PowerEdge 830 install problem

The first and most simple thing to do is boot to the F2 BIOS and ensure the server sees the hard drive and at the proper size. Then move on to drivers.

Server 2003 does not have native driver for many storage controllers.  So in order for the OS to be able to communicate with the hardware you have to manually load the driver, using the F6 feature of setup.

Drivers for the 830 can be found here.

support.dell.com/.../driverslist.aspx

That however requires you to use a floppy, or slipstream the driver. Another way to accomplish the install is to use the System Build and Update Utility. It is an ISO that you boot to first, select OS deployment, and it will walk your through the steps of installing the OS, and will load the drivers for you. Help format the drive and make any partitions you want.

Here is a video on how it is used.

Let me know how that works,

Thanks.

As a side note, here is a great tutorial on 2003 install.

www.petri.co.il/install_windows_2003.htm

Not quite sure how your setup is as it relates to what drives are where.  If you have the CERC SATA controller, I would advise using SATA drives, but sounds like you are attempting to use the onboard IDE which shouldn’t have an issues on the install.  That said, the error you are getting relates to lack of a storage driver.

What I advise doing is downloading this installation disk, burning the ISO to image, then booting to the disk.  Eventually you will be presented with a list of operating system types, select Win2k3 X64 (be sure to use R2), and you should be in good shape from there.

ftp.us.dell.com/.../OM__5.3.0_SBUU_A00.ISO