Windows 2008 x64 on Poweredge 2850

I really appreciate your help I've very strongly gotten the impression that this shouldn't be this hard :(

I am using 2008, not R2. I've found many websites claiming what you are, but I still get the "load driver" screen and even when I manually select the driver specified in the link, it doesn't work.

The raid is configured correctly, I am currently running windows 2003 server on it without issue. I've tried wiping and redoing the raid from scratch and it didn't help.

(also note I tried just now to install a win 7 ult x64 on that box and it also prompted me for drivers)

and other thoughts?

I have 6 physical SCSI drives, 136gb x2 and 68gb x4 organized into three logical drives (2 and 2 and 2), each raid 1.

RAID BIOS latest version (updated it yesterday) build Apr 23, 2008

Dell Bios A07 (latest, been updated a while)

I do not have a DRAC, and I do not have any external devices. The reformat I described was a rather painstaking process and yes, involved reinstalling windows 2003 from scratch. Also please note, after this wipe, only one of the logical drives is formatted, the others are unpartitioned space. (I just now formatted/partitioned them so they're already done going forward)

I will have to try the Dell ISO.

I can tell you from installing 2008 and 2008 R2 easily dozens and dozens of times on 2850's that there shouldn't be any more to it than what I have described.

What else can you tell me about your setup? 
Number of drives, type of drives, RAID config, etc.? 
Does your system have a DRAC or other expansion card installed? 
External devices connected? 
You mentioned you have 2003 installed but that you have also tried "wiping and redoing the raid from scratch and it didn't help".  Did you then reinstall 2003? or how do you have 2003 installed, but having also wiped out the RAID?
What is your BIOS and PERC firmware at?  The drivers usually have supported firmware minimums.

Another alternative is to install using Dell's installation utility (boot to this DVD first, then follow the prompts):
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/04/DriverDetails/DriverFileFormats?DriverId=68RWT&FileId=2731101038

also, the windows server 2008 is not a burned disc, it was purchased at a store. I have tried both this disc and ripped it to a bootable usb. both have this problem.

Also, I believe the RAID reformat was done BEFORE I updated the firmware on the PERC card. Should I rebuild the RAID again now with the new settings? (I need to call it a night for now but will be back on it tomorrow. Thanks again so much!

Sorry ... I called it a night before you did :)

The firmware update should not affect the RAID configuration, but this is what I would do:

• Remove any unnecessary devices.
• Use only one drive.
• Boot to CTRL-M and configure RAID 0 (Configure, Clear ... then View/Add, Space Bar to select drive, Enter to finalize selection, F10 to configure, Space Bar to select the "span" listed, F10 to Configure, OK to accept defaults, then Yes to save the configuration.
• Then, in CTRL-M, Initialize the Logical Disk/RAID 0 (Initialize from Main menu) ... let the Initialization finish (can be monitored through Objects, Logical Disks and will take probably 1-2 hours for you smaller drives to complete - this is not usually necessary but for unknown reasons can make a difference sometimes).
• Once complete, boot to the 2008 DVD and choose Install Now/Custom. 
• Your "disk" should be seen at the screen that asks where you want to install Windows.

Did you say (sorry for not going back to look) that you tried an install from USB?  I once ran into what appeared to be an incompatible DVD drive ... installed anything I tried, except for 2008 (may simply have been a strange isolated problem with the drive).  Swapping the DVD drive with a different one worked fine, as did installing from USB.

I tried what you have suggested. I removed the dvd drive (it was new and could have been causing something to go wrong), took out all the drives but 1 and redid it in the RAID so it only showed as one logical drive for the entire system. I used a USB stick to attempt the install again...

still same problem. "Select the driver to be installed" and when I select the "DELL PERC 4e/Di RAID Controller" I get "No new devices could be found..."  I never get to the screen where it asks "where [ I ] want to install windows"

not happy with windows right now...

Other things I have tried that you may find interesting:

Attempted to install windows 7 ultimate x64. Same problem. No drivers for hard disks.

Attempted to install windows 7 pro x86. can't detect.

Installing ubuntu 11.04 x64 and fedora 16 x64. no problems at all.

You never get to this screen where it asks where to install Windows?

The vast majority of the 2850's that I have installed were with 2008 R2, and given most of the environments in which I've installed 2008 (non-R2), there is a very good chance that most (if not all) of them were the x86 version.  I'll see if I can dig up a 2850 that can be played with.

In the meantime, have you tried the SMTD installation utility?  (I can understand unravelling a mystery, but if you'd rather get passed it than solve it, that may bypass whatever the issue is altogether.)

Yes, that is exactly where I get stuck. I was however able to replicate your success. When I put in the Windows 2008 x86 disk the drivers loaded fine. I am very much interested in getting to the bottom of this in anticipation of the day when and if I have to reinstall it again.

My next thing I was going to try is get an xp x64 demo disk and attempt to run the Server 2008 installer from within there instead of booting from the 2008 disk.

I tried the topmost dell installation utility in this thread linked above and the links on dell's site are broken:

The webpage at ftp://ubunte362125:yhiyqe@secureftp.dell.com/secure//FOLDER79049M/1/OM_6.5.0_SMTD_A01.iso.002 might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address.

Actually, it looks as though the only driver affected by the release date differences is the DRAC driver (the latest network and video drivers are both older than that SMTD).  So, as long as you don't install OMSA 5.4 and install OMSA 6.5 after the install, it should be fine to use the smaller/older SMTD 5.4.

(You didn't have a DRAC, you said, right?)

The link you provided seems to be for SMTD 5.4 ... you might be able to use it, as it did support Server 2008, but the drivers and utilities (like OMSA, etc.) that are on it will be out of date.  I always prefer to use the latest version where possible, but I recognize that the latest version has two ISO's (twice as much to download) and it is required to merge the two, once downloaded (copy /b) ... if you use the 5.4 version, uncheck the box during Setup so that Server Administrator is not installed, then just download and install it separately from the Support site.