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37810
March 17th, 2013 19:00
PowerEdge 1600SC "No device to boot with" error
Hello all!
I have recently gotten a PowerEdge 1600SC server from my fathers company. It was last used in 2004 just so you all know. When I try to boot it, it starts to make a loud and fairly obnoxious beeping noise. I opened it up, the IT department had unplugged the three drives for some reason. I plugged them in and it still did not work. I tried to get a recovery disc but apparently the warranty had expired on March 30, 2006. That somewhat limited my options. I could purchase a new disk containing windows 7...but I was thinking that it might mess up the server more since it already has a OS (I think). Could I maybe get an upgrade disk? Should I take it to the IT department and get it checked out? Please reply to this telling me what to do because I really need this server up soon.
Thanks in advance,
Emanuel Elliott
theflash1932
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March 19th, 2013 11:00
"The server has enough memory for sure because I had just bought three more 36GB drives."
Memory, not disk space. If it said it doesn't have enough "memory" and used to run ESX, then either someone removed some memory or OS Install Mode is on, limiting RAM/memory to 256MB.
theflash1932
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March 17th, 2013 22:00
Do you want to keep the OS/data that is on the drives, or do you want to simply rebuild it from scratch? What are your plans with this server?
TehGameGuy
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March 18th, 2013 05:00
Well, I have no reason to keep any files on this server but I would prefer if I could keep the OS. My plans with this server are to host different types of things such as an FTP server, an SQL server and a few other things.
theflash1932
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March 18th, 2013 09:00
Reinstalling isn't that big of a deal, but we can try to recover your existing install. There is just no way to guarantee it will function again without a reinstall, since we don't know what happened or even if the disks inside are actually all members of the same RAID array holding the data.
Boot to CTRL-M (which model controller do you have?).
Go to Configure, View/Add.
If prompted between Disk and NVRAM, choose Disk, save on exit, then attempt to boot the OS.
If you are not prompted, there is one thing we can try ... I would not hold your breath though.
TehGameGuy
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March 18th, 2013 10:00
Ok I will try that when I get home. Thanks. Also some info, the disk drives are empty (no disk) and I have no idea what controller I have.
TehGameGuy
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March 18th, 2013 10:00
And by disk drives I mean the drive where you could put a CD.
TehGameGuy
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March 18th, 2013 16:00
Hey great news! I did what you said, and it worked (sort of). When I tried to boot it told me that I didn't have enough memory! This is much better than before! Thanks! I believe that the OS is VMware ESX Server 3i 3.5.0 build-213532.
theflash1932
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March 18th, 2013 21:00
In the BIOS Setup (F2), make sure that OS Install Mode is NOT enabled. This limits the system to 256MB, which will be insufficient for most OS's.
TehGameGuy
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March 19th, 2013 05:00
And by the way, is thenVMwarebthing the OS because I wasn't sure.
TehGameGuy
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March 19th, 2013 05:00
Ok. I will go into settings and turn that off when I get home today and will tell you what happens.
TehGameGuy
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March 19th, 2013 05:00
The VMware thing*
TehGameGuy
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March 19th, 2013 05:00
Oh... That may explain it...
theflash1932
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March 19th, 2013 09:00
"VMware ESX Server 3i 3.5.0"?
Yes, that is an OS ... is that what is installed? 3.5 requires a minimum of 1GB for the install, plus whatever memory is required/configured for each "guest" operating system. If your IT guys parted out some of the memory from this machine, it may no longer have sufficient memory to run ESXi without an upgrade.
TehGameGuy
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March 19th, 2013 11:00
TehGameGuy
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March 19th, 2013 12:00
Yea I had accidentally set it to OS install mode. I'm going to turn it off when I get home. I will keep you posted on that.