Installing Windows 2008 on an IBM xSeries 335
***** UPDATE 11.16.09 - I added links to my site from geekeleet.com. geekeleet.com seems to be down
I spent some of last week and this week finally installing a copy of Windows 2008 on a decommissioned IBM xSeries 335 server from work in my home network. I thought I would share a couple of the issues I came across, but was able to get by with the help of a couple of people who ran into the same issues as me.
The first stumbling block I ran into was the fact that these servers (which are about 4-5 years old) do not come with a DVD drive. The reality is that until last year, our servers at work (Dells and HPs) only came with CDROM drives. So I was a little surprised that Microsoft decided to send out DVD only versions (actually what I downloaded from our Volume Licensing) of the OS. I can see this making things difficult for some people. Fortunately there are a couple of ways around this. One is to boot off of a USB device (DVD or a USB Thumb drive). If you want to try a USB thumb drive, check out this URL for instruction on how to make it bootable from jessecoburn.com. Unfortunate for me, the IBM xSeries 335 server that I have does not allow booting off of USB. My second option was to load via a network share. Here are the instruction for that from geekEleet. This worked great, but I ran into my second issue after the install, not during which made my life a little easier if I had known then what I know now, which takes us to the second problem I had...
After the server would reboot after the initial install, it would just show the status bar screen for Windows 2008. And sit there. And sit there. Occasionally access the drive. Then do nothing. I let it do this for about a hour, then powered it off. I figured there had to be something messed up, but what?! I assumed all of my drivers where fine because it saw all of the drive partition, the network card, and the video. I had no red flags during the install saying anything was incompatible or out of the norm. So I did a Google on the problem I was getting and couldn't really find anything that was too useful. So I thought I would reboot the server one more time and see if I could get it to boot in trusty Safe Mode. Well, that finally gave me something to go with. It would boot and just hang at the "Loading crcdisk.sys" message. That helped me out because I could now do a more specific Google search. I found a bunch of articles that pertained to Vista and crcdisk.sys errors, but then I eventually came up with this article, again from geekEleet. The question I saw crop up a couple times was what driver should people be loading. I found out that I needed the "LSI Logic PCI SCSI/FC MPI Miniport driver v1.25.10 for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 - Servers" from IBM's website. After I followed the instruction from geekEleet and used the driver from IBM, I was in business. Also, I loaded the driver from my USB thumb drive. That was really nice, I don't have any spare floppy drives (or disks) readily available and I didn't want to waste another CD just to load one driver. The Windows 2008 install allows you to load from CD/DVD, mapped network drives, or from a USB device. Real nice!
I hope if anybody stumbles upon the same problems as I (and others), that this will help point you in the right direction. Now I can start working on the Windows 2008 server and give it a spin.
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July 26th, 2010 - 10:28
I needed the exact solution for which this article is entitled (Installing Windows 2008 on an IBM eSeries x335) — and this revised article (with the link to the IBM drivers) was exactly the answer I needed. It works. Thank you!
July 30th, 2010 - 08:55
Cool, glad it worked for you!
July 14th, 2010 - 06:22
Hi,
I am trying to install XP I have an IBM eserver xseries x335, however, when I try to use the xp scsi drivers, via floppy, I get this error, (also happens wehn i slipstream the drivers)
win2K_Xp\driver\Pro\i_v\nfrd960.sys caused an unexpected error (18) at line 2113 in d:\xpsprtm\base\boot\setup\oemdisk.c
Not sure why I would be getting that.. the driver is from the IBM site, xp driver for the SCSI driver, Any suggestions, I saw Kelly got it working, so I’m unsure as to why I’m getting this problem. Did she perhaps not raid her drives, although i’m assuming thats not the reason for this error though.
Any help would be great.
May 27th, 2010 - 13:14
Okay, Windows Web Server 2008 x64 is up and running. I installed from that Windows 2003 build, i.e. ran setup.exe from Windows, and it installed fresh, not an upgrade, because it was Web edition (and 2003 was Standard).
