[YouWhat]

Looks like I might of spoke too soon (came here before checking emails and server)

Just found out my server been placed in Winrescue mode as it seems to of been doing the same again with this version of windows installed also all night.

[YouWhat]

Hopefully Neil and OVH can help.

I certainly hope so to, but sadly this isnt just a problem with the bios or server, its actually something that is in server 2008 r2, from what i have read on technet forums now, it seems to of been first reported in RC1 of the release and has never to this day been sorted, so if OVH can contact Microsoft on behalf of us to sort a patch out for this problem, then I am sure it would carry alot more weight than just a normal user would.

[turbanator]

Sorry I should probably read more than just the last post before I reply, assuming you haven't already done this as well: it might be worth disabling LargeSystemCache as that has caused my system to crash a few times.

[rickyday]

Theres no problem disabling the write cache on the servers we have, that is simply done via device manager or the way Turbs has posted, the problem is once this is disabled the whole HD locks up freezes etc, you then lose connection to the server etc etc and performance of the HD grinds to a halt making the server totally unusable.

This is almost certainly a bios issue i would suspect.

Sadly I dont want to have to waste a Setup fee and cancel because i cant do such a simple thing as promoting the server to a domain controller.

Hopefully Neil and OVH can help.

[YouWhat]

Yes turbanator we know, this is what is causing the problem, it wont disable which is causing windows server to hang and causes all the problems.

[turbanator]

You can disable Write caching in the disk management section of the Computer Management app on Windows 2003, I assume windows 2008 is more or less the same.

[YouWhat]

I have installed Server 2008 Datacenter for the time being as this is the only way to get active directory working, I will keep lookin into a way to get Server 2008 R2 working, somehow got to disable the disk write cache, which at present is what is causing this problem.

If any of the OVH staff can look into the possibility of disabling the cache in the bios on the servers, or somehow offering a way to disable it as this issue will effect a great number of people who would otherwise just give up and go else where to host as they havent any idea what is wrong, and like me, who been battling through this for so long have finally found the answer to the problem, now if there was just a solution to it then everything would be great!!! (As well as the bandwidth issues getting sorted!!)

[rickyday]

Well ive given up for the minute, whether or not its something major or just a windows update on R2 I havent got the time to investigate it.

Hopefully MS will sort out the problem.

For the moment tho, I have installed the Pre R2 version of Datacenter and all works fine.

[rickyday]

Problem is definitely down to the Disable Write Caching setting that DCPROMO uses during installation

I disabled this manually on the ST1000528AS drive in device manager and the whole HD became unrepsonsive and froze

Do we know which motherboard these severs use?
Would the Intel Chipset download help, upgrading to the latest version?

This problem is very very annoying.

[rickyday]

20 Mins later after running DCPROMO i have lost connectivity to server and cannot reconnect.

There is definitely an incompatability with something somewhere, I have a free support ticket available with a MS Technician so may take advantage of this, unless the problem get solved quicker.

Agreed VERY annoying

RDC client doesnt even tell me it cant connect, its just trying to connect where it would normally give up and give a connection error message, which leads me to think you might be right with a NIC related problem.

Thanks for the links YouWhat ill try those options tomorrow when I finish work.

Im actually more inclined to go with the write caching theory as every task application stops responding during DCPROMO.

[YouWhat]

It works perfectly inside a VM and think I may have the answer to the problem by a friend who pointed me in direction of a couple of posts on technet forums.....

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...d-4e44dfa48f75

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...8-26571f0dad5f

Will be testing this in morning after a couple of hours sleep, but the basics of it boils down to either realtek driver causing problem, or disk cache needs to be disabled.

So will leave it doing a clean install over night and then try again in the morning.

[rickyday]

Well it looks as tho I am going to have to install AD a bit sooner than I thought!

I am attempting to install Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 (X64) and just received the message that I need to join a domain, cannot be install on a standalone server. (How pants is that?)

So installing now, will see how we get on YouWhat

[YouWhat]

Yes, that is my server, was up in WinRescue mode, so just rebooted it back into hd mode as there is absolutley nothing wrong with any of the settings.

I have used the same server, installed VMware Workstation (inside windows server 2008 r2) and VMware server on there, and everything works perfectly using the virtual machines on it. (Install of AD and exchange, and reboots as it should)

I have tried using enterprise edition and datacenter edition also so as to try and eliminate the windows out of the equation, which I have do to an extent which only leaves the hardware as the possible problem?

