Need server help......

I am building a home file sever and I need a little help.

I have a basic box (Compaq D5M, Pentium 4, 768 RAM,) ....this was a left over unit from work that I am starting to configure.
I took out the HD and replaced with (2) WD 80GB ATA hard drives that I am going to use RAID 1 on.
I also purchased a new SIIM IDE HD Controller Card that I'm using for that purpose.

I have the Windows Server 2003 Disk that I put in and for some reason it won't install the OS.

Now... I believe this is due to my hook-up of the HD's to the PCI Controller. I made the first drive the master and the second the slave and hooked them together. I have a driver disk for the PCI card that I need to install after the OS is installed.
Can I install the OS with both drives "daisy chained" together? Once I get the OS installed, I should be good.....but ya never know.

I would appreciate any help getting pointed in the right direction on this.

thanks...

dogg

 

Heh, how can you install an OS to the HDDs on the card if you intend to install the drivers for the card AFTER the OS is installed?

What you need to do is boot from your CD, start setup, and when prompted, hit F6 to install 3rd party drivers. Then you can install the drivers for the PCI card, and continue with your installation to these drives!

 

Not sure I follow.....I installed the drives.....made one the master and the other the slave. Installed the PCI Controller card and hooked it up like it said to. When I pop in the CD at start-up, it does not run the windows set up....it gives me an error.
My connections are as follows;
Drive 1 - (master) short end of IDE cable
Drive 2 - (slave) next connector on IDE cable

this cable is connected to the 1st slot on the controller.
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/9882/15150022013eh.jpg

Should I install the OS on 1 HD and then install the card and other HD?

Sorry if these are stupid questions........I'm not so savvy on harware yet.

 

Okay, I neglected the possibility that you might be using a separate boot drive...is that the case, or do you want to boot from the raid drives?

If it is the latter, then we'll have to get Windows setup working for you. What error are you getting?

 

This procedure SHOULD get setup working for you:

1. Configure BIOS to boot from CD
- Power on the system
- Hit the key to enter setup/BIOS (usually F1, or delete, but the screen will say)
- Under boot sequence/order/priority (or similar) set the CDROM to the top
2. Insert your installation disc
3. Restart the system
4. When prompted, press any key to boot from CD.

This should take you into setup. It will analyze your hardware, then prompt you to hit F6 to install 3rd party drivers. At thias point we will install the drivers for your RAID controller, so that setup can recognize your HDDs and install the OS on them.

 

I wanted to boot from the CD-ROM.....both drives are new and contain no data.

The error I get is;
media test failure, check cable
Exiting Intel PXE ROM

then goes to this;
non system disk or disk error
replace and strike any key when ready.

The drives are new, so I doubt they are bad.....

Any ideas?

EDIT.....just read your reply..... I will try that again......maybe I missed something. I went into the set up before and made sure the boot order was for the CD ROM.

 

well.....I took out the card and connected just one hd to the MB and tried to boot from CD...no luck...same error.
Tried the other HD in the same manner....same error.
swapped out the CD Rom for another one...DVD ROM I believe....same error.

took out the CD and put it in this machine and it booted.

I'm stumped. This hardware should be compatable with this system......