Windows #002: Smart Setup Guide

Preparing for installation

Preparing the server hardware

Chapter 2

Preparing the server hardware

To set up the server hardware for OS installation, set up the boot drive, set up the

CD/DVD drive, and—if the server is cell-based—verify that the ACPI boot option is set to

windows.

Set up the boot drive

The operating system installs through the boot controller detected as adapter zero to the

drive detected as drive zero.

CAUTION If you do not disconnect all other drives, the OS may install to an unintended drive.

To set up the boot drive:

Step 1. Power down the server.

Step 2. Make a note listing all device connections so you can reconnect them after installation

completes.

Step 3. Disconnect all mass storage devices from all controllers except the boot controller.

Step 4. Configure the boot controller and boot drive.

NOTE If you are using a RAID controller, prepare the controller and select the RAID type

according to instructions in the RAID controller documentation.

If you are using a Storage Area Network (SAN), see the Boot from SAN Application Note

on the HP Smart Setup media.

Locate the DVD/CD drive

When hardware (for example, HDD, USB device, DVD-ROM drive) is added to a system

after it has booted to EFI, the EFI shell environment does not automatically detect the

new device. You must reconnect the device driver for the EFI shell to recognize the

device.

Also, the EFI shell environment creates default mappings for all the device handles that

support a recognized file system. After you change the system configuration or add a new

device, you must regenerate these mappings.

To enable the EFI shell to detect and and access the DVD/CD drive:

Step 1. From the EFI shell, type reconnect –r.

The reconnect command reconnects one or more drivers from a device, disconnecting all

the drivers from all the devices and then reconnecting them. If a device handle is not

specified, the reconnect operation is performed on all the handles in the system. If a

device handle is specified, only device handle and the devices below it are reconnected.

Step 2. From the EFI shell, type map -r.

The -r option regenerates all the mappings in a system. EFI shell displays the device

mapping table, as follows.