Installing Windows Server 2008 on a 4TB RAID 5 on AMD SB750
Hi all, I'm trying to install Windows Server 2008 Ent 64-bit on my new server setup. The system uses 5 1TB HDDs which are configured in RAID5 through the RAID-setup utility of the BIOS. The motherboard I'm using is the Foxconn A7DA-S 3.0 which has an AMD 790GX chipset. The installation procedes without any problems until I have to choose the install partition. At that point I'm asked to point the installation to the correct driver (no big deal) and it then shows me the 4TB of unpartitioned space. However, it cannot work with anymore than 2TB of that space and the rest is just left as unpartitioned space (not the biggest deal either). I then creat a 200GB partition for WS2k8 to install on and it the copies, expands etc. Once it has finished "updating" and is about to move on the "Completing the installation", it loads for a while and then tells me: "windows could not prepare the computer to boot into the next phase of installation" Then it asks me to restart the installation. When doing so everything works the same expect that the driver doesnt need to be loaded and at the end it presents me with the same error again! Does anybody know what the problem is here? Can Windows Server not install on a 4TB disk? Does the disk have to be GPT partitioned before an install can be attempted? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Kind Regards Darkstriker
February 3rd, 2010 4:27am

These are Vista Forums.http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/community.aspxThey will help you in the above Windows Server Communities.Cheers.Mick Murphy - Microsoft Partner
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February 3rd, 2010 6:28am

Hi, Windows Server 2008 should work on a 4TB’s disk and you don’t need to partition it GPT disk before the installation(a GPT boot need the support from motherboard). I suspect that there are some issue with your installation disk(the DVD disk), please burn another disk if you have the ISO file. By the way, if possible, please just install the system on a single disk then we can isolate the influence of the RAID. The following post discussed a similar issue, please refer to check whether it helps. http://forums.techguy.org/windows-vista/536857-solved-vista-installation-problem.html Important Note: This response contains a reference to a third party World Wide Web site. Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you. Microsoft does not control these sites and has not tested any software or information found on these sites; therefore, Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. There are inherent dangers in the use of any software found on the Internet, and Microsoft cautions you to make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any software from the Internet. Best Regards, Vincent Hu
February 3rd, 2010 8:55am

Hi, Windows Server 2008 should work on a 4TB’s disk and you don’t need to partition it GPT disk before the installation(a GPT boot need the support from motherboard). I suspect that there are some issue with your installation disk(the DVD disk), please burn another disk if you have the ISO file. By the way, if possible, please just install the system on a single disk then we can isolate the influence of the RAID. I just finished downloading Windows Server 2008 R2 RC from MSDNAA so I will give that a try. However, I do not believe that that actually is the problem since I have tried two versions of Windows Server 2008 already and both produce the same issue. Additionally I just removed the RAID setup and found that I then can install Windows Server from the disk I used before without any issues. I will let you know how whether that works. Edit: I tried and failed... Does anyone have any other ideas?
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February 4th, 2010 2:40pm

Hi, From your description, we can infer this issue is caused by Raid. I suggest contacting your Raid Controller manufacturer for detailed information. Tim Quan - MSFT
February 10th, 2010 6:57am

Were you able to resolve your issue? I'm having similar one.POZERUGA
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February 7th, 2011 4:47am

Hi there I hope you can help. I have just purchased a A7DA-S and I am trying to install Windows Server 2008 R2 (NON RAID) and at install it asks for drivers for the SATA. I have scanned the Drivers CD, but no luck. You say you have installed this without RAID, so I wondered if you could tell me what drivers you have used when you made your install. Thanks in advance
February 15th, 2011 3:09pm

Manufacturer of you mother board shoul have driver provided with CD or you go online for support; I would go to online support for motherboard and look there.POZERUGA
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February 17th, 2011 8:16am

Personally i dont think this is a good enough answer. Just because it doesnt install on the RAID volume doesnt mean there is a problem with the RAID. Its probably down to the volume size, and the fact that the windows OS only supports volumes larger than 2TB if the disks are GPT, and there is a EUFI BIOS. Again, microsoft are making things a right pain for system administrators / hardware engineers by having such a stupid limitation.
May 16th, 2011 7:05pm

I have exactly the same problem installing Windows Multipoint Server 2011 (based in Windows Server 2008 R2) on a system with Asus M5A88-M motherboard, AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition processor, 3 Seagate 2TB SATA600 disks in RAID5. I am pretty sure the problem is not the RAID drivers or DVD media because it installs happily when using just 2 disks in RAID1. It sounds as Windows Server 2008 still does not support volumes greater than 2TB, at least for bootable ones. I remember solving similar issue in Windows Server 2003 years ago, installing the OS in a 500GB RAID1 array for booting purpose and then using a 4TB RAID5 array just for data storage. Does anyone have a better fixing? Jorge Tupac-Yupanqui - MCITP, MCT
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July 20th, 2011 2:21am

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