Failed mirror - Unable to boot from both drives

[Susan123456]

Have a server where the software raid was removed. 2 * 73gb scsi drives,
adaptec controller, Dell 1600 poweredge.

The server was powered down and I am now currently able to boot into either
the primary or secondry drive.

If I leave both drives attached then the system will not pick up any drives.
If I disable disk 0, then I recieve a boot menu with the following options

Windows SBS 2003 - Hardware configuration error message

Secondry Plex - reboots system at times, other times hardware error message

Default - screen goes blank, no errors, no os


Desperately need to boot into disk 1

When the mirror was removed Disk 0 showed as requiring formatting, Disk 1
showed the system files.

Any ideas on how to boot the system

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

"Susan123456" <Susan123456@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:10CF0E0A-DB46-4FF2-9975-12FB9B5F077B@microsoft.com...
> Have a server where the software raid was removed. 2 * 73gb scsi drives,
> adaptec controller, Dell 1600 poweredge.
>
> The server was powered down and I am now currently able to boot into
> either
> the primary or secondry drive.
>
> If I leave both drives attached then the system will not pick up any
> drives.
> If I disable disk 0, then I recieve a boot menu with the following options
>
> Windows SBS 2003 - Hardware configuration error message
>
> Secondry Plex - reboots system at times, other times hardware error
> message
>
> Default - screen goes blank, no errors, no os
>
>
> Desperately need to boot into disk 1
>
> When the mirror was removed Disk 0 showed as requiring formatting, Disk 1
> showed the system files.
>
> Any ideas on how to boot the system

Since you are currently able to boot the system with just the
primary disk, you should be able to delete all partitions on
the secondary disk, perhaps on a different machine, then
rebuild the mirror.

If this is too drastic for you then you could use a reversible
method to make the current partition on the second disk
inaccessible to Windows, thus allowing Windows to boot
up normally with both disks connected.

 

[Susan123456]

Thanks for your quick responce however I am unable to boot from either Disk 0
or Disk 1. I believe breaking the mirror removed the data from disk 0, thus
the data only remains on disk 1.

I am currently building a secondry scsi server in order to try and access
disk 1, wondered if there was anything else I could try which was quicker.

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "Susan123456" <Susan123456@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:10CF0E0A-DB46-4FF2-9975-12FB9B5F077B@microsoft.com...
> > Have a server where the software raid was removed. 2 * 73gb scsi drives,
> > adaptec controller, Dell 1600 poweredge.
> >
> > The server was powered down and I am now currently able to boot into
> > either
> > the primary or secondry drive.
> >
> > If I leave both drives attached then the system will not pick up any
> > drives.
> > If I disable disk 0, then I recieve a boot menu with the following options
> >
> > Windows SBS 2003 - Hardware configuration error message
> >
> > Secondry Plex - reboots system at times, other times hardware error
> > message
> >
> > Default - screen goes blank, no errors, no os
> >
> >
> > Desperately need to boot into disk 1
> >
> > When the mirror was removed Disk 0 showed as requiring formatting, Disk 1
> > showed the system files.
> >
> > Any ideas on how to boot the system
>
> Since you are currently able to boot the system with just the
> primary disk, you should be able to delete all partitions on
> the secondary disk, perhaps on a different machine, then
> rebuild the mirror.
>
> If this is too drastic for you then you could use a reversible
> method to make the current partition on the second disk
> inaccessible to Windows, thus allowing Windows to boot
> up normally with both disks connected.
>
>
>

 

[Dave Patrick]

Try creating a boot disk. For the floppy to successfully boot Windows 2003
the disk must contain the "NT" boot sector. Format a diskette (on a Windows
2003 machine, not a DOS/Win9x, so the NT boot sector gets written to the
floppy), and copy Windows 2003 versions of ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini
to it. Edit the boot.ini to give it a correct ARC path for the machine you
wish to boot. Below is an example of boot.ini. The default is to start the
operating system located on the first partition of the primary or first
drive (drive0). Then drive0 partition 2 and so on.