I supplied the LSI Logic driver from the IBM site at the first opportunity (before first restart, while still in 2003), as mentioned on this site or the one that links to it.
I’m knackered.
May 26th, 2010 - 18:21
I have just bought an old eServer 326m from eBay, twin dual 2.6Ghz, nice, except that it’s made by IBM – I had a lapse and forgot how this company has always produced garbage.
So with the SCSI controller completely disabled it will install 2008 to a SATA drive but gives “Windows could not update the computer’s boot configuration. Installation cannot proceed.” after expanding files. After a repair, it boots into Windows but setup gives the same error after a while.
Will put the server on eBay and host my site with Hetzner, I just can’t understand how a PC can be made so complicated. No wonder Google use desktops in server cases. Server industry needs bulldozing.
By-the-way, LSI driver never worked. Says no new hardware was detected after the green bar does its thing.
May 27th, 2010 - 10:26
I seem to have knock off all the other comments. Which were more useful than mine. Sorry about that.
By using a CD to install Windows 2003 Server, I have got somewhere. Had to run just the SSD drive, but its on and it boots in 18 seconds, after BIOS, admitted.
I then had a problem where it hung after POST as it tries to read the boot sectors, if I connected the other drive. Odd.
Finally figured out the right Update Xpress CD to run (4.05 CD1) in Windows and boot from DOS (chose to upgrade the ISMP whatever it is, which defaulted not to update for some reason), and now I can attach the other HDD. Hope this good behaviour ‘sticks’.
Painful work. Will try upgrading to 2008 Server soon.
May 27th, 2010 - 10:45
Not a problem on the other comments, I just made it so more can be on a page
.
Good luck on the upgrade, and keep us posted. Thanks.
May 20th, 2010 - 04:48
Hi Guys M new to this Useful Forum… m Serching for Installation Of RHEL 5.0 Server For Same System X 3650 Of IBM . I have Server DVD and System have Combo Drive. But the problem is I cant boot up the system with RHEL Server OS DVD. How can I boot my system…as I setup the System Bios to boot First widh DVD . But It Cant….
Please Guys If any one having Solution for this Problem.
May 27th, 2010 - 10:50
Himanshu, not sure what that could be. I would try a couple of things. First see if you can boot anything else with that particular DVD of RHEL you have, maybe you have a faulty DVD. Second, see if you can boot anything else on your IBM server (a different OS boot, try downloading a different Linux distribution maybe). You could also try booting it from a USB thumb drive (if your BIOS allows that). Good luck!
May 19th, 2010 - 03:47
Hey Shawn,
We already did all of that to no avail. Since the sync (which finished successfully) we booted windows 2008 and put the driver on a floppy disk. It found the driver, it would start the installation and then throw out an error during installation, no file install.wim
May 21st, 2010 - 08:03
Hmmm, that is strange. Can you try installing the driver from a different medium like USB thumb drive? I know grasping at straws, but not sure what else that error could be. I did a google on the error you are receiving and most of the articles were stating how somewhere a file is corrupt.
May 18th, 2010 - 00:37
Shawn I and my colleagues are battling with the same problem, except we are trying to install windows 2008 on a x235. The thing is the raid controller was faulty so we took it out, and now its on the LSI Logic one. We downloaded a lot of updates and even used the expressupdate cd someone on this page mentioned still nothing. We downloaded and updated the latest LSI logic update on the IBM page. We are currently trying to create an array but the secondary disk says out of sync. I read here that it can take up to 72 hours to sync them so we are going to try to leave it for a couple of hours and see if it will sync. We installed windows 2003 server ok, but when we try to install the 2008 version it just never finishes. We actually left the installation running for 24 hours and it never moved from 75% completed. If you, or anyone, have any suggestions or any links to some new/old drivers that might work I would really appreciate it
May 18th, 2010 - 07:49
Dino,
You probably already did this, but I did a quick google and found this from IBM’s site: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=14180633
Take a look at the last message, somebody said they got the LSI working with 2008. Upon further checking, I found out their link is broken, but I found the driver here: http://www-947.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-52747
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
May 5th, 2010 - 20:40
Shawn,
Another question for you: have you installed Windows 2008 x86 or x64? I read in an IBM page that x64 is not supported. Would you confirm that?