[rickyday]

My Server is the same as yours and actually located in the exact same rack, This week I will also attempt to install AD, once ive finished fiddling with Hyper-V

I see a server in the rack has gone down again, is that yours?

PS My server is configured with Server 2008 R2 Enterprise for your reference.

[YouWhat]

I am looking to make an automated install using WAIK and then deploy and install this via WinPE as I know that this will work for installing it, but I have never to this day used WAIK (Or if anyone can suggest an easier way to deploy my own disk image, please feel free to let me know how) so it will take a short while for me to get the disk image sorted for this, that way I can eliminate the last bit of software being used as the problem - Windows Server 2008 R2 itself even though the O/S installs and runs perfectly on the other lesser server (C-05G).

[YouWhat]

I have tried again earlier today following these steps :-

1 - Install Server 2008 R2
2 - Configure network card as follows
- IP Address 188.165.207.xxx (xxx replacing my actual IP)
- Subnet Mask - 255.255.255.0
- Default Gateway - 188.165.207.254
- DNS Server - 213.186.33.99

Failback IP's Activated but not added at this point in time.

3 - Configure time zone, keyboard and location to uk/GMT

4 - Change Server name to EX2010

5 - Reboot (Reboot perfectly)

6 - Change Updates setting to automatic including Optional, and run update.

7 - Reboot

8 - Install DNS Role via Server Manager

9 - Install Active Directory - Directory Services via Server Manager

10 - Install Active Directory (DCpromo)
- FQDN youwhat.org of Forest Root(as seen in previous screen grab)
- Minimum Server version of forest functional level and domain functional level set to 2003 (although I have tried every version now)
- File locations and everything else left as default options, and Restore Mode Password set.
11 - Run the installer and wait till its finished and click reboot when requested.

Current server state as write this..

RBX-3
Rack: 41C10
1 server down, 1hour 18min 55sec ago

As you can see, the network settings are all correct, server is updated and everything is done by the book. I have also tried the Forest FQDN as an interneral name (eg youwhat.internal)

Machine specs I will post when server comes back online.

I have tried using the latest drivers for the network card also as well as the stock windows drivers that are installed on install, updated motherboard drivers. There is absolutely nothing wrong with steps and options I have set, yet the server keels over every single time it installs AD and any subsequent reboot once it is installed, which is definately not right.

I have replicated exact same steps for install on C-05G server with no problems at all, even installed Exchange Server on there along with Forefront Security For Exchange 2010 once all the Exchange install is completed. (Yes I do have legitimate serials for the software and they are downloaded straight from Microsofts servers and have been hash checked also as a precaution for any corruption on them in light of the problems I have been having)

There is literally nothing else I can do, and I have even replicated same steps on similar hardware here at home using same software;

Server 2008 R2 (standard edition)
Exchange 2010
Forefront Security for Exchange 2010

Basic Hardware on server (not exactly same though except for the CPU) -

Intel Core 2 - Q8300
4 Gig memory
1 TB (1.5 + 2 TB drives also tried)

Everything works as it should, reboots properly and doesn't die when it is rebooted which leads me to believe there is something wrong with the server which is why this keeps happening whether it bad blocks on hard drive or something else, I dont know. I have tried the rescue mode checks, and scans using chkdsk via WinPE all of which report nothing is wrong where as something obviously is wrong, esp as the hardware far exceeds the minimum specs required to run the hardware.

[IainK]

Have you added multiple IP addresses to the server? If so did you use the OVH method of adding to a loopback adaptor?

If so then that's pretty likely to be the network issues you're experiencing. Otherwise feel free to post more information about your network configuration for critique.

[ITEXPERTS]

Your Problem does seem strange.

But AD does not often crash.. most things I have seen is with DNS making AD to crash.

If Neil is saying Network, I guess you need to check it before AD restarts after installation.

[Neil]

Have pinged the server and it was ok this morning, but taken it out of Winrescue mode which the engineers must have left it in, and put it in HD mode and rebooted and now the server has its same problems again.

Have tried updates before and after the AD setup.

I dont think it is anything to do with the AD or windows as when I have done this on other server (C-05G) with exactly same steps, this doesnt have any problems at all, which to me points to something with this server is causing it problems.