[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="Windows 2003 0,1"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\Windows="Windows 2003 0,2"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\Windows="Windows 2003 1,1"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\Windows="Windows 2003 1,2"


Another possibility is to try loading the controller driver also from
floppy. For the floppy to successfully boot Windows 2003 the disk must
contain the "NT" boot sector. Format a diskette (on a Windows 2003 machine,
not a DOS/Win9x, so the "NT" boot sector gets written to the floppy), then
copy ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini to it. Edit the boot.ini to give it a
correct ARC path for the machine you wish to boot.

In order for this to work you'll want to change the arc path in boot.ini
from multi syntax to scsi syntax to indicate that Windows 2003 will load a
boot device driver and use that driver to access the boot partition. Then
also copy the correct manufacturer scsi driver to the floppy but renamed to
ntbootdd.sys

Something like this below

[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows
[operating systems]
scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="Windows 2003 0,1"
scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\Windows="Windows 2003 0,2"
scsi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="Windows 2003 1,1"
scsi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(2)\Windows="Windows 2003 1,2"


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Susan123456" wrote:
> Thanks for your quick responce however I am unable to boot from either
> Disk 0
> or Disk 1. I believe breaking the mirror removed the data from disk 0,
> thus
> the data only remains on disk 1.
>
> I am currently building a secondry scsi server in order to try and access
> disk 1, wondered if there was anything else I could try which was quicker.

 

[Susan123456]

Thanks Dave will try this and let you know how I get on.

Susan

"Dave Patrick" wrote:

> Try creating a boot disk. For the floppy to successfully boot Windows 2003
> the disk must contain the "NT" boot sector. Format a diskette (on a Windows
> 2003 machine, not a DOS/Win9x, so the NT boot sector gets written to the
> floppy), and copy Windows 2003 versions of ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini
> to it. Edit the boot.ini to give it a correct ARC path for the machine you
> wish to boot. Below is an example of boot.ini. The default is to start the
> operating system located on the first partition of the primary or first
> drive (drive0). Then drive0 partition 2 and so on.
>
> [boot loader]
> timeout=10
> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows
> [operating systems]
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="Windows 2003 0,1"
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\Windows="Windows 2003 0,2"
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\Windows="Windows 2003 1,1"
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\Windows="Windows 2003 1,2"
>
>
> Another possibility is to try loading the controller driver also from
> floppy. For the floppy to successfully boot Windows 2003 the disk must
> contain the "NT" boot sector. Format a diskette (on a Windows 2003 machine,
> not a DOS/Win9x, so the "NT" boot sector gets written to the floppy), then
> copy ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini to it. Edit the boot.ini to give it a
> correct ARC path for the machine you wish to boot.
>
> In order for this to work you'll want to change the arc path in boot.ini
> from multi syntax to scsi syntax to indicate that Windows 2003 will load a
> boot device driver and use that driver to access the boot partition. Then
> also copy the correct manufacturer scsi driver to the floppy but renamed to
> ntbootdd.sys
>
> Something like this below
>
> [boot loader]
> timeout=10
> default=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows
> [operating systems]
> scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="Windows 2003 0,1"
> scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\Windows="Windows 2003 0,2"
> scsi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="Windows 2003 1,1"
> scsi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(2)\Windows="Windows 2003 1,2"
>
>
> --
>
> Regards,
>
> Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
> Microsoft Certified Professional
> Microsoft MVP [Windows]
> http://www.microsoft.com/protect
>
> "Susan123456" wrote:
> > Thanks for your quick responce however I am unable to boot from either
> > Disk 0
> > or Disk 1. I believe breaking the mirror removed the data from disk 0,
> > thus
> > the data only remains on disk 1.
> >
> > I am currently building a secondry scsi server in order to try and access
> > disk 1, wondered if there was anything else I could try which was quicker.
>

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I don't understand. In your first post you wrote "The server was
powered down and I am now currently able to boot into either
the primary or secondry drive." Now you write the opposite!


