PowerEdge 2600

Update your system firmware (BIOS, etc.) … that could certainly cause it. 

so can i update the bios, firmware and all that jazz prior to centos install? I will need my PCIX card and dvd drive hooked up at the bare minimum Im sure before hand right?

yeah I was thinking about that, but at the end of the day the read and write capabilites of an SSD vs a RPM drive are worlds different. Both will be slow and extremely bottlenecked compared to my Gaming PC sitting next to it. Correct me if im wrong, im only assuming honestly xD!

Just added the 12gb of ram and it was slow on boot up but it registered all of it, so thats a huge win!! I was sent the wrong PCI card from ebay, got it all sorted out, now its just a waiting game to get the right one and some sata cables before I can truly get this TREX up and going!

Also thanks for the quick reply, thats awesome haha

Yes, you can update the firmware first ... download SBUU/ISM and SUU ... boot to SBUU/ISM then insert the SUU disc as the repository. You could also install a Windows OS and update the system components individually. This can be done from many Linux distros too, but I'm not as well versed in doing it that way.

Just don't expect real SSD performance from this rig. It simply can't do it ... it may be better than a spinning SATA drive, but the difference will probably be negligible compared to running a native 15K SCSI drive in it (a little late for that now though).

It won't just automatically boot. Hardware is different, primarily the storage controller. You'll likely need to insert the drivers for whatever SATA controller you just picked up. Possible that you have mixed technologies as well, like IDE/ATA/legacy vs AHCI/RAID.

What the heck is a TREX??

Officially have everything I need installed on my Trex, but im having trouble with the OS. Heres what ive done.

Upgraded RAM to 12GB (it all registers and boots to bios with it fine)

Upgraded to two 3.2ghz Xeon Processors (currently recognizes them but only as "two 1.6ghz processors")

Added a PCIX Sata controller

Added a DVD drive (connected to the Sata controller, controller donest recognize it)

added a ADATA 256gb SSD (connected to Controller, the controller recognizes it and it shows up in bios just fine)

BIOS and Firmware both need to be updated (dont know how to do it)

My goal is to just install Cent OS 7 and have this thing run my power bill up xD, I used my desktop to install centos on the SSD I bought, but just as I expected when I tried transferring that SSD to the server it didnt boot into the OS. It does however get hung up trying to boot to the OS off the SSD.

I just need some ideas on how to get this thing going, some real helpful suggestions would be awesome, and maybe some step by step stuff.

TREX, the dinosaur xD, cause this server belongs in a museum hahah.

okay the first paragraph sounds awesome, im not sure what any of that is to be totally honest. "download SBUU/ISM and SUU ... boot to SBUU/ISM then insert the SUU disc as the repository" What is SBUU/ISM and SUU. Are we talking about doing this on the server itself or doing this on my desktop and transferring it to the server.

Yeah to late now haha, I removed the raid controller and the entire SCSI setup.

"Possible that you have mixed technologies as well, like IDE/ATA/legacy vs AHCI/RAID.", how do I find this info out so I can give it to you? Im not sure what technologies are in it now, even though I just installed them. I didnt pay that much attention. I was expecting this to be a fun easy project ha, its still fun but problems just keep surfacing.

SBUU: Systems Build and Update Utility
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/driversdetails?driverId=H56T7&osCode=WNET&productCode=poweredge-xeo2600

SUU: Server Update Utility
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/driversdetails?driverId=C6NK3&osCode=WNET&productCode=poweredge-xeo2600

If you look on the Drivers and Download page of the Support site for the PE 2600, you'll see what I'm talking about … also there are all the individual firmware updates, should you choose to do them separately:
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/poweredge-xeo2600/drivers

You'll download them on a different machine, create the media (CD/DVD), then use them on the server.

You'll need to know something about the hardware in the desktop you used to install CentOS to know what kind of tech, settings, and hardware you are dealing with - chipset, BIOS settings for the SATA/ATA controller, boot mode, etc.

By all means have fun, learn, and explorer, but set your expectations properly from the outset: this MAY not work, and you should expect problems in a project like this.

The original CD drive shows up and the light works and everything but in the bios it says no media available -check cable. Even when I use an old Windows CD that i know the ISO was downloaded on properly. 

anything I can do to work around this? I know its hard to really off good advice and next steps without actually seeing the machine in person.

I have set the expectation that it might not work, but it will be cool if it does ha!