*Edit


Have just recieved the email that the host is unreachable via pings to just after posting this.

Hi

Well another intervention was done and it is the same problem, server starts up fine and no error (no check disk or anything like that), seems to be a problem with the network settings:

server login, no ping
reboot the server too
last good configuration
no error, no firewall
server in place for winpe pro repair software by the customer
ping ok, ssh ok

[YouWhat]

Have pinged the server and it was ok this morning, but taken it out of Winrescue mode which the engineers must have left it in, and put it in HD mode and rebooted and now the server has its same problems again.

Have tried updates before and after the AD setup.

I dont think it is anything to do with the AD or windows as when I have done this on other server (C-05G) with exactly same steps, this doesnt have any problems at all, which to me points to something with this server is causing it problems.

*Edit


Have just recieved the email that the host is unreachable via pings to just after posting this.

[Neil]

Have turned montoriing back on, and have reinstalled with standard version of server 2008 R2 and installed AD again with same results...

This time when installing AD I had task-manager open to watch the cpu and memory load, the cpu said it was 0% and memory was using 828mb untill the same point as it always hits then becomes unresponsive.

Sounds like a specific problem with Active Directory, have you reinstalled then run software update then run Active Directory to make it is the latest version?

An intervention was done yesterday and there was no errors, just that the server was not pinging:

Server login, no ping
after a hard reboot same observation
no firewall detects
netboot in rescue for correction by the customer
please check your network settings
ping ok
open ssh

[YouWhat]

Have turned montoriing back on, and have reinstalled with standard version of server 2008 R2 and installed AD again with same results...

This time when installing AD I had task-manager open to watch the cpu and memory load, the cpu said it was 0% and memory was using 828mb untill the same point as it always hits then becomes unresponsive.

[Neil]

Have rebotted it into HD mode over an hour ago, and server still isnt unresposive.

Now it is down to support to try and help sort this as I can do no more with it.

You turned off monitoring on 2010-03-15 at 17:36:13, you need to turn it back on for us to do an intervention. Also I am not sure if Windows Datacentre is really suitable on a Kimsufi Q-1T.

[YouWhat]

Have rebotted it into HD mode over an hour ago, and server still isnt unresposive.

Now it is down to support to try and help sort this as I can do no more with it.

[YouWhat]

Disk sda (931.5 GB)
SMART state: OK
SMART Logs: -

smartctl version 5.38 [i686-pc-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model: ST31000528AS
Serial Number: 9VP4P8J1
Firmware Version: CC38
User Capacity: 1,000,204,886,016 bytes
Device is: Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is: 8
ATA Standard is: ATA-8-ACS revision 4
Local Time is: Thu Mar 18 14:57:57 2010 CET
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x82) Offline data collection activity
was completed without error.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 600) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 1) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 185) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
SCT capabilities: (0x103f) SCT Status supported.
SCT Feature Control supported.
SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000f 108 100 006 Pre-fail Always - 18922998
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0003 095 095 000 Pre-fail Always - 0
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 020 Old_age Always - 52
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 036 Pre-fail Always - 0
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000f 061 060 030 Pre-fail Always - 1387294
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 100
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 097 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 037 020 Old_age Always - 26
183 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
184 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 099 Old_age Always - 0
187 Reported_Uncorrect 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
188 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
189 High_Fly_Writes 0x003a 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 064 063 045 Old_age Always - 36 (Lifetime Min/Max 35/36)
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 036 040 000 Old_age Always - 36 (0 19 0 0)
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x001a 031 019 000 Old_age Always - 18922998
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0010 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
240 Head_Flying_Hours 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 214911573557403
241 Unknown_Attribute 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 360889072
242 Unknown_Attribute 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 102015395

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]


SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

Partitions Start the tests on all partitions * ** Name State Size (% used) File System
sda1 No errors detected Access test * 97.6 GB (12%) ntfs Explore
sda2 No errors detected Access test * 833.8 GB (1%) ntfs Explore

Processors test: Test successfully finished! Start a test
Intel® Core™2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz
2498 MHz

Memory test:

Current limits:
RLIMIT_RSS 0xffffffff
RLIMIT_VMEM 0x10000
Raising limits...
Allocated 3811573760 bytes...trying mlock...success. Starting tests...

