theflash; I have server 2008 R2.

I removed the RAID card, and was able to boot to setup menu, and also can boot off a bootable cd.

The RAID card is a PERC 5i; I am going to try resetting the NVRAM now see what that does.

Remove the RAID card (just under the cover in the front-left corner on top of the drives) and allow it to boot up without it.  Then put it back in.  If you still get it, then reseat the cables (both ends) for the slot "sideplane" that it is connected to.  You might also try clearing the NVRAM using the jumpers on the motherboard.

Which RAID controller do you have?  SAS 5/iR, SAS 6/iR, PERC 5/i, or PERC 6/i?

Which version of "2008"?  R2?  Non-R2?  If not-R2, is it 32-bit or 64-bit?

Good afternoon.

There is a problem with either the controller or the slot.  If you have one, use another controller to verify the error. If it occurs again, its a bad slot.  If it continues without error, then its a bad controller.  

Regards,

Did you also reseat the entire sideplane board that the RAID card connects to?

If so, then your RAID card is bad.  You can't use "no" controller, because the drives connect to the backplane for power and data connections and you don't have the option of running them to the onboard SATA ports (although you might be able to get a SAS-to-SATA cable - not sure if that would present the drive(s) to the onboard SATA controller in such a way that it would be able to handle it/them though).  However, you can put a number of different controllers in:

The SAS 5/iR and 6/iR support RAID 0 or 1 OR non-RAID, and has no write cache.

The PERC 5/i and 6/i support RAID 0,1,5,6,10,50,60 (6 and 60 on PERC 6 only), and has 256MB battery-backed write cache (can significantly improve performance, even with a single-disk RAID 0).

If you use the SAS 6 or PERC 6, you will need to make sure your system firmware (BIOS, ESM, DRAC, PERC, etc.) is up to date (and its a good idea to do that regardless of the controller you use).

No change after resetting NVRAM; Is my only other option to buy another raid card?

If so should I get a 5i or 6i RAID card?

I don't really plan on using raid; is that the only option to use for these dells? Is there any way for me to just run a hard drive without a raid card?

Thank you.

I don't know what this helps, but here's screen shots of what I'm seeing:

Ok, re seated side plane card; no change. Crazy that I can't just re do the raid setup or something.

At any rate, I just ordered a new PERC5i card off ebay.

Once I get the new card, could you tell me where to get the third party raid drivers from so I can load them once I boot off the server 2008 DVD to get server loaded?

Thank you

I don't think so why?

dood, is that going to come with the cables that go from raid card to backplane?

"Crazy that I can't just re do the raid setup or something."

Well, your card would need to be functional to do that, and it seems the card is bad.

Server 2008R2 has the drivers for the PERC built-in, so you won't need to worry about drivers.  However, remember that the PERC's do NOT support non-RAID, so in order to see the drive, you will need to first configure/initialize it as a single-disk RAID 0 in the CTLR-R utility.

I was just curious, it would be better to have them and not need them than not have them.

Just checked. It does come with card, ram, and battery