UBB.threads PHP Forum Software Community Forums General Off Topic Bought used servers need help

Hey all I bought a couple of decent servers (older but good for what I want them for).... I can't get into them atm due to passwords.. I really would like to at least be able to log on as I can't put a new OS on until I can clear the HDs.. they won't recognize the CDroms so I can't actually start them with my boot up disks. Any one know of a way to bypass Win2003 serv,win2k serv and redhat linux security long enough for me to update a bios so that it can pick up the cdrom boot option? Thanks for any thoughts or help in advance.


Dunny

I never had that problem but it is really hard to say what is the issue and not knowing what mother board it has.
Could be the bios has the cdroms in the list but has the wrong boot order. Meaning the roms are last on the list and the system drive boots up first.
Or the bios has a password.
Here is my thoughts.
Try unplugging the hard drive data cable temporarily and see if it will let you open the bios and or read the the cdroms.
Because with out a system drive it will hang for a few moments till it gives up.

Hmm, sounds like they set the boot order to have the hdd boot first, you could try entering the bios to change the boot order to include the cdrom drive first.

That is what I was thinking but it sounds like either he can't access the bios due to a password setting or the system drive is booting to fast to get to the bios settings.

If its bios password you may be able to clear it with jumpers, removing battery, etc

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000235.htm

You don't need to get into the operating system to update your bios. Read the screen carefully while booting. It comes and goes quickly but usually DEL or F2 gets you into bios setup. If it doesn't boot from CDROM then I'd guess the guys above are right. Go into the bios setup and change the boot order to include the CDROM.

On a server it is typical to disable that after OS install to make the server boot faster on a restart. For a production server a slow boot up is lost production time.

F2 will get me there, but it will not recognize the CDrom... I have already been in there and told it to boot CD first (for the 4 of the 6 that the option was even available). They are all dell computers ranging from 750's to 1450.

I really am at a loss on how to re-install my Win2003 servers on them or even ubuntu for that matter.

Dunny

In ubuntu and a few others you can create a bootable thumb drive, would need to set it in boot order after creating bootable drive

http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download

Click thumb option and click show me how

I am a little confused with this statement Dunny.
When you enter the bios settings is the cdrom showing correctly for available drives?
What bios is it for the dell?

Well I peeked on a older xp box I have . And this is how the bios is set.
On the main menu it should recognize the drives you have.
Then on the boot menu it is displayed in order of boot sequence per device.
So if the cd is found on the main menu.
When you goto the boot menu. The cd needs to be on the first line number one in the sequence.
If you read the help. It should be something like select the cd drive in the boot menu and use the + key to move it to line 1.
If it is not on line 1 then it will boot from the first drive in order 1 through 4 found that has a os installed on it.

Oh forgot about this part.
After the settings above when you reboot with the bookable cd in the drive.
You will get a prompt for a few seconds.
"Press any key to boot from the cd"
If you don't press a key it will move on through the list of boot drives and ignore the cd.

It could also be that the cdrom drives have burnt out... OR that you're trying to boot a DVD in a cdrom drive... Several options really to think about...

Best bet is though, utilizing a thumb drive (if the bios supports booting from a USB device) or swapping (temporarily) with a dvd drive that you know works (dvd drives are dirt cheap now adays, and since it'd likely be temporary, size doesn't really matter much).

Another item to check is to be sure the cable is plugged into the drive; I know I've disconnected devices that I've not used, so it's possible that the power/data cable isn't connected to the drive...

No it doesn't recognize the USB CDrom I have... and they don't have internal ones... I have a lot of knowledge on computers but trying to get it to recognize that a CDrom is attached is actually the issue... the one that has an internal drive is already up and working... the others, well I need to figure out how to get them to read the CDrom... I may have to go and find a floppy disk to load the CDrom driver on and go that route... I will try a flash drive first though.

Dunny

If you find that the usb port works at all.
Then I would bet if it is such a older box that the bios does not have a library to support the usb cdrom. The usb drivers on the board may be v1.

Why don't you just swap the internal cdrom from the other box get it up and working and then tinker with what the problem is later.
At least then you can play with it.

Like I was saying, you don't HAVE to permanently install an internal drive... Simply open the case, attach the drive, and leave it hanging out of the system... It'd be a temporary install at best, but it'd likely give you an option...

USB CDROM!

I must have missed that on the first page. Ya, older servers won't like that. And you'll probably find the same with the pen drive too.

I'd go to the closest PC recycling place, buy a $5.00 IDE CDROM, pop open the case, plug it in, and install from that. Even cheaper if you can scavenge one from another computer for a short time.

More than likely these servers were originally imaged or PXE installed, which is why no CDROM drive. Didn't need one.

One my boxes that I build that to not have CD Rom drive to load the OS I hook one up and let it hang out till I am finished then I yank it out and close the case. Problem Solved.

*nods* aye that is what I ended up doing. Worked from there fairly well. Two of them were scsi systems... they aren't very old systems surprisingly. They are dell P4 systems.. I think that the bios is just old like Ruben was saying. I got them up and running now though so we'll see. The max memory I can put into them is about 4gigs total and I still have slots for an extra processor. They aren't fancy by any means but they will do the job for now. Thanks for the feedback

Dunny