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/info/x86servers/serverproven/compat/us/nos/microsoftold.html
Thanks,
May 6th, 2010 - 09:41
I installed the x86 version.
May 5th, 2010 - 14:45
Hi Shawn,
I have two of these servers with two processors and 4 GB of RAM. Before I run into trouble installing Windows on them, I would like to hear from you what is your feedback on performance. Have you been able to run anything that requires horsepower on these boxes? Would you please elaborate on some of your experiences performance-wise?
Thanks!
May 6th, 2010 - 09:41
Robson, I ran my server with 2 procs and 4GB RAM in basically a test lab. Performance wise it seemed to be able to handle a couple of roles fine (like a DC and some web services). The server that I originally did this install on isn’t around any more unfortunately, I had to retire it in order to get my newer Dell server for my VMware lab.
December 17th, 2009 - 13:41
Thanks Shawn for putting this information up. And Marus, Post #35. Really helped, in the end I had to follow all the steps to get 2 x335′s up and running with w2k8. There always seems to be someone in charge that wants to use very old equipment. And those of us that have to make it work… Thanks again.
December 31st, 2009 - 09:29
Don, glad it all helped! Cheers.
November 16th, 2009 - 08:13
@John
I found the text of the articles from geekeleet.com and put the links to point onto my site. Thanks.
November 16th, 2009 - 05:29
GeekEleet is down. Do you have any other links to the article you referenced?
I was able to get XP installed from CD but I can’t find drivers for the Braodcom 5701 nik cards – they only seem to support 5702 and above anymore. So while I do have an OS I can’t get to the network to upgrade it to Server 2008 like I planned. I was going to try your solution but ran into the dead link.
Thanks.
November 11th, 2009 - 15:57
You are my hero. Thanks =]
October 19th, 2009 - 08:19
@Christophe PASQUET
Sounds like that it uses the default Windows 2008 driver which causes the boot problem. When it complains about the signature, does it give you an option to use it anyways? It could also be possible that the driver is not compatible with that model of the IBM. You might need to do some more investigating on IBM’s site to is the the adapter is the same make/model. I know that has thrown me with the laptops before, so I imagine the same goes with the servers.
Did you try to do the install off a network share. Sometimes a clean install will get you around those problems.
October 17th, 2009 - 03:38
Ok thanks for the reply.
But no way to get it to boot correctly.
I have replaced the faulty CD-ROM drive by a brand new DVD ROM Drive.
Funny situation as it boots now directly from the windows 2008 x64 Bit version but refuses to boot from the X86 DVD !!! I installed from the existing OS installed on the machine (Win 2000) and I am now stuck with a CRCDRIVE.SYS problem, identified when running in safe mode as it refuses to boot at the end of the install.
At install time it refused to load the drivers I got from your link on the IBM site. It complained about a 32/64 bit signature, though it is the 32 Bit driver…
Don’t know what to do at present.? Any advice?
October 15th, 2009 - 07:14
@Christophe PASQUET
Hi Christophe,
I couldn’t find a way to have that model boot from USB unfortunately. During experimentation though, I was able to plug in an IDE DVD drive (although it looked very ugly). After loading the OS, I put it all back to normal. Not a great solution, but one that worked in a pinch.
Cheers, Shawn
October 15th, 2009 - 05:03
Hi there I have also the same server eSeries 335 Model 8676 -41X.
