Unable to install Windows 2012 after using diskpart.exe

[crackerstastic]

Hello,

I am having an issue installing Windows Server 2012 R2 on a pair of 3TB drives in RAID-1. Here's what is happening:

I started installing the server on a fresh pair of 3TB drives. The drives are connected to a StarTech PEXSAT34RH PCI-E RAID controller card and setup in a RAID-1 array. When the setup wizard got to the part where I select a disk to install on, I told it to create a new partition and use the maximum space. As soon as it did I realized I forgot to initialize the disk as GPT. The first partition was at around 2TB and the remainder was leftover as unallocated.

I back out of the installer and into a command prompt. I used diskpart and ran the following commands:

select disk 0
clean
create partition primary
assign

This created a GPT for me and utilized the entire disk space. I go back into Windows setup and now I get prompted that a needed driver is missing. I figure it was complaining about the RAID card driver. So I go and get that from the manufacturer website, load it on to a USB drive, pop it into the server and load it. The driver appears to load, but the drive still don't show up.

I try giving windows everything I can think of and I can get the software to recognize my drives again. I have tried converting back to MBR, running the clean command to wipe out the partitions in general. I tried breaking the mirror and setting it up again. I even tried plugging the drives straight into the Mobo and creating the RAID array that way. In every case Windows complains that it needs a media driver and everything I give it doesn't do anything for me.

Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this? I'm guessing I did something wrong in diskpart. I've used it before in the past to make up partitions and whatnot, but this is the first time I had to work with a GPT due to disk size. At this point I could care less if I get a GPT out of it, so long as I can get the server to recognize the drive again works for me.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[junkeymonkey]

what motherboard is this??

 

[crackerstastic]

It is a Supermicro X10SLL-F

 

[junkeymonkey]

that's good lots of non server boards now don't support windows server so I had to ask

some times raid can be a pain I found just reset the bios and start over fresh to be sure something was not missed in the raid set up seemed one of the last raid setups I done took me like 6 trys to boot it and did not see where the 6th try was any different then the first [go figure] sit down cool off re think and retry

wish I could help you more .. good luck

 

[crackerstastic]

Well, as stupid as this sounds, I used a different install disk and it installed on one server and I have it installing on my second one as I type this. I did end up resetting BIOS, but that had no effect. I also managed to create a GPT partition, however Windows informed me that it had no interest in installing to that type of partition.....so I stuck with good 'ol MBR.

Still don't know what the difference in install disks would have been. The first one started fine.....

Anyway, problem solved. Thanks for the help.

 

[junkeymonkey]

well sometimes you just got to step back and take a minute regroup then restart glad it going for you good luck