Testing 3811569664 bytes at 0x142ae000 (4088 bytes lost to page alignment).

Run 1:
Test 1: Stuck Address: Setting...Passed.
Test 2: Random value: Setting...Testing...Passed.
Test 3: XOR comparison: Setting...Testing...Passed.
Test 4: SUB comparison: Setting...Testing...Passed.
Test 5: MUL comparison: Setting...Testing...Passed.
Test 6: DIV comparison: Setting...Testing...Passed.
Test 7: OR comparison: Setting...Testing...Passed.
Test 8: AND comparison: Setting...Testing...Passed.
Test 9: Sequential Increment: Setting...Testing...Passed.
Test 10: Solid Bits: Setting...Passed.
Test 11: Block Sequential: Setting...Passed.
Test 12: Checkerboard: Setting...Passed.
Test 13: Bit Spread: Setting...Passed.
Test 14: Bit Flip: Setting...Passed.
Test 15: Walking Ones: Setting...Passed.
Test 16: Walking Zeroes: Setting...Passed.
Run 1 completed in 4414 seconds (0 tests showed errors).
munlock'ed memory.
1 runs completed. 0 errors detected. Total runtime: 4414 seconds.

Exiting...

[YouWhat]

Yes neil, I have got it running the hardware tests at moment, the HDD passed, just waiting for the CPU and memory tests to finish at the moment..

Have also booting in via WinPEand ran the chkdsk /F command so as to eliminate the hdd out of the equation on possible problems.

[Neil]

I am also unable to boot using the vKVM, it keeps on failing on me, saying java io errors and network error connection reset.

Think I give up and leave it to support to sort this 1, just hope they dont take to long to look at it...

I see your ticket, and I see the server is in Rescue Mode - are you doing a hardware test? If not then I recommend you do. vKVM may not work as there is issue with it which is discussed in another thread.

[YouWhat]

I am also unable to boot using the vKVM, it keeps on failing on me, saying java io errors and network error connection reset.

Think I give up and leave it to support to sort this 1, just hope they dont take to long to look at it...

[YouWhat]

I was thinking there might be a hardware fault, especially with how long it took to install AD and reboot, I was wondering if the CHKDSK thing had kicked in which is why it was taking so long, but after running windows update, it still did it and hasnt come back up since, it is looking more and more likely I have to agree with you Andy unfortunately.

[Andy]

Perhaps you have a bad hard drive which is slowing it down to a crawl? There is every possibility...

[YouWhat]

Server still hasnt come back up yet!

have had email after trying to hard reboot the server also....

We've received your request concerning hard reboot of
ksxxxxxx.kimsufi.com. The server has been rebooted but it isn't
responding to ping command.

It may be cause by a malfunction of reboot system or a
problem with your machine.
Your server is not monitored (monitoring system is off
because of enabled firewall). Our technicians aren't receiving
warning in case of your server breakdown.

Please ignore this message if the server is working properly.
If it is not the case, please activate monitoring in Manager or
contact our support.

For your information:
- request date: 2010-03-18 10:57:05
- reboot date: 2010-03-18 10:55:25

Time to open a support ticket I think....

** Edit **

Ticket number is 398443 if 1 of the staff here can look into this please?

[YouWhat]

Ok next thing I have noticed and realised now managed to get some sleep...

It has installed and said it has activated using Datacenter Edition using a Standard / Enterprise edition key from my MSDN account...... (I left this in the windows keys when I was messing around testing what keys will work with the system)

I have run windows updates, and now the server is taking forever to reboot again!!

When it reboots I will change the key to the Datacenter edition key I just got from my SPLA account.

[YouWhat]

It took over 90 minutes to install AD on server, where the C-05G completes it in 18 minutes.

And to update on datacenter edition, although it took leaving it over night to sort itself out, it has installed and booted up with AD installed properly!

I still cannot understand though why this server takes so long to install and do things when it has quad core cpu, yet the celeron is faster at it. Maybe just a case of the tortoise and hare? who knows... but it is working for now, so fingers crossed it will stay that way.

[YouWhat]

The Following guide is what I tried on the C-05G and it worked 1st time, but on the other server, crashes and burns badly...

http://www.igetmail.com/how-to-setup...ange-2010.html

The guide is probably one of the best examples I have read and seen in a long time for step by step instructions and followed the to the letter

[YouWhat]

Configure this server as the first Active Directory domain controller in a new forest.

