SmartStart Fails with an Error Code: 45

[Ayman Altounji]

I've tried both the Assisted and Manual install of Windows 2000 Server with a Proliant 2500, in both cases I get through the Raid setup and it copies the files out to the Compaq partition, goes through a Hardware Discovery, this completes and just after it gets back to the colored Compaq SmartStart screen to continue it dumps to a text only screen with the following error.

Error Code:45
You must run system erase and try again.

After doing this about 12 times I'm tired of trying - Can someone clue me in as to what's up. I've seen comments in other forums that lead me to believe that the Error 45 is pretty generic and really doesn't mean much.

Joe

[Ayman Altounji]

Not sure - but... What firmware is this 2500 using now? Might be far enough out of date to cause some odd behavior:

Server ROM Family Table

There are two different ROM kits for the 2500 series. One for the original PPro version and one for the PII upgrade board. Make sure you get the right one (won't install if it's wrong, but it's a waste of time to download the wrong one).

[Ayman Altounji]

Ron,

I've updated everything in this machine to what is on the 4.90 SmartStart CD. A coworker suggested I try pulling half of the RAM and try again, he seemed to remember this happening before. This box has the MAX 1GB, but with past SmartStart Revs it hasn't demonstrated this behavior. This is a test server that I've had for several years. If I've done 1 SS install I've done at least 50 without a hitch. Mostly with NetWare, but I know I've done the W2K with 4.8, but ran into some issues so I'd thought I'd try it again with 4.90 and see if they'd been resolved. I've tried this now with more then 1 set of 4.90 CDs and same result, either the Assisted or the Manual.

Thanks,

Joe

[Ayman Altounji]

Ron,

OK so here is what I found out... My coworker is absolutely correct! I pulled 1/2 of the RAM back to 512mb for the smartstart and it functions perfectly. He mentioned that he has seen this on systems with greater then 512MB, so you may want to have someone look into this.

When is Compaq going to fix the 4096MB volume limitation with Windows 2000. This has been an overall complaint since before 4.80?

Thanks, Joe

[Ayman Altounji]

I have come across the same issue on an 1850, and 5500. All of these servers had non-lvd drives. So far this is the only common characteristic between these servers. The 1850 also has 512MB of RAM so we have ruled out the other posting.

Is there a possibility that there is an issue with Smartstart 4.9 with the non-LVD hard drives?

[Ayman Altounji]

I saw the messages posted and thought... don't really want to get in there and remove memory out of 2500. So, I tried going back a couple of revisions on the Smart Start DC. I reverted back to 4.70 and it worked fine. I figured 4.80 would probably work too, but didn't try. I have seen these random error codes happen before and trying different SD revisions seems to work, especially on legacy servers.

NJ

[Ayman Altounji]

I saw the messages posted and thought...don't really want to get in there and remove memory out of 2500. So, I tried going back a couple of revisions on the Smart Start CD. I reverted back to 4.70 and it worked fine. I figured 4.80 would probably work too, but didn't try. I have seen these random error codes happen before and trying different SSD revisions seems to work, especially on legacy servers.

MJ

[Ayman Altounji]

I had this error and wasted several hours on it. My particular case was with an 1850R dual 500 Mhz and 1 GB RAM using SmartStart 4.90B. I updated the firmware for all my components - the system, array controller, and RIB to the latest available on the web. The firmware upgrades made no difference.

After reading the postings, I decided to try 4.80 instead of scaling back the RAM and it worked fine after that. Very annoying.

[Ayman Altounji]

I have experienced a similar problem using Smart Start 5.1 on an ML370 with 3GB of DRAM. Before I get the error code 45, I get an error message indicating an invalid page fault with module RICHED32.DLL. Compaq indicated that I should reduce the amount of memory in the system. That was not what I wanted to try at that time. Instead I made and erase diskette from the 5.1 Smart Start DC and erased the system. The problem repeated again. I changed the erase version to that from the 4.9 Smart Start DC and erased the system. This time the install went along fine. I suspect that the erase utility has a problem but there seems to be many variables. The amount of memory may also be a factor.

[Mudassar Choudhry]

I had the same problem with Proliant ML370 G2 with 1GB of RAM. Smartstart wouldn't start, Windows 2000 or Linux setup even wouldn't start. Then I reduced the amount of memory to 512MB and then it started working. I was using Smartstart 5.1 CD.
Thanks to all.