WIN2000 server install over lan? can it be done?

[Jwyatt]

Hello,
I have a proliant 5000 just given to me. After installing ram, and cpus i need to install an os. The problem is getting the SCSI CDROM to work in dos. I cant get a boot cd to work in the thing or even get any os to recognize the cdrom is there(besides softpaq)

How hard will it be to install a ftp server on my main rig and use that to install any os. i wouldnt mind fooling with free bsd or unix either.

I have an intel pro nic installed right now.

Please help.

thanks

 

[Tallgeese]

Prolly easier to get the CD-R working.

Try some ASPI software from Adaptec

FYI: Those looking for support for a newer OS should get the ASPI 4.70 package Adaptec just released.

 

[Woodchuck2000]

Most of what I just posted in This Thread also applies to win2k server.

You're not going to be able to run the setup files of an FTP server without a great deal of tweaking. Can't you just stick a CD-ROM in for an hour while you install 2K?

 

[cliftonite]

interesting idea

 

[cliftonite]

.

 

[me19562]

Yes u can, making the right script and even with RIS. Check the book Mastering Windows 2000 Server by Mark Minasi.



Good Luck

 

[kyoshozx]

What kind of scsi adapter do you have? If it's an adaptec controller you should be able to get the scsi cd-rom to work if you install the dos drivers for the adpater controller. It'll be able to fit on a floppy, so you can make a bootable floppy disk for it. You'll also need the mscdex.exe file and you have to edit the config.sys yourself, but it'll work.

Another alternative is get the dos driver for your nic, and put that on your bootable drive and then share out the i386 folder on another machine on your network.

Then type the command winnt.exe /s:\i386

d: is your shared drive on the network

to map a drive type
net use x: \\server\folder



That should do it.

About RIS, it only allows remote installation of win2k professional and not server. It's a great tool if you have hundreds of computer to install, but complicated to setup. You can boot from a floppy and have it install win2k automatically or have your users choose from the list of available images you have setup for them. If you have nic that is supported by RIS you can even boot using the boot rom on the nic, and have no os on your harddrive and it'll seek out a RIS for installing win2k.

 

[me19562]

U can install 2K server with RIS, isn't an automated process but u can do it from the network. Like i said check the book of Minasi, he tells u how to do it.

 

[Saltin]

MS don't recommend installing Server with RIS. I dont recommend RIS at all in a small scale setup. Read the other thread about this topic.

 

[bozo1]

You can download DOS drivers for the 5000's SCSI and make a boot disk and go from there. The drivers should also be on your smartstart CD.

 

[PlatinumGold]

you should be able to make Win 2k Server install disks off the cd.

when you start the install off the floppies one of the first questions it'll ask you is to press f6 if you have scsi drivers. that should do you good.

 

[Jwyatt]

Thanks for all the replies and ideas. I have tried and tried dos scsi drivers and just cant get the cdrom to work in dos. I know its something im doing, because in W98 it see's the disk fine now. I had the install files on the hard drive for 98 and did a reinstall and it see's it fine now. Before the drive was out of another machine just to test the 5000 to see if it boots.

I still wanna play with w2k on this machine to set it up as a file server or just to learn something about it. To make life easier I think I will copy the w2k install files onto the hdd and instal from there.

BTW what is RIS?

 

[PlatinumGold]

RIS - Remote Installation Server or Services (i never can keep track of acronyms).

anyway, RIS is what you want, but it's more complicated to set up. easier in my opinion just to make the boot disks.

btw, why haven't you made the floppy boot disks from Win NT??

 

[calpha]

RIS is remote installation services and it's crap. I don't like it at all.

I install from the network all the time. I've even made upgraded my installation set to SP2 using the "s" switch on the Update command within the service pack (i386/update/update.exe)

Basically here's how to install from a network:

I found one network card that always worked (in my case, Intel Pro 100 NIC)
Went to Bootdisk.com and tweaked his netbui bootdisk setup for my LAN
Copied w2k pro, server, advanced server cd's to my Main Server
Added smartdrv.exe (hard to find the right version since it's old--I found a Win98 Smartdrv.exe version taht worked fine)

So, now when I have a new machine to install i:
1. Insert Intel NIC
2. Start NetBui protocol on server
3. Boot from Floppy
4. Log onto DC setup share
5. Run Smartdrv.exe (Must do this, or your network will be SLOW as bull nuts)
6. Run the command (think it's winnt.exe, but I always have to search for it)
7. Off to the races. It really is very easy to do it this way once you've done it once.

The main advantage I have on doing it this way, is that I'm already upgraded to SP2 once the installation is done, so that saves a little time.

I do not know if you can install W2k From a FTP Server (local that is) but I'm inclined to say you can't. Maybe someone could figure out how to do it, but not me.

 

[Woodchuck2000]

RIS is great once working as long as the cards in the client machines support it. My ris server installs service pack 2 straight off (as indeed does my Win2k CD) and it provides a variety of images. Granted it's nasty to set up but if you have a 2K domain controller floating around your network, its a fun thing to play with...

 

[dbx]

theres a line in txtsetup.sif, producttype, or productid, you need to change it from 1 to 0 I believe. then RIS will allow you to use the server i386 dir. once its done copying to the remoteinstall folder you need to change the line back to 1. atleast I think its 1, I might have it backwards.