I have flashed the server with the latest BIOS from IBM website V1.15
I have a simple problem : the CD-ROM in the server is faulty. I have tried to boot-up from an attached USB – DVD Drive but not to avail…
Did not find an option in Startup option of the BIOS dedicated to USB boot.
Any ideas on how to help resolve that basic step?
In advance thank you for your help
October 1st, 2009 - 01:36
Hi,
I installed Win 2008 on a x335 using your instruction and all was ok. But on the second machine (x335 with the same machine type ) it doesn’t work and I was trying for about 2 days all suggestions in this thread.
As a final solution (if any of above doesn’t work – as in my case) you can install windows server 2003 using “S” to install additional LSI driver (which is suggested in this thread) and then you can update to windows server 2008. This worked for me without problems.
Regards,
IRI
September 14th, 2009 - 07:18
Hi Marcus,
Glad I was able to help out and thanks for your comments! It is pretty cool that this article is still being helpful for people, even a year after I wrote it. Enjoy working with Windows 2008
.
Cheers, Shawn
September 14th, 2009 - 04:26
Hi Shawn, you advise on setting up win2008 srv on a x335 machine, saved me years of headcrushing-will-not-come-to-an-end installation. although there where little probs I got it running now.Helping other folks I just want to state that:
First update your machine ( x335 8676 ) with the Update CD 4.05a , prepare a USB Stick or someting with the mentioned driver for the LSI (LSI Adapter, ultra 320 SCSI 200 series w/1020/1030) but now don t even think of installing that one.
Now take a look at your raid controllers setup prog. and erase and setup an new raid. ( if you got more than one drives ) thereafter urgently wait until your raid is synchronized. Up on the size of your drives that ca take from 2 -72 hours. Thereafter install win 2008 srv freshly on your machine. When win asks for the drive to be installed on, choose the one you whant to, format it with the ORIGINAL WINDOWS drivers. When ready, before klicking next, choose installing own driver, now use the prepared driver on USB thereafter klick next and go usualy further through the rest of the installation process.
Thereafter all ist fine and your machine loves to run on win 2008 srv.
( could be possible, that machine tells you after loggin in that some ethernetadapters are without driver. Just try to find the drivers for win 2003 srv. they shoud work out )
Cheers and a lot of greatfull thanks again to shwan and all of you!
May 26th, 2009 - 08:03
John, glad the article helped you. The only thing I can think of at the moment for your 64 bit error is that you are trying to install a 64 bit version of Windows 2008 on a 32 bit processor.
May 22nd, 2009 - 06:21
Thank you very much for this article, I’ve been able to get up through the point of actually starting the installation on some of my x335s.
Unfortunately, I’m getting hammered prior to installation “Attempting to load a 64-bit application, however this CPU is not compatible with 64-bit mode.”
This happened on every x335 I tried to install on. How did you guys get past that error?
April 20th, 2009 - 08:03
Thanks for posting this information. It worked like a charm!
April 14th, 2009 - 07:31
Thanks for the input Kim. That may be the real easy solution to the problem on getting it to work with the IBMs.
April 11th, 2009 - 15:20
Thanks for posting this information I have a couple of x335s to load next week so I am hoping I can get 2008 to run on them. Anyway in the meantime I have a x235 that I have the same problem with ….I tried all the suggestions and it failed everytime. The problem I had is that when I load the drivers it tells me that it can’t install the operating system on a non NTFS drive when I go to reformat the drive it pulls an error. I tried several work arounds for this but always ended up stumped!Then I remembered I had a IBM Server Raid 5i card in stock so I installed it, downloaded the boot disc v7.12 from IBM , confiqured the drives, booted up and successfully loaded 2008 Yay!!!! So if you can’t get it done on a x235 with the LSI onboard controllers find a IBM Server Raid 5i card for the fix
April 5th, 2009 - 09:05
Just curious, have you tried booting with something like BartPE. You will probably have to add the drivers to it so it will recognize the drive, but it has some tools on it that may wipe/partition the drives. Also you could give UBCD a shot as well, it is Linux based so that may give you some more flexibility.
