Server Installation Error message: (NO HDD FOUND)

Dear Reader, 

Having setup and installed Servers for most of our clients all over Liberia such as, Water Aid- Liberia, Populations Services International-Liberia, Tetra-Tech ARD, Equatorial Palm Oil etc. on numerous occasions without any headache, last month January 20, Saturday morning was an experience a System Administrator wouldn’t want to miss or get to the bottom of.

An order arrived in our office by DHL that morning for a customer named Master Trading dealer in auto mechanic and spare parts located on the same street we are located.  An instruction was given to us from our Head of Operations to unpack and set up the server for installation at the client site.

As techies, my colleague and I removed the item out of the box (HP ProLiant 360 dl 360 Server G8, 1x4 TB HDD, 16GB RAM, Intel/Dual Processor and a RAID Array System already installed.

The power cord of the server was plug into the electrical outlet and to the power port of the Server. It booted up smoothly showing no operating system installed. I quickly arranged my Windows Server 2008 R2 software disc and inserted it into the CD ROM of the server, and booted from CD in the boot setting. It started up well where I could select the edition of Windows (Server 2008 64bits Standard Edition). In the process of installing, the software should detect each of the 1TB in total of 4 drives in other to select which one the OS is to be installed on, but in the process, it displayed the error message on the screen shown below:

I tried several times of installing the OS using different CDs and bootable USB drive, but the problem persisted. I did many online research on the error message but couldn’t find a suitable solution. All I could see from other websites was to download and update some device drivers which I did download but that didn’t work as well.

This drew my colleague, Farman Elahi attention after verifying that all the hard drives installed were brand new and reading from our HDD tester. He entered into the BIOS and System setting from one option to another until he found ‘’Enable RAID ARRAY’’ and then he hit enter. The option was enabled, and the system prompted a restart. Because the Server was running a RAID security, all HDD would show invisible until they were enabled.

 During this restart all the 4TB hard drives read and an option to select which drive to install the OS was shown. Many thanks to Mr. Farman my colleague who came in during the middle of my server installation nightmare. As a team, together everyone accomplishes a mission. The software installed successfully enabling me to complete the below necessary configurations.

1.    Connect to mains and network switch – allow for a network cable.

2.    Install Windows Server 2008 R2Standard Edition and Server name Administrator

3.    Configure server with static IP address.

4.    Run DCPromo.exe and install basic domain

5.    Configure DNS on the server – set it up with forwarder details of local ISP’s DNS or Google 8.8.8.8

6.   I set the local DNS of the Server to point to its own IP address and not the ISP or Google’s.

7.   Add all workstations to the domain and create usernames and password for users,

8.   Copy existing profiles into the new domain profile.

9.   Users are set to local administrators for their workstations.

10.   Set up network share for HP and Dell printer and, a folder. (username: admin PW: *****)

11.   Test connectivity of all workstations to share.

12.   Set up router to allow connection to the server via the internet for support purposes – Port  redirection (3389) to the server IP address.

       13.   Installed TeamViewer Host 10 on the server for outside support or remote login

A week later, the customer requested a remote desktop connection configured on the server. In the server manager, I installed the remote desktop feature. Got back to the user’s laptop, entered username and password an error message pop up! “cannot connect remote desktop, you must add the user in the group manually or use terminal service” In resolving this I click on “Start”, right click on Computer and click ‘’Properties”. Click on add users. Like for the client I created a login credential in the Active Directory called ‘Admin’ so when I click on ‘Add’ I selected Admin, click Apply and Ok. Restarted the server and all was okay with the end-user. Thanks to my colleague Farman who helped me cross the first level of all these configurations.

by Daniel Collins

LIBERIA AGRICULTURE COMPANY HP PROLAINT 360 G8 SERVER NOT BOOTING

Dear reader,

NATC has proven to be the one stop IT solution center. We are continuing to deliver customers satisfaction like no one does and through this means we are adding new clients based on customers’ recommendations. We recently provided tech support to the second largest rubber plantation in Liberia: The Liberia Agriculture Company (LAC) in Grand Bass County. 

On the 29^th of September, our Head of Operations received a call from the General Manager of LAC to report a failure in powering on their data server HP ProLiant 360p Gen8, running Windows Server 2008 Data Center. The in-house IT officers assumed a power surge caused by a the lightning strike had damaged the server. A team of two senior staff, Hardware Specialist Farman Elahi and myself Daniel Collins, Software and Network Administrator, were dispatched with a new 460w power supply unit and software for troubleshooting incase the problem could be power supply replacement. We arrived the same day at around 5:00 O’clock PM due to the bumpy road condition.

