve this issue, download and execute Compaq SoftPaq SP16293, which provides the firmware upgrade for the Teac CD-ROM drive to version 9.0C (or later). SoftPaq SP16293 is available from the Compaq website:

ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/sp16001-16500/sp16293.exe

I hope this helps,

Brian

[Mark Glowacz]

I'm having the same, however, with SmartStart v5.20. I upgraded the Teac CD-ROMs firmware as suggested and it has not helped. Any other suggestions?

[Christian Gerbracht]

Hi all!

A faulty TEAC CDROM was NOT the reason! The reason for all our troubles with SMARTStart 5.20 on a Proliant DL380 P17 was a missing resp. corrupted Proliant system partition (a usually hidden partition to access with F10 key). After running a complete system erase everything works fine now!

[Mark Glowacz]

I can't even get to the system erase option. I'm getting the spawn error before the CD brings up the GUI. Are there any other ways to do a system erase?

[Christian Gerbracht]

Go to http://www.geocities.com/rlcomp_1999/manual-smartstart.html

They're offering diskette image downloads and comprehensive informations about setting up COMPAQ's Proliants without SMARTStart CD.

Hope this helps!