April 2nd, 2009 - 19:02
To answer my question from the last post…I used parted magic to repartition my drive that was previously running linux so I could install windows XP. I also had to re-position my drive to be the primary drive. Windows will not install on the secondary drive.
April 2nd, 2009 - 16:16
Thank you shawn for you response and suggestion. While I was looking for for the windows 2003 drivers I came across the driver for windows 2000/XP for the X335 on the ibm website..such a relief. I was able to load the driver during the install and it recognized the drives. The only problem now is that it’s giving me an error that I don’t have a XP-compatiable partition. I tried to set an empty partition and tried NTFS and Fat 32 w/ the fdisk utility but it still gives me the same error. Also, it doesn’t give me an option to format the drive during the XP install like I thought it usually does.
Maybe you or someone else have seen this problem?
Thank you!
April 2nd, 2009 - 06:26
You might want to try the Windows 2003 drivers. It is a long shot, but they may work. I haven’t ever really tried using 2003 drivers on a XP install, but have the other way around successfully. Since the x335 is a server class machine, it might be an uphill battle. Although I was able to run Win XP/Vista on a Dell PowerEdge SC420 for the longest time.
April 1st, 2009 - 22:08
Hello,
Has anyone successfully installed Windows XP on an IBM X335 using Server Guide Setup and Installation CD 7.4? When I tried to boot off the CD it gave me an error “No FAT32 volume found” and “No NTFS volume found”. There was previously Linux installed on that drive.
I didn’t see any drivers for the scsi/raid Lsi device for this machine on the IBM site.
I really would appreciate any help you can provide.
Thank you in advance.
February 28th, 2009 - 07:02
@Colin
Yea..I gave up on the x235..:( I will have to stick with windows 2003
February 27th, 2009 - 19:30
@Damon
I’ve just tried this for the sixth time and it does the same thing every time – that is it fails. I even tried the ServerGuide disk as suggested above but that doesn’t support Windows 20008 – it just refuses to install it so I don’t know what was suposed to be done there. I’m now going to dump the useless IBM server and see if I can find some old HP ones. I’ve already installed it on an HP server which is a little older than the X335 and it was a straight install that just worked first time with no problems. Simple lesson don’t buy IBM, buy HP instead.
February 14th, 2009 - 19:41
Still gets stuck on “Loading crcdisk.sys….
February 3rd, 2009 - 09:03
I had the same trouble with a x235 ( 8671-21x, with 5i controller ). Downloaded the driver set above (LSI Logic PCI SCSI/FC MPI Miniport driver v1.25.10 for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 – Servers).
As a pre-requisite, I’d updated the system with updatexpress 4.06CD1.
When setup dispayed the disk layout, I inserted the floppy with the drivers on and let the system choose the driver ( LSI Adapter, ultra 320 SCSI 200 series w/1020/1030….).
The first reboot after the install phase had finished took an age to complete ( 10 mins or so ). Server rebooted fine and I’ve had no problems since. Thaks for the article, this saved me a lot of time….hope this helps too.
July 12th, 2010 - 13:30
Did you boot into server 2008 installation with the DVD? If so how did you do it? I can’t find out how to boot from the DVD for the life of me! Thank you!
July 13th, 2010 - 07:38
Twan, I was only able to ever to get it to boot from a DVD by opening the case and plugging in an external DVD drive (disabled the CD drive). Not the best solution, but seemed to work. I didn’t do an OS load from it, my drive at the time kept getting errors. It was just easier to do a network install of Windows 2008.
January 10th, 2009 - 15:56
Ya, I think Im close to gettting it working here…Just need to narrow down the right driver for the x235,wish someone elsee was trying to get 2008 running on there x235 and could tell me what to try…lol
January 10th, 2009 - 15:07
@son
Wow, sounds like you are really close. I think now it is just a matter of finding the correct driver for the SCSI/RAID device. I know some people had to try a couple different ones (from the IBM site).
