T420: Install PERC H310 driver during Windows 2008 R2 SP1 instalaltion

Dheerajkabra,

What you need to do is run that file you download from a Windows system. It will extract files to a folder, copy those file to the USB and then do the following steps.

1. Power on the system and boot to the Microsoft Windows Server CD.

2. Follow the screen instructions until you reach the "Where do you want to install Windows?" section

3. Insert the USB flash drive that contains the driver files you extracted.

4. At the Load Driver sub-screen, click Browse. Select the directory that has the controller driver files. Click OK.

5. At the Select the driver to be installed window, select the driver for the installed controller/OS and  Click Next  to load the driver files.

6. After the driver loads you will return to the "Where do you want to install Windows?" screen, press  "Next" again to continue the installation process.

If you have any yellow bangs after the install you will likely need this download as well. 

OS Driver Pack - http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=9GXPG&fileId=3350662195&osCode=WS8R2&productCode=poweredge-t420&languageCode=EN&categoryId=DD

Let me know how it goes.

Hello Chris, I had tried extracting it by "double clicking" on it. However I get below error:

I tried this on Windows 7 (64-bit) and on Windows 2008 R2 and it gives the exact same error as above.

Later I tried to "extract" it using "7zip" but it did not help either.

Thanks for your time.

Thanks for providing the link Flash.

Thanks for the ftp link. I downloaded the driver from ftp and then was able to extract it. Then I put it on an USB and the Installation wizard detects it fine as below:

I tried selecting both above drivers one by one. Once I select the driver and hit "Next", it has a green bar running on the screen as if it is trying to read the Driver. After about 30 seconds, it returns to previous screen where it says "No drives found". And again I am presented an option to load the driver by browsing to the USB. Here is the screenshot:

Is there any other driver I should try? OR Am I missing something here ?

Thanks for you time.

Just to clarify. Have you already configured the Virtual Disk in the raid controller BIOS? This can happen if there isn't a VD for the install to see.

Hey Chris ... why are all the "hard drive" versions (ZPE's) missing from the Drivers and Downloads pages?

The H310 supports non-RAID, so if the disks weren't configured, Windows should see them all.

You could try an older version of the driver:
http://ftp.dell.com/FOLDER00734327M/2/DRVR_WIN_M20VR_5.2.220.64_A02_ZPE.exe

That was it !!!

There was no Virtual Device created. Hence I got in to the Raid controller by pressing "CTRL + R" at the time of booting and created one RAID 0 device.

Then the windows (of-course along with the drivers that were on USB) detected this drive in multiple partitions and the installation started running on "Primary" partition.

Thanks theflash1932 for the ftp link. I would have never found that creepy link myself to get the correct driver. Besides, this link is missing from the T420 Driver Download page where it provides only the ".EXE" format of Driver.

Thanks Chris for the virtual device hint. It got my brain spinning in right direction.

Both above suggestion helped me together. Many thanks.

Thanks theflash1932 for the ftp link. I would have never found that creepy link myself to get the correct driver. Besides, this link is missing from the T420 Driver Download page where it provides only the ".EXE" format of Driver.

Even the correct drivers will be in EXE format, but they are self-extracting executables ... they are typically called the "hard drive" version of the driver ... and yes, they are noticeably absent from the Drivers and Downloads pages for some of the 12th generation servers.

What you described should not have happened though ... the H310 should be capable of using drives not configured in RAID.  Unless the disk was somehow flagged as a RAID disk with no configuration, it should have showed the non-RAID disk as a single volume to install to.

Anyway, I'm glad you got it sorted out.

You need to use this driver: http://ftp.dell.com/FOLDER01460337M/9/SAS-RAID_Driver_R2_4R5XT_A03_6.801.5.0_ZPE.exe Run it to extract the contents, then put the contents on a USB flash drive to use during the install

This is the exact problem I'm having with a T320, Windows setup will not load the linked driver and I have no idea how to find T320's counterpart driver.  Does anyone have any insight into how to track down the extractable version?

Thanks!

Which RAID controller are the drives connected to?

BIOS says the PERC H710 Adapter

Addition: 

When I try to load the driver listed, I receive this message.

The [PERC H710 Adapter (C:\percsas2.inf)] device driver could not be installed.

Contact your vendor for an updated driver.

I would suggest either updating the PERC firmware or using an older driver version.

@theflash1932 You saved my day man. Thanks a lot for these drivers. I was going mad until I finally found this.