Trial SSR 2013 Server Edition

[cddefo2]

I'm testing SSR 2013 Server on an HP ML110 G7 with the embedded B110i SATA array controller.  I have 4 Drives installed.  Partitioned into 2 mirrored arrays.  I installed SSR 2013 and did the initial backup and stored the image to the 2nd partition.  All is well.

To test the recovery aspects, I booted with the SSR 2012 Recovery disk.   Once running I load the SATA Array controller driver from a USB stick.  Prior to doing this I don't see any hard drives , only the DVD, USB and SSR 2013 boot partition.   After loading the driver I see a System PArtition and the C: drives from one of the partitions and that is exactly what I should see.   I can't browse to find the recovery image on the 2nd partition.   Not good.

If I go the Utilities, then Partition Table Operations, I can select the 2nd partition drive where the image is stored but can do anything.  It's there and detected here but doesn't do me any good.

It is also detected when I view the SMEDump data file, everything is listed but I can't recover anything this way either.

So, is the this an issue with a Trail version?  Does the Backup need to be on an external drive only?  Is it an issue with the software itself or what?

I can't possibly purchase this product or recommend it to my clients if I can't test out everything for a successful recovery of an server.

Can someone advise me on this issue? 

I attached the SMEDump file.  The partition not showng up when I browse the computer is PhysicalDrive2
 

Thank you,

[cddefo2]

Can anyone from Symantec help here?  How come I can't see the other partition which stores the backup image?

[Dave_H1]

Did you try booting the 64 bit recovery disk in UEFI mode?

There is no limitation in the trial for what you are doing but I 'think' you need UEFI to access a GPT drive that large.

Sorry if I'm mistaken

Dave

[Andreas_Horlach]

I see you marked the thread as Windows Server 2003/2008. The recovery disk is based on Windows 8 / Server 2012 (WinPE 4.0), and requires those drivers when manually adding them. Can you verify you loaded 8 or 2012 drivers from the USB drive for the controllers that aren't seeing the volumes? 

Your testing is limited to the server you took the image of, so this sounds more like a driver issue that being in trial mode. 

[cddefo2]

I did boot from the Recovery Disk, but not sure I understand the UEFI mode you talk about.  I hit F11 for boot options and select from from DVD.  Is this what you are asking?

[cddefo2]

My mistake on the OS version selected.  I am using Server 2012 x64 bit drivers from the USB drive.  So it is not a trial version issue and it must be a driver issue.   Is there a way to load the driver earlier is the boot process? 

[Andreas_Horlach]

You can create a custom boot disk from within the operating system to load the drivers automatically for that particular machine (http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=DOC6256&actp=search&viewlocale=en_US&..., page 41). 

From the recovery disk, you generated the SMEdump. There is also an option to create a PARTINFO.TXT report. Go ahead and do that if the drivers do not appear to load correctly. 

[cddefo2]

I tried the custom boot disk.  It still does not load the drivers correctly.  If I try to recreate another boot disk using the first created disk as the source, when I add the SATA controller drivers it says they are already included on the disk.  Yet it won't load them on boot.   If I manually install the drivers, I can only see the boot drive partition and not the second partition with the backup image.

Tomorrow I will create the PARTINFO.txt report and hope it will tell us something I ran out of time today. 

[cddefo2]

Here is the PARTINFO file.  It doesn't make a whole lot of sense but I see in each partition there seems to be a cryptic error message. 

In Disk 0 it has Invalid.partition.table.error.loading.Operating.system.missing operating.system   and invalid.system.disk   

Disk 1 has Invalid.partition.table.error.loading.Operating.system.missing operating.system  and Disk.read.error. Bootmgr.is.compressed

Disk 2 has similar text as those above.

The system runs and boots just fine.  I'm out of ideas on how to get this recovery solved. 

Thanks.

[Andreas_Horlach]

At the bottom of the partinfo, you can see the drives being reported to SSR by WinPE 4.0, which is what the recovery disk's underlying OS is. Only DISK 0 is being seen. To verify this, go to ANALYZE and open a command prompt. From the command prompt, type DISKPART (Microsoft disk management utility). Once that opens, type LIST DISK. This will show the volumes WinPE is seeing. You need to identify which particular controller the other disks are on and manually load those Windows 8 or Server 2012 drivers too. If this server is certified to work with those 2 operating systems, the drivers should work. 

[cddefo2]

I recreated the diskpart info in the attached file.  I listed Disk and Volume information.

I also can't load the drivers from the custom boot disk and only from my usb thumb drive.  I copied the drivers from the custom boot disk to the USB drive and it says they loaded but still can't see either disk 1 or 2.  Until I load the drivers from the usb drive, I can onlt see disk 1 but never disk 2.

Looking forward to you comments.. Thanks

[Andreas_Horlach · Accepted solution]

Try assiging the partition a drive letter using diskpart. (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766465(v=ws.10).aspx)

For instance:

SELECT DISK 2
SELECT VOLUME X (whatever the volume number is for the 232Gb volume.)
ASSIGN LETTER=G

Once assigned, open the recovery wizard again and see if you can browse to that drive letter and see the recovery points.

[cddefo2]

Thank you, that did it.  It is because the drivers never load from the custom boot disk why neither Drive 1or 2 are visable, right?  If I load the driver manually it doesn't assign a letter to Drive 2.   Is it easily explainable why?

As I said earlier, if I copy the folder created from the custom boot disk to the USB drive and install it manually,  the software displays the drivers were loaded successfully, when in fact they were not.  I must install from the USB drive to see any drives on the system.

I do not want to get off topic on this thread but could you say briefly, the driver creation process when making the custom boot disk had an issue?  I now want to resolve this aspect of the situation in the days ahead.

Thanks again!

[cddefo2]

Andy, I had the time and couldn't wait to see why the drivers from the custom boot disk wouldn't load.  I created a new custom disk but to a USB drive this time.  I removed the SATA Controller driver listed in the additional driver window, then added the driver back from my other usb drive.  Created the disk and rebooted.  All drives showed up upon reboot with the Custom Boot USB.

So something was wrong with the Custom Book Disk I created first time.    All is well.

[Andreas_Horlach]

Good news. Thanks for the update.