January 10th, 2009 - 11:44
Well I just tryed it again and still a no-go! Did the safe mode and found out that yes I get the same as you had “Loading crcdisk.sys” hangs there….tryed the driver you did…and wont work…will get trying here
January 7th, 2009 - 09:26
@son
Did you also make sure you have the latest BIOS/Firmware updates on the server. I noticed a few on IBMs site that have 2008 dates on them, so they might help with the install.
January 3rd, 2009 - 08:15
I havent had time to work on it more….I will try looking around more and see what I can find..would be nice if I could get the x235 running with server 2008…
December 15th, 2008 - 14:42
Son,
Sounds like you might have a hardware issue going on. Did you check out IBMs site and see if you are able to get at least a Windows Server 2003 driver for your RAID controller? From what I have noticed with the older IBMs (ones I have worked on), it will let you sometimes install Server 2008, but still fail during or after install. Telling it to use a different driver has worked for me and it looks like a couple other people that have tried it as well. Hope that helps.
December 15th, 2008 - 10:17
Ive been trying to install 2008 on a x235 and im having the same problems,..I can get it to install but it hangs at “completing Installation”
May 28th, 2008 - 17:35
i have the same server but my have a dvd rom unit, but i can change the option to boot from it can someaone helpme
May 16th, 2008 - 00:42
Hi all!
I have a bunch of 8676-41X on which I have had the problems mentioned above!
I do not know it its just unstable to install 2008 with the LSI 1020/1030 built in raid, but I have realized there is no sure way to make it work right way unless having a lot of luck!
What I do have tried that seems to work every time(for me, yet!) is to only set up one partition and then load the drivers on an (old) 7.4 “Setup and install” CD from IBM.
Link as follows:
http://www-304.ibm.com/systems/support/supportsite.wss/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-5071615&brandind=5000008
I do hope this will help some of you
May 13th, 2008 - 09:04
Allright, here is what I did, and its really cose to the very first time… but you can give it a try- Make sure you have the updatexpress done allready, MPT bios should be 5.04.07 on controller init, Create a new raid with the new bios. Boot to 2008 cd, should be NO partition on it. Using default drivers I created a 30 gig partition, then created a 39 gig partition, then formatted the 30 gig part, then formatted the 39 gig part. Then hit load drivers, they loaded and after loading it still showed 30 gigs of available space on the first paritition… This worked after about the THIRD time creating the partitions and having it fail, each time I deleted the raid and re-created it… So I’m not sure why the partitions showed space available as 0.0 the first couple of times… but keep trying, as I mentioned above. Once it loads the new drivers and shows your space as being available, it will install to it.
May 13th, 2008 - 08:36
I just started working on my second x335 server, doing everything exactly like I did the first time, same “non-ntfs” issue I mentioned above… I tried just loading the new drivers as well without creating and formatting with the default drivers and it will not allow to create a parition on the un0used space. Begginign to wonder if it has something to do with the drive being locked for raid synching or something… but why would the default drivers allow partition creation and formatting… will keep trying and let you know what I find out.
May 13th, 2008 - 07:43
Hi Luis, sounds like your seeing the same thing that I did initially. Try goign into your raid controller and deleting the raid first, then recreate the raid, then boot to your 2008 install cd, creat and format your patitions using the default driver (dont load the new one yet) Once you created and formatted, then choose to load the new drivers and it should not give you the issue with the “not ntfs”. Also, make sure your using the exact driver linked to in the above posts…. the LSI ones will not work.
May 12th, 2008 - 02:28
Hello,
I created the partitions and formated them with the ?default? windows 2008 drivers. Then before hitting next I loaded the new drivers. And say the partition was not formatted as ntfs?.