"Susan123456" <Susan123456@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3FA60B1B-8BD3-4AC2-B43D-6EF57956FE12@microsoft.com...
> Thanks for your quick responce however I am unable to boot from either
> Disk 0
> or Disk 1. I believe breaking the mirror removed the data from disk 0,
> thus
> the data only remains on disk 1.
>
> I am currently building a secondry scsi server in order to try and access
> disk 1, wondered if there was anything else I could try which was quicker.
>
> "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
>
>>
>> "Susan123456" <Susan123456@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:10CF0E0A-DB46-4FF2-9975-12FB9B5F077B@microsoft.com...
>> > Have a server where the software raid was removed. 2 * 73gb scsi
>> > drives,
>> > adaptec controller, Dell 1600 poweredge.
>> >
>> > The server was powered down and I am now currently able to boot into
>> > either
>> > the primary or secondry drive.
>> >
>> > If I leave both drives attached then the system will not pick up any
>> > drives.
>> > If I disable disk 0, then I recieve a boot menu with the following
>> > options
>> >
>> > Windows SBS 2003 - Hardware configuration error message
>> >
>> > Secondry Plex - reboots system at times, other times hardware error
>> > message
>> >
>> > Default - screen goes blank, no errors, no os
>> >
>> >
>> > Desperately need to boot into disk 1
>> >
>> > When the mirror was removed Disk 0 showed as requiring formatting, Disk
>> > 1
>> > showed the system files.
>> >
>> > Any ideas on how to boot the system
>>
>> Since you are currently able to boot the system with just the
>> primary disk, you should be able to delete all partitions on
>> the secondary disk, perhaps on a different machine, then
>> rebuild the mirror.
>>
>> If this is too drastic for you then you could use a reversible
>> method to make the current partition on the second disk
>> inaccessible to Windows, thus allowing Windows to boot
>> up normally with both disks connected.
>>
>>
>>

 

[Dave Patrick]

10-4

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Susan123456" wrote:
> Thanks Dave will try this and let you know how I get on.
>
> Susan

 

[Susan123456]

Apologies Pegasus, meant to say can't boot from any drives


Hi Dave

Have tried various combinations for the boot floppies and all fail.

If I attempt to boot disk 0 it fails no matter what with the message -
Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration
problem. Could not read from the selected boot disk.

if I attempt to boot disk 1 I get a menu option which lists Windows 2003
server and Secondry plex mirror. None of these boot when selected, usually
get the message above.

Put in a Windows 2003 SBS disk and entered recovery console, It gives me the
option of one disk, and I can access the C drive. All files look intact.

Realised when the mirror was removed the drive showed up as unallocated.
Attempted to re-mirror however due to time contstraint this resyncing was
cancelled at 3%

Is their anything else I can try.

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

> I don't understand. In your first post you wrote "The server was
> powered down and I am now currently able to boot into either
> the primary or secondry drive." Now you write the opposite!
>
>
> "Susan123456" <Susan123456@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:3FA60B1B-8BD3-4AC2-B43D-6EF57956FE12@microsoft.com...
> > Thanks for your quick responce however I am unable to boot from either
> > Disk 0
> > or Disk 1. I believe breaking the mirror removed the data from disk 0,
> > thus
> > the data only remains on disk 1.
> >
> > I am currently building a secondry scsi server in order to try and access
> > disk 1, wondered if there was anything else I could try which was quicker.
> >
> > "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> "Susan123456" <Susan123456@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:10CF0E0A-DB46-4FF2-9975-12FB9B5F077B@microsoft.com...
> >> > Have a server where the software raid was removed. 2 * 73gb scsi
> >> > drives,
> >> > adaptec controller, Dell 1600 poweredge.
> >> >
> >> > The server was powered down and I am now currently able to boot into
> >> > either
> >> > the primary or secondry drive.
> >> >
> >> > If I leave both drives attached then the system will not pick up any
> >> > drives.
> >> > If I disable disk 0, then I recieve a boot menu with the following
> >> > options
> >> >
> >> > Windows SBS 2003 - Hardware configuration error message
> >> >
> >> > Secondry Plex - reboots system at times, other times hardware error
> >> > message
> >> >
> >> > Default - screen goes blank, no errors, no os
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Desperately need to boot into disk 1
> >> >
> >> > When the mirror was removed Disk 0 showed as requiring formatting, Disk
> >> > 1
> >> > showed the system files.
> >> >
> >> > Any ideas on how to boot the system
> >>
> >> Since you are currently able to boot the system with just the
> >> primary disk, you should be able to delete all partitions on
> >> the secondary disk, perhaps on a different machine, then
> >> rebuild the mirror.
> >>
> >> If this is too drastic for you then you could use a reversible
> >> method to make the current partition on the second disk
> >> inaccessible to Windows, thus allowing Windows to boot
> >> up normally with both disks connected.
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

