Dell Poweredge 1850 - OS won't install

[yngndrw]

Hi,

I have a Dell Poweredge and have been having a few issues.

My first issue was actually booting up into the install CD. Even when I disabled the hard disk in the boot order setup it would still boot into the pre-installed OS. I fixed this by resetting the BIOS.

Now I have issues with actually installing the OS. First I've tried with Windows Server 2008. I had to use an external DVD drive as the built in drive is just for CDs. It booted into the setup and asked for where to install and all that, but when it gets to the "Expanding Files" stage it just stays on 0% and the DVD spins quite slowly. It's as if it cannot get data off the DVD, yet it managed to get up to that stage in the setup.

I then tried again with Windows Server 2003. As this is a CD I decided to use the built in drive. As before it boots into the setup and loads the built in drives. After this I lose the monitor signal and number lock etc no longer work. It just seems to crash.

Any ideas about what I can do to solve these issues ? Ideally I'd get Server 2008 on it.

Thanks.

Edit: I just pinched the DVD drive from my gf's laptop and tried installing Server 2008 from that - Got the same as before only this time I waited and got an error, "Windows cannon install required files. The file may be corrupt or missing. Make sure all files required for installation are available, and restart the installation. Error code: 0x80070017". I'm just going to Google it now and wanted to note it down somewhere. I'm pretty sure the DVD is fine. What is the best way to verify an OS installation DVD ?

I do find this disturbing however:
http://www.keithelder.net/blog/archive/2006/11/22/Part-3-Installing-Windows-Vista-Error-code-0x80070017-Bad-X64-ISO.aspx
(I'm using versions downloaded from the MSDN.)

I did also find this:
http://simplex-it.com/TechBlog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=22
I'm using Memorex DVDs but I will try booting off a USB hard drive.

[MentholMoose]

Dell provides CD-based tools for checking their hardware, so I'd suggest downloading the one for your PE1850 and running it on your system to check for common problems.

[yngndrw]

Oh I forgot to update this thread.

I did manage to install it using the USB drive method in the second link I posted. I had to use a USB hard drive as my pen drives aren't big enough. I remembered that I had to use a similar method when installing the OS of my gf's Dell laptop. I'm wondering if its possibly a dell BIOS thing, as the optical media used both times were of different brands. I was using home-burnt iso's for both installs so maybe it was that. (Yes legal before anyone asks, from my Universities MSDN.)

On a side note the server has impressive responsiveness considering its age, although it has possibly the slowest boot-up / initialization ever known to man.

Thanks for the heads up about that software MentholMoose, I'll keep that in mind if I ever get any hardware problems I need to check but for the time being it all seems good.