Xseries 346 wont boot

check from the manufacturer which operating systems are compatible with your server

You need Server Guide cd for OS installation.

You can get it from below link
https://www-947.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/docdisplay?lndocid=SERV-GUIDE

IBM ServerGuide

This is because the Hard disks are connected to Raid Controller . So you need the Raid controller driver in order to Install Windows 2003 OS. You can download the driver cd from below link .

http://www-947.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/docdisplay?lndocid=migr-5072250

Download image file > Burn to Disk > Boot Server from it > Follow the Wizard

That's all

Try the lastest fireware. Has any new hardware been added. Run IBM diags to test all hardware.

i have the exact same problem. i bought this server in an auction and i can not install any os on it. have tried ubuntu and centos but neither can find the hard drives.

See page 60 of the Configuration manual for that model located at http://www.abchost.cz/download/262-4/installation-guide-serveru-ibm-xseries-346-2u-s-cpu-intel-xeon.pdf

Unfortunately, a three disk RAID 5 can only tolerate a single drive failure. Is it possible that disk 0 and disk 1 were reversed? If so, then you might be dealing with only one failed drive and might be able to rebuild the RAID if you get disks back where they belong.

Otherwise, you will need to send the disks off to a data recovery service and hope for the best. This is only viable if the data is very valuable as this will be very expensive. Typically more than $1000 just to evaluate and diagnose.

Hi
While running the windows 2003 setup (winnt.exe), it will ask for SASI driver, you have to add the scsi driver... then windows 2003 os will detect the HDD.. then it will install..

I"t says one logical drive is offline and two physical drives are defunct."


sounds like RAID. Try booting up off of one drive. If there is no OS, try keeping one drive in the drive bay and see if you get a orange light then. like dereknewland said, could be the backplane.

First create a floppy disk with your RAID driver for W2K3 Server. Next boot the server with the W2K3 Server CD, and hit F6 when prompted, and S to add the specific driver for your RAID and using the floppy to get the driver installed.

Next boot to the recovery console of W2K3 Server. If it finds your hard disk, it will even ask for your Administrator's Password to continue. If this works, then you are probably home free.

Get to the command line of the W2K3 Server Repair console and perform some directory searches to see if the data is there and intact. You can also perform a CHKDSK from that console.

Once you have made sure your data is there and intact, type these two commands: FIXMBR and FIXBOOT

This should solve the problem and when you EXIT out of the console, it should reboot. Remove the CD and it "should" re-boot from the hard disk.

If you still have problems, let me know with how far you got with the steps above. I have another solution but need to know your RAID controller's model (ServeRAID 5i, 6i, etc).

-Chip