whs sytem drive replacement NO reinstall option

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:16:09 Z

my main hard drive has failed

it has been replaced but on inserting whs disc i have no reinstal option only NEW INSTALLATION#

drive 0 is listed as 1tb with no data etc so the correct drive is being identified correctly

drive 1 says 1tb with data

drive 2 says 1tb with data

what have i done wrong

whs sytem drive replacement NO reinstall option

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:55:31 Z

my main hard drive has failed

it has been replaced but on inserting whs disc i have no reinstal option only NEW INSTALLATION#

drive 0 is listed as 1tb with no data etc so the correct drive is being identified correctly

drive 1 says 1tb with data

drive 2 says 1tb with data

what have i done wrong

Are you seeing all of your drives in the Load Additional Storage Drivers window? Are you sure that the one with no data is your primary drive?

whs sytem drive replacement NO reinstall option

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:45:26 Z

i am sure the drive with no data is my primary drive

the motherboard has six one board sata port and i have a pci sata card with another 4 sata drives so 10 in total

it does only show the three on loading whs software but it also did this when i instal for the very first time

whs sytem drive replacement NO reinstall option

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:36:02 Z

For a server reinstall the presence of all WHS data drives is necessary. So you should try to get the drivers for your SATA card loaded during setup. Be aware, that these drivers must be supplied again from a floppy after the first reboot then.

If this all does not work, check the FAQ How to recover data after server failure.
Recovering such a big amount of data may not be funny, but better than loosing all (in case you did not perform a backup to external disks before).

Best greetings from Germany
Olaf

whs sytem drive replacement NO reinstall option

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:26:37 Z

olaf

thanks for the reply

would it not be easier if i purchased another motherboard with 10 sata ports built onboard connect up all these drives in the correct order and try that

i don't understand why my existing unit has six onboard sata ports and only shows 3 drives not the six on reinstal and then the sata card would show the other three if i installed the drivers for that card

whs sytem drive replacement NO reinstall option

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:06:16 Z

olaf

maybe getting somewhere

installed the silicon image drivers and all drives are now listed and server reinstall option is there :-)

would still like to know if i changed the motherboard and did the same thing would my data be safe ?

thanks

whs sytem drive replacement NO reinstall option

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:10:04 Z

I know getting the ones on for you card is a little difficult as you need Windows 2003 drivers I am asuming you have these or are you installing XP drivers for that. Also have you checked your bios to make sure all your sata ports are enabled. I know when I bought my gaming PCs motherboard I had to enable ports.

I am not sure buying a new motherboard at this time will allow you to do just a server reinstallation. I have tried this aswell, when I was having problems on my WHS, drives added keep going missing and these are attached to a SATA card as my motherboard is old and doesnt have sata ports. So anyway my wife said to use her motherboard as it is a dual core motherboard an has 4 onboard sata ports. When I went to do a server installation all I got was a new installation.

HMG

whs sytem drive replacement NO reinstall option

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:06:19 Z

Well its now failed at

"Restoring the archiever data "

why are things so hard sometimes :-(

whs sytem drive replacement NO reinstall option

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:07:28 Z

HenryMGray

i have now managed to get all my drives noticed but it fails as per the above thread and tells me to try again

whs sytem drive replacement NO reinstall option

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:58:33 Z

A point to note with WHS is that the basic install is based on Windows Server 2003 and does not support some motherboards that Windows XP or Windows Vista may support. This is through the drivers supplied within Windows Server 2003 do not support all the Motherboards (we) use for general PC's. If you watch the WHS install you will see it installs Windows Server 2003 (Small Business Server version) then overlays WHS components. If the motherboard requires drivers for the chipsets on the motherboard to enable access to devices beyond then these will need to be loaded once WHS is installed.

This is the same process for Windows XP or Vista, even though XP or Vista provide basic chipset support or drivers to see the Hardware or device within a PC install. This is highlighted within the Device manager by a yellow “?” mark(s) till the correct device driver(s) are loaded.

The point to note is if you are going to build your own WHS check that the motherboard can be used for Windows Server 2003 – Small Business Server. This will enable all devices to be seen by WHS at install and then load additional drivers to give full/enhanced operation of the device.

Best of luck……..

IT professional looking for the perfect Home System & Server......

whs sytem drive replacement NO reinstall option

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:08:53 Z

I assume, you did not apply the drivers again on the blue screen oldstyle window after the first reboot (pressing F6 and inserting a floppy disk with the drivers in the correct format).
This will cause the data disks attached to the separate controller card being invisible again and causing a failure during tombstone rebuild.
Best greetings from Germany
Olaf

whs sytem drive replacement NO reinstall option

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:44:36 Z

i am now up and running afer a server reinstallation

put the latest silicon image sata drivesr r5 on a usb stick

then loaded drivers from disc as requested

this then showed all my drives

and after many reboots all well and good

Now do i dare try the same with a new motherboard with 10 onboard sata ports :-)