DELL PE R610 Major Issue updating UEFI, thus cannot install an OS

As far as a workaround ... you have three options for installing the OS:

1. USC (Unified Server Configurator) - this is built in to your system's management hardware.

2. SMTD/SBUU - the SMTD (which contains SBUU) should have come with your server, but if it didn't or you suspect it is not working, then you can download from the links below.

3. Directly from the OS disk - this method can be harder as you have to configure RAID and load drivers yourself but is an option.

What OS/version/architecture/edition are you trying to install?

SBUU (if installing 2003 - download is smaller than SMTD):
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&releaseid=R288889&SystemID=PWE_R610&servicetag=&os=WNET&osl=en&deviceid=24134&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=3&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=0&libid=36&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&source=-1&fileid=430015

SMTD (for all supported OS's - very large download(s) but required for 2008 - also, make note of the instructions on the download page):
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&deviceid=17861&libid=36&releaseid=R287586&vercnt=5&formatcnt=0&SystemID=PWE_R610&servicetag=&os=WNET&osl=en&catid=-1&dateid=-1&typeid=-1&formatid=-1&impid=-1&checkFormat=true

Hi theFlash1932,

Many thanks for taking the time to answer.

1. Doesn't work - fails at the stage where I have to select the location for the OS install with the Setup can't create a system partition error.

2. Same as 1

3. So you're saying I can clear the RAID config I've created in 1 and/or 2 and boot from the OS disk? Never tried that but would be willing too if I can get this back on track. When you say about configuring the RAID and manual drivers is more difficult, in what way do you refer?

I'm trying to install 2008 R2 Enterprise on RAID10, but at this stage nothing works after the error received in 1 & 2 (i.e. can't create a system partition in windows install).

Do you think the USC error about being out of date has any relevance to the issue?

Thanks again for the info.

I'm definitely willing to give that a go. I am using PERC 6/i RAID controller and I believe  you are right about it being native to 2008R2.

I'll give this a crack tomorrow and let you know how I get on.

Many thanks again

Forgot to add. I have the SMTD but even that doesn't clear the problem.

To install directly from your OS disk:

• Boot to your controller's configuration utility (CTRL-R for PERC), configure AND initialize your RAID 10.
• Boot to your 2008R2 DVD, and when it tells you it can't find any hard drives to install to, then click the Load Driver link and load the driver files from USB/CD.
• Once the install completes, then you can start installing other drivers, starting with the chipset.

The USC being out of date may have something to do with it, but I kind of doubt it - I would find it hard to believe that any version of USC on the R610, no matter how out of date, would not have the proper support for 1) hardware that has been used for months in other systems prior to the R610, and 2) an OS that has been out for well over a year.  System USC started supporting 2008R2 within weeks of RTM.  The fact that both USC and SBUU are doing the same thing leads me to believe it is an issue or bug with that version of the installation utilities.  You could try version 6.3, which should still work on an R610 - maybe 6.4 broke something (that wouldn't be all it broke :).

PERC H700/H800 Driver:

PERC H200 Driver:

If you are using the PERC 6/i RAID controller, it will probably be native to 2008R2.

If you are installing 2008R2 on a PERC 6/i, you only need to configure/initialize the RAID first, then Windows should be able to see the drives to install to. 

What exe's are you talking about?  Even if you did need the drivers (should only need them for a controller other than the PERC 6/i), the exe's are self-extracting executables, so you need only run them on a computer to extract them to a USB flash drive.

Windows sees the drives after they have been configured & initialised as a RAID, but when I try to install to them or even to a partition I create on them I get the error that setup can't create a new system partition or locate an existing partition'.

I extracted the files to a flash drive and pointed the installer to it but it said it couldn't locate any drivers. I have the correct ones because I thoroughly checked on the Dell website and in my server hardware inventory.

I'm truly stumped on this one!

Many thanks for the response Scarrydream. That is exactly what I have done and it is now functioning.

Appreciate the effort though.

John

I know that has been a lot of time past since the last post but I have exactly the same problem with my home R710 used for virtualization labs and the solution SCARRYDREAM proposed worked perfectly. I spend many hours of testing and searching to find out this simple solution. That is very strange because from what I know the boot order normally should not affect the access to the disks during the installation time.The only problem that maybe occur from that is no OS found msg after the installation finishes. Then you can correct that very easy by changing the boot order.Maybe this is a BIOS bug and Dell should correct it. I didn't have the correct boot order because I have an SD card also and it was first and second was the H700.

Thanks to SCARRYDREAM

Thanks to SCARYDREAM, the solution worked for me as on R610 with Windows 2012R2 Datacenter Edition.  One thing to note is that you will have to install on the Virtual Drive 0, it will not install on any other virtual drive.  Once installed it can be moved to different bay if required.  In my case, I dual boot between Windows and VMWare ESX 6.7