Windows 2000 Advanced Server Won't Work RIght On Dell Dimension 3000

For the Linux-challenged, I can recommend UnknownDeviceIdentifier, which I
stumbled across the other day. You can google for it, like I did.

Just because a device has drivers for Windows 2000 does not mean that the
drivers will install under Windows 2000 Server (any flavor). And vice versa.
The manufacturer of the device (chipset or whatever) tests with a reference
driver, but may choose not to test with a given version of software. In that
case, the Windows INI file (and probably other files in the install) allow for
installation in ONLY the operating systems tested and qualified. Although it
has nothing to do with server operation, one can see this for ones self by
trying to install most of the cheap HP inkjet printer or All-In-One devices on
any Microsoft server platform. HP's software simply won't let it happen,
because someone somewhere in HP decided that these devices were not fit for use
on a server.

The punch line here is that before acquiring hardware, make sure that the
software will work on the hardware acquired. Likewise, before acquiring
software, make sure that the hardware one has will work with the software
acquired. The OP did not do his homework thoroughly enough before acquiring the
hardware.

As for the choice of Dimension 3000s to run as low-end servers, I have no
problem with the idea as long as the business is small, the transaction volume
is low, and the servers probably do not operate 24/7. The hardware in the
Dimension 3000 is reasonable enough. It just needs the right server operating
system... Ben Myers

On Sat, 19 Aug 2006 21:03:37 +0100, Alex Harrington
wrote:

Ben Myers wrote:

But, the server vs desktop market has long been fragmented by Xeon vs regular
Intel processors. Some chipsets simply are not supported on one platform or
amother and you cannot get drivers for that platform because they do not exist.

I agree with you in the main Ben, however most chipset manufacturers
will produce reference drivers for their chipset which OEMs can then go
on to customise. If this SATA controller was ever used in a Windows 2000
PC then there will be a driver somewhere for it that will work on Win2k
server platforms.

It may be a pain to track down, however it is plain wrong to suggest
that since Dell brand this box as a workstation, it cannot be used to
run Windows server platforms as suggested by many people in the thread.

Perhaps the easiest way to track down the driver would be to boot
Knoppix or an Ubuntu live CD and then look at the output of "dmesg". It
should give the OP a rundown of all the hardware detected - and
therefore what chip is running the SATA.

I'd certainly question the choice of machine if the OPs business really
relies on these servers correct operation, however it should not be
impossible.

Cheers

Alex

"Ben Myers" ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net wrote in message
...
For the Linux-challenged, I can recommend UnknownDeviceIdentifier, which I
stumbled across the other day. You can google for it, like I did.

Just because a device has drivers for Windows 2000 does not mean that the
drivers will install under Windows 2000 Server (any flavor). And vice
versa.
The manufacturer of the device (chipset or whatever) tests with a
reference
driver, but may choose not to test with a given version of software. In
that
case, the Windows INI file (and probably other files in the install) allow
for
installation in ONLY the operating systems tested and qualified. Although
it
has nothing to do with server operation, one can see this for ones self by
trying to install most of the cheap HP inkjet printer or All-In-One
devices on
any Microsoft server platform. HP's software simply won't let it happen,
because someone somewhere in HP decided that these devices were not fit
for use
on a server.

The punch line here is that before acquiring hardware, make sure that the
software will work on the hardware acquired. Likewise, before acquiring
software, make sure that the hardware one has will work with the software
acquired. The OP did not do his homework thoroughly enough before
acquiring the
hardware.

As for the choice of Dimension 3000s to run as low-end servers, I have no
problem with the idea as long as the business is small, the transaction
volume
is low, and the servers probably do not operate 24/7. The hardware in
the
Dimension 3000 is reasonable enough. It just needs the right server
operating
system... Ben Myers

I'm not sure where SATA came from in this post, but the 3000 is IDE only.

http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1075974

On Sat, 19 Aug 2006 21:03:37 +0100, Alex Harrington

wrote:

Ben Myers wrote:

But, the server vs desktop market has long been fragmented by Xeon vs
regular
Intel processors. Some chipsets simply are not supported on one
platform or
amother and you cannot get drivers for that platform because they do not
exist.

I agree with you in the main Ben, however most chipset manufacturers
will produce reference drivers for their chipset which OEMs can then go
on to customise. If this SATA controller was ever used in a Windows 2000
PC then there will be a driver somewhere for it that will work on Win2k
server platforms.

It may be a pain to track down, however it is plain wrong to suggest
that since Dell brand this box as a workstation, it cannot be used to
run Windows server platforms as suggested by many people in the thread.

Perhaps the easiest way to track down the driver would be to boot
Knoppix or an Ubuntu live CD and then look at the output of "dmesg". It
should give the OP a rundown of all the hardware detected - and
therefore what chip is running the SATA.

I'd certainly question the choice of machine if the OPs business really
relies on these servers correct operation, however it should not be
impossible.

Cheers

Alex

The OP claims that his systems have SATA drives. Go figure... Ben

On Sat, 19 Aug 2006 20:22:41 -0400, "pen" wrote:


"Ben Myers" ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net wrote in message
.. .
For the Linux-challenged, I can recommend UnknownDeviceIdentifier, which I
stumbled across the other day. You can google for it, like I did.