How I format or pass the next step?
May 10th, 2008 - 14:31
Sounds like you got it working, glad the drivers worked for you! I made sure to download a backup copy before IBM (or whoever) decides to move/delete them.
May 8th, 2008 - 10:53
Shawn,
I rebooted into setup again and rather then loading the drivers right away, I created the partitions and formated them with the “default” windows 2008 drivers. Then before hitting next I loaded the new drivers and it allowed that to happen, AND allowed me to proceed to the next step without saying the partition was not formatted as ntfs… so I think it may have worked, allthough the final reboot will tell all. I guess if nothing else this is a bog learning experience. Hopefully others can learn from it, CREATE the partitions with the default driver, then load the new driver…
May 8th, 2008 - 09:59
HI Shawn, we may be getting somewhere. The drivers you linked to seem to be slightly different than the LSI ones. SO I tried them and sure enough it loaded them and then saw the drive (that I had previously allready created and formated and installed 2008 to), once it saw the drive is then sauid that the drive was not formated at ntfs, so I tried deleting and recreating the partitions… failed, unable to delete partition, unable to format the partition. So I thought I would try deleting the raid and recreating… did that, reboot into setup, load the drivers you suggested, it sees the drive, no partitions on it (good so far) and I try to create a partition and it fails, 0×80070013. Suggestions online indicate write protection. Was your still in the middle of syncing the raid when you did it? I know the first time I installed the raid was syncing still and it allowed me to continue… but this time it wont create a partition.
So my quesiton is, after you had the intial install issue, did you go back into setup and just do a “repair” and load the drivers, or did you go into a brand new setup and load the driver? I assume it maybe did the same thing as I mentioned above about not seeing ntfs and needing to format them?. Thanks!
May 8th, 2008 - 09:00
Hmmm, odd. I know the Windows 2008 initial setup will see the RAID card, load drivers, load the OS onto the hard drive, but that is about it. It won’t boot into the OS, just blink the hard drives occasionally.
You keep saying you tried the 1.26 drivers from LSI, did you try the drivers from the link I provided above that are at IBM? I know when I googled for the drivers it found many different versions for the LSI card floating around the net. There was nothing special I had to do, I just made sure to tell it to use the drivers contained on my usb thumb drive.
May 8th, 2008 - 07:00
Hi Shawn,
I did do the update xpress and it appeared to update many things and said it finished, I did put the above drivers (2003 version) onto the same disk as the 1.26 veersion (2008) and tried them on a floppy and also a cd… the odd part is, when I initially try to install, 2008 sees the drives allready, but once I choose to load my own drivers and those fail… the drives are no longer seen until a reboot into setup again. Also, normally when you choose the driver to load, the little green bar at the bottom scrolls as it “loads” the driver. IN this case, it usually just gives me an hour glass for about 5 minutes and no green scroller at the bottom. After 5 minutes it says it couldnt load the drivers and to get updated ones fromt he vendor. Of course LSI refuses to support anything without an LSI serial number on it. Any help is appreciated. Ill try the update xpress cd again today.
Thanks
May 6th, 2008 - 13:42
Did you make sure you updated the firmware as well with the UpdateXpress from IBM? I used the drivers from the above link which points to the LSI drivers from IBM. I also noticed that there are 2 different model types for the IBM xSeries 335 server, so the LSI driver may not be the same for both (or the other model may not have the LSI in at all). You may need to do a little more digging on the IBM support site. My model is the 8676 I believe (machine is not with me at the moment). Let us know how it goes.
May 6th, 2008 - 13:10
I am havng the same issue, I have gotten the 1.26 version drivers from LSi website for the same exact server that you have, but the windows install will not load them, says I need udated drivers from the Hardware vendor. I have also tried the 1.25 version with the same issue. Is there a special way you got yours to load, or did you use some other driver from IBM? Any help would be greatly appreciated before I throw this thing off a cliff.