 

[Dave Patrick]

It sounds like you may not have been booting from the floppy.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Susan123456" wrote:
> Apologies Pegasus, meant to say can't boot from any drives
>
>
> Hi Dave
>
> Have tried various combinations for the boot floppies and all fail.
>
> If I attempt to boot disk 0 it fails no matter what with the message -
> Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration
> problem. Could not read from the selected boot disk.
>
> if I attempt to boot disk 1 I get a menu option which lists Windows 2003
> server and Secondry plex mirror. None of these boot when selected, usually
> get the message above.
>
> Put in a Windows 2003 SBS disk and entered recovery console, It gives me
> the
> option of one disk, and I can access the C drive. All files look intact.
>
> Realised when the mirror was removed the drive showed up as unallocated.
> Attempted to re-mirror however due to time contstraint this resyncing was
> cancelled at 3%
>
> Is their anything else I can try.

 

[Susan123456]

Hi Dave,

Got the system booting now - phew

Inserted a spare scsi drive and installed Win 2003 sbs without configuring
the domain etc

Could not read disk 0 whatsoever, imported disk 1 in as it was identified as
a foreign disk. Manually edited the boot.ini file to point to disk 1 and
restarted the server

bingo!

Only problem was that by importing the disk as foreign the drive letters
changed to E: and F:

Thanks for the help

Susan

"Dave Patrick" wrote:

> It sounds like you may not have been booting from the floppy.
>
> --
>
> Regards,
>
> Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
> Microsoft Certified Professional
> Microsoft MVP [Windows]
> http://www.microsoft.com/protect
>
> "Susan123456" wrote:
> > Apologies Pegasus, meant to say can't boot from any drives
> >
> >
> > Hi Dave
> >
> > Have tried various combinations for the boot floppies and all fail.
> >
> > If I attempt to boot disk 0 it fails no matter what with the message -
> > Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration
> > problem. Could not read from the selected boot disk.
> >
> > if I attempt to boot disk 1 I get a menu option which lists Windows 2003
> > server and Secondry plex mirror. None of these boot when selected, usually
> > get the message above.
> >
> > Put in a Windows 2003 SBS disk and entered recovery console, It gives me
> > the
> > option of one disk, and I can access the C drive. All files look intact.
> >
> > Realised when the mirror was removed the drive showed up as unallocated.
> > Attempted to re-mirror however due to time contstraint this resyncing was
> > cancelled at 3%
> >
> > Is their anything else I can try.
>

 

[Dave Patrick]

This article may help.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223188


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Susan123456" wrote:
> Hi Dave,
>
> Got the system booting now - phew
>
> Inserted a spare scsi drive and installed Win 2003 sbs without configuring
> the domain etc
>
> Could not read disk 0 whatsoever, imported disk 1 in as it was identified
> as
> a foreign disk. Manually edited the boot.ini file to point to disk 1 and
> restarted the server
>
> bingo!
>
> Only problem was that by importing the disk as foreign the drive letters
> changed to E: and F:
>
> Thanks for the help
>
> Susan

 

[Susan123456]

Thanks Dave, That did the trick

Thanks for all ur help, glad I don't have to do this everyday





"Dave Patrick" wrote:

> This article may help.
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223188
>
>
> --
>
> Regards,
>
> Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
> Microsoft Certified Professional
> Microsoft MVP [Windows]
> http://www.microsoft.com/protect
>
> "Susan123456" wrote:
> > Hi Dave,
> >
> > Got the system booting now - phew
> >
> > Inserted a spare scsi drive and installed Win 2003 sbs without configuring
> > the domain etc
> >
> > Could not read disk 0 whatsoever, imported disk 1 in as it was identified
> > as
> > a foreign disk. Manually edited the boot.ini file to point to disk 1 and
> > restarted the server
> >
> > bingo!
> >
> > Only problem was that by importing the disk as foreign the drive letters
> > changed to E: and F:
> >
> > Thanks for the help
> >
> > Susan
>

 

[Dave Patrick]

You're welcome.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Susan123456" wrote:
> Thanks Dave, That did the trick
>
> Thanks for all ur help, glad I don't have to do this everyday
>
>