Just because a device has drivers for Windows 2000 does not mean that the
drivers will install under Windows 2000 Server (any flavor). And vice
versa.
The manufacturer of the device (chipset or whatever) tests with a
reference
driver, but may choose not to test with a given version of software. In
that
case, the Windows INI file (and probably other files in the install) allow
for
installation in ONLY the operating systems tested and qualified. Although
it
has nothing to do with server operation, one can see this for ones self by
trying to install most of the cheap HP inkjet printer or All-In-One
devices on
any Microsoft server platform. HP's software simply won't let it happen,
because someone somewhere in HP decided that these devices were not fit
for use
on a server.

The punch line here is that before acquiring hardware, make sure that the
software will work on the hardware acquired. Likewise, before acquiring
software, make sure that the hardware one has will work with the software
acquired. The OP did not do his homework thoroughly enough before
acquiring the
hardware.

As for the choice of Dimension 3000s to run as low-end servers, I have no
problem with the idea as long as the business is small, the transaction
volume
is low, and the servers probably do not operate 24/7. The hardware in
the
Dimension 3000 is reasonable enough. It just needs the right server
operating
system... Ben Myers

I'm not sure where SATA came from in this post, but the 3000 is IDE only.

http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1075974

On Sat, 19 Aug 2006 21:03:37 +0100, Alex Harrington

wrote:

Ben Myers wrote:

But, the server vs desktop market has long been fragmented by Xeon vs
regular
Intel processors. Some chipsets simply are not supported on one
platform or
amother and you cannot get drivers for that platform because they do not
exist.

I agree with you in the main Ben, however most chipset manufacturers
will produce reference drivers for their chipset which OEMs can then go
on to customise. If this SATA controller was ever used in a Windows 2000
PC then there will be a driver somewhere for it that will work on Win2k
server platforms.

It may be a pain to track down, however it is plain wrong to suggest
that since Dell brand this box as a workstation, it cannot be used to
run Windows server platforms as suggested by many people in the thread.

Perhaps the easiest way to track down the driver would be to boot
Knoppix or an Ubuntu live CD and then look at the output of "dmesg". It
should give the OP a rundown of all the hardware detected - and
therefore what chip is running the SATA.

I'd certainly question the choice of machine if the OPs business really
relies on these servers correct operation, however it should not be
impossible.

Cheers

Alex

Might be the root of the problem -- he didn't even know what he had.

"Ben Myers" ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net wrote in message
...
The OP claims that his systems have SATA drives. Go figure... Ben

On Sat, 19 Aug 2006 20:22:41 -0400, "pen" wrote:


"Ben Myers" ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net wrote in message
. ..
For the Linux-challenged, I can recommend UnknownDeviceIdentifier, which
I
stumbled across the other day. You can google for it, like I did.

Just because a device has drivers for Windows 2000 does not mean that
the
drivers will install under Windows 2000 Server (any flavor). And vice
versa.
The manufacturer of the device (chipset or whatever) tests with a
reference
driver, but may choose not to test with a given version of software. In
that
case, the Windows INI file (and probably other files in the install)
allow
for
installation in ONLY the operating systems tested and qualified.
Although
it
has nothing to do with server operation, one can see this for ones self
by
trying to install most of the cheap HP inkjet printer or All-In-One
devices on
any Microsoft server platform. HP's software simply won't let it
happen,
because someone somewhere in HP decided that these devices were not fit
for use
on a server.

The punch line here is that before acquiring hardware, make sure that
the
software will work on the hardware acquired. Likewise, before
acquiring
software, make sure that the hardware one has will work with the
software
acquired. The OP did not do his homework thoroughly enough before
acquiring the
hardware.

As for the choice of Dimension 3000s to run as low-end servers, I have
no
problem with the idea as long as the business is small, the transaction
volume
is low, and the servers probably do not operate 24/7. The hardware in
the
Dimension 3000 is reasonable enough. It just needs the right server
operating
system... Ben Myers

I'm not sure where SATA came from in this post, but the 3000 is IDE only.

http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1075974

On Sat, 19 Aug 2006 21:03:37 +0100, Alex Harrington

wrote:

Ben Myers wrote:

But, the server vs desktop market has long been fragmented by Xeon vs
regular
Intel processors. Some chipsets simply are not supported on one
platform or
amother and you cannot get drivers for that platform because they do
not
exist.

I agree with you in the main Ben, however most chipset manufacturers
will produce reference drivers for their chipset which OEMs can then go
on to customise. If this SATA controller was ever used in a Windows 2000
PC then there will be a driver somewhere for it that will work on Win2k
server platforms.

It may be a pain to track down, however it is plain wrong to suggest
that since Dell brand this box as a workstation, it cannot be used to
run Windows server platforms as suggested by many people in the thread.

Perhaps the easiest way to track down the driver would be to boot
Knoppix or an Ubuntu live CD and then look at the output of "dmesg". It
should give the OP a rundown of all the hardware detected - and
therefore what chip is running the SATA.

I'd certainly question the choice of machine if the OPs business really
relies on these servers correct operation, however it should not be
impossible.

Cheers

Alex