The LAC IT team welcomed us and we were introduced to all the senior management staff. We provided an overview of our company and ourselves. They later took us to their staff canteen for snacks and fresh air after a long day of driving. After lunch, we proceed to the server room and started our work. We checked the two power supplies and they were all working well, but the server was still not powering on. We carefully started a one-on-one check of all the ICs and MOPET ICs as well then found out they were lot of damaged ones on the motherboard that prevented power or current to flow from the power supply to these components to power on the server. That took us up to 11:55PM. We could not work on repairs on the motherboard on site so decided to inform the client to take the server to our lab in Monrovia. The next morning we had a short meeting with the senior management and the IT officers. As technical as the other guys were, they agreed to our request and gave us a go-ahead. Before leaving we inspected the electrical grounding system and lightning arrestor. We noticed that lightning arrestor and grounding of the equipment was not properly done.

We arrived with the server late on a Saturday evening back to Monrovia along with the In-house IT Head. We could not do anything as it was close of office hours. Early Monday morning we were able to thoroughly check the server's motherboard in our lab with our tools and equipment and concluded that it would be difficult to do any professional or guaranteed repairs on the motherboard as there was so much damage. These diagnostics were done in the midst of their IT officer so he understood exactly our next step on replace the motherboard.

The information was shared with LAC General Manager and we were given the green light to order a new motherboard with same part number from our USA partner and prepare material for the installation of the lightning arrestor and grounding. The order was placed the same day and expected an arrival over the weekend. 

It arrived on the 6^th of October. I received a WhatsApp message from our Head of Operations about the arriver of the said item. I got prepared for the next morning's trip to Grand Bassa.    I was picked up from my Junction with the team including our Head of Operations that Saturday morning and arrived at noon and immediately starting on replacing the motherboard. The important parts such as Network Interface Card, Power Supplies, Heat Sink and RAID Array Card were extracted from the old Motherboard and inserted on the new Motherboard to secure the existing configurations and data files. 

The Server was powered on and came on initially with ‘’Power Supply Mismatch’’ error. I was like gosh!!!!! Another problem again? But you know, there’s always a solution especially when it comes to IT; either repair or replace in this scenario. A critical thinking was done quickly and decided to remove the redundant power supply unit and left the server one supply. It boots up successfully with all configurations and data in place. We contacted their Home office to login remotely from Switzerland to confirm it everything was ok from their side, too. He then confirms ‘’Yes’’. 

He suggested that we do a backup immediately on a 4TB external hard drive. After completion of the Server, we had a good lunch and proceeded back to site to continue the installation of the new lightning arrestor. 

Installation of the pipe.

The Company provided us few men to help with digging of 5’ deep pit and prefabricated 30’galvanized pipe to weld the lightning arrestor on top of the pipe securely and planted into the pit and filled with concrete mixture. The tower was secured with 3 cable attached to the ground. 3 more pits were dug and 3x5’ x 37.5mm thick copper rods were inserted into these pits and connected the lightning arrestor with a 25mm on insulated cable. The resistance test was 0.3 Ohm, this was a good value.  

These pits were filled with fertile soil. The old arrestor was reading 0.0 Ohm. They understood that the old one was not working and should not be relied on. We also installed a 10000VA Voltage Stabilizer and instructed their in-house electrician on how to connect the server rack and other IT equipment due the time as we did not plan to sleep on site. They have confirmed that it is connected and working well.

The customer was very excited with our quick intervention and solution. Other vendors had advised that they should replace the server and by replacing the server they would have lost all data because the hard drives were configured with RAID protection. These drives cannot be read in any servers or backup equipment.

NATC always provides the best solution for its clients/customers that why that’s why we remain the one stop IT solution company in Liberia running for years with experience management and staff.

Thanks for following our technical blogs and hope you enjoy reading!

Prepared By:

Daniel Collins

Senior IT Technician

Afriland Bank server installation

We supplied an HP ProLiant Server for one of our clients, Afriland First Bank Liberia. In a few days the, the client request that we (NATC) come over and do the installation of the software (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard). I arranged my software quickly and stop by at the bank. My arrival was announced to the IT department but unfortunately, the IT Manager had left the bank. He instructed that I deliver the software (OS) to any of his colleagues of his department. The next day on my way to work I got a call from my boss saying ‘’ Daniel, the bank have some issues with the installation of the server operating system (OS). You need to pass by and see what’s the problem is and have it resolved as soon as possible!’’ He also shared the error message with me on our WhatsApp channel, as it is one of the easier and smooth ways the team works and communicate with each other these days, very interesting!

Well, below was the error message of the server shown during shutdown. This error does not occur on a “warm” restart of the server. It only occurs during shutdown. I quickly continue my journey to my office, downloaded the needful, went back to client site, and updated the firmware in resolving the problem.

If you may have experience such problem after installation of Microsoft Windows Server 2008R2 Standard in your server environment, there’s no need changing your OS/ operating system  or server brand. A firmware upgrade is required. Download the firmware of the exact brand and OS to save yourself the stress by clicking the link below.

http://h20564.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?swItemId=MTX_1786e42281714355bf56d35961#tab-history

Prepared by:

Daniel W. Collins

Senior IT Technician

New Africa Technology Company (NATC)