Solved windows install failt on dual sock ( physical cpu's )

[PowerChaos]

Dear users
i am currently installing a server ( 1 U server ) that contains 2 Cpu's

it are 2X a dual core 3GHZ and contains 2GB ram ( DDR1 ECC)
The hd's are 10K hd's ( 140GB ) in Raid 1+0

First i try to install xp on it , the cd boots up it says checking system spects and i get a black screen

then i try to install windows 7 , it says starting and keeps staying at that part .. it just do not move

at current moment i going try out 2003 and 2008 because all other versions are not working

There is 1 version that seems to work , also a windows 7 instalation but it takes about 30 min to get to the first screen of the setup (aborted instalation and took a other cd to try something new)

Now my question
could it has somehting to do with the dual cpu's that it refuse to install ?
The system is also 32 bit ( 3GHZ cpu's )

on my other server ( otheer model , but same spects) is windows 2008 working ,so my guess is that it also will work on this server
but the real question is why it keeps failing to install xp

why do i like to have xp ? , because the ram usage is a lot lower ( and i need a lot of ram for my project , so how less ram the win use how better)

also i need to have dotnet 3.5 on it ,so xp is the lowest i can go

The server works perfect with linux (centos 5.8 net install) , so only windows installs are failing on it so far

Thank you for your help
Greetings From PowerChaos

 

[Ztruker]

This is most likely a memory or hard drive problem. Try removing 1/2 of the memory then install, see if it works. If not put that back and remove the other half then try again. If still no good then replace all the memory.

Check the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic tools.
Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.
Bootable Hard Drive Diagnostics

 

[PowerChaos]

Thank you
i could get win2k3 perfect installed with out a problem but provide me a lot of crashes when i connect with rdp (it crash after a time when i connect with rdp or vnc , seems a windows total freeze when rdp still allows me to connect but not to do anything )

The ram is DDR1 with ECC (was thinking DDR2 but seems to be DDR1 )
The HD's are 2 X 10k hd's in raid 1+0 (hardware raid) and a speedtest works fine to ( 54mbit average with the test program i used , checks differend blocks starting from 4k to 16mb and calculate fixed read/write + random read/write )

so if it should be the hd , then both hd's need to be broken (whats the point of raid then ?)
The ram got ECC so the memory should be able to handle read errors if the ram is "broken" (exept if windows does not support ecc ram exept windows 2k3 and 2k8 ? )

i need to say , the cpu's are the newest parts in the server (so all other things are a lot older then the cpu's if you see on building year )

also linux works fine ( centos 5.8 ) but sadly enouf it does not contain my needs ( dotnetfix 3.5 )

Thank you for your support
and sorry for confusion

Greetings From PowerChaos

 

[Ztruker]

I would still suggest trying the removal of memory. Should only take a short time to verify. May not be the problem but it would be a real bummer to work on this for awhile then finally find out memory was the problem.

Does the system running Win 2008 also use RAID? What kind of memory does it have? Could you swap memory between the computers?

 

[DeaconFrost]

why do i like to have xp ? , because the ram usage is a lot lower ( and i need a lot of ram for my project , so how less ram the win use how better)

You have a lot to learn about memory usage, and how Windows 7 differs from XP. I'll give you a friendly hint: Windows 7 is better at managing and using memory.

That being said, you are using hardware designed for server OSes. While Windows 7 should work on it, you might find support options more available with a server-level OS.

 

[PowerChaos]

Thank you
i tryed to install w2k8 and it doesnt even get to the setup page (just like XP , 7 and all others exept w2k3)

if 7 is indeed more memory friendly then xp , then i can use that (but it wont install )
a server shoulnd be to differend then a normal computer (maybe differend drivers) but i still do not understand why nothing is working on it exept w2k3

i also installed some provider drivers ( hp ) and seems that it are a lot of changes that it dit to the system

here are the server spects

SystemProduct Name : ProLiant DL360 G3
Processor Package 1 (Socket 1, Core = 1) : Intel(R) Xeon(R) Processor @ 3.07 Ghz
Processor Package 2 (Socket 2, Core = 1) : Intel(R) Xeon(R) Processor @ 3.07 Ghz
Operating system environment : Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003, Service Pack 2 (Build 3790)Total memory - 2048 Mbytes
Board 0 :
DIMM 1 ( DDR )1024 Mbytes (266 MHz)
DIMM 2 ( DDR )1024 Mbytes (266 MHz)
DIMM 3 Not Installed
DIMM 4 Not Installed
ECC memory installed : Yes
Communication
Serial Port 1 : (Address 3F8h)
USB Device 1 : USB UHCI Root Hub
USB Device 2 : USB Mouse
USB Device 3 : USB Keyboard
USB Device 4 : USB Mouse
USB Device 5 :ServerWorks (RCC) PCI to USB Open Host Controller
Network Controller 1, Slot 0NC7781 Gigabit Server Adapter
Storage
Diskette Drive 1 : HighDensity 1.44
Hard Drive 1, Storage Controller in Slot 0146.8 GB, SEAGATE ST3146807LC
Hard Drive 2, Storage Controller in Slot 0146.8 GB, SEAGATE ST3146807LC
Logical Drive 1, Storage Controller in Slot 0146.8 GB, RAID 1 - OK
PCI Slots
PCI Slot 1 Available
PCI Slot 2 Available

for the memory/hd swap , it is not realy possible for me to swap them , the server is located in the dc and i do not have spare parts for that
only thing i can do if it fail again is to use my other server (where 2008 is running on already )

it just stays strange that only 1 version works and nothing else

Greetings From PowerChaos

 

[PowerChaos]

it seems that my specific server use a lot of drivers that are not supported by other verisons of windows exept the 2003

after i installed and updated the drivers then all my drivers got updated ( from floppy drive to video card )

now it is working stable

Thank you all for your help and solution
Greetings From PowerChaos

 

[Ztruker]

Good to hear. Glad you were persistent.

How does it run?

 

[DeaconFrost]

it seems that my specific server use a lot of drivers that are not supported by other verisons of windows exept the 2003

I've heard that before concerning certain server-only platforms that require a specific server OS and that's it.