The new domain name is "youwhat.org". This is also the name of the new forest.

The NetBIOS name of the domain is "YOUWHAT".

Forest Functional Level: Windows Server 2008 R2 <--- (have tried this on 2003 also)

Domain Functional Level: Windows Server 2008 R2 <--- (have tried this on 2003 also)

Site: Default-First-Site-Name

Additional Options:
Read-only domain controller: "No"
Global catalog: Yes
DNS Server: Yes

Create DNS Delegation: No

Database folder: C:\Windows\NTDS
Log file folder: C:\Windows\NTDS
SYSVOL folder: C:\Windows\SYSVOL

The DNS Server service will be installed on this computer.
The DNS Server service will be configured on this computer.
This computer will be configured to use this DNS server as its preferred DNS server.

The password of the new domain Administrator will be the same as the password of the local Administrator of this computer.

======================

That is the pre-install checks from AD install,

Once the DNS Server is installed and the AD install starts (DCPromo) when it always gets to this point, it seems to be the problem on every version of Windows Server 2008 R2 on this server, it also stays on this object install on there until it finishes install, yet the C-05G goes through and lists other things that it is installing.

Configuring the local computer to host Active Directory Services



Also the server become very unresponsive. Have minimized remote desktop to fill this in as it tries to install, when switch back I get the following



As you can see, this is not normal, and the C-05G flies past this without breaking a sweat...., yet it is inferior in resources and hardware in comparison!

[YouWhat]

And yes I have Activated the Administrator account and set a password as AD needs it, and also logged in as administrator and installed AD that way, as well as through the default root account, and still same results.

[YouWhat]

Havent tried going in through vKVM as yet as didnt realise could see the startup on there, thought it was just mounting disk images etc thru it, will try that when this datacenter install fails like the others have and see what that says then.

And yes I have tried running the AD install through the server manager and then running DCPromo (via run command), have also tried installing it without the server manager, just by running the DCPromo command through run.

Unfortunatley except for the vKVM I think i have about exhausted everything to see whats going wrong.

[ITEXPERTS]

You dont have to install DNS first when installing Active Directory, as it will install and configure it during the AD install.

Technically when you let AD do it. It will change it to 127.0.0.1. Check that before rebooting.

When it stops responding after you restart, have you used vKVM to see any errors.

I presume you are using the Add Feature to install Active Directory or Directory services (can't really remember) and then running Dcpromo through run.

[YouWhat]

I am just about to try the same with Datacenter edition installed, as it has just finished its setup, will update when have some results from this version also.

[YouWhat]

Thanks for the quick reply ITEXPERTS

the DNS is installed, and also the network card been configured so that it static IP instead of the DHCP which it is on initial install.

You dont have to install DNS first when installing Active Directory, as it will install and configure it during the AD install.

I have tried installing it both before, and during the AD install, and still the same results, I have been trying this and different ways of doing it for 2 days now.

[ITEXPERTS]

I think you should install and configure DNS first. Might not be accurate here.

When installing Active Directory, It changes your DNS settings. Have you tried using vKVM to check.

[YouWhat]

I been trying to install active directory on Server 2008 R2, but it hangs upon rebooting, I even resorted to trying various different guides etc posted on the net to see f it was just me and the way I was doing it, but even tho the guides took me through various different routes, all destinations seem to reach the same point....

Upon it being installed, the server doesnt appear to boot back up, the ip address doesnt respond to pings, and there isnt alot I can do to revive it. I have even tried installing standard edition and enterprise edition, both with same results,

I have tried the same thing on my C-05G box, and everything works perfectly, and I am now at a complete loss as to what is going on here.

If anybody can shed some light upon this, please do, and I am about wearing hole in my head from scratching it now...

** Edit ***

Forgot to mention, installing active directory (running dcpromo) takes approx 1 hr to complete and I would thought the server had froze if it wasnt for the animation of pen scribbling on book, the C-05G takes approx 15 mins to install and reboot. Server in question is quad core with 4gb mem so shouldn't be taking as long as it does comapred to the which has celeron 2.6ghz and 1 gb mem.

All installs I have done have been from a fresh install (using OVH image and my own key via the manager)