Installing Windows Server 2008 on IBM x3250 M3 Server with EFI

Question

I'm hoping this question hasn't been asked before and I've spent the last 3 hours trying to find a solution to this but to no avail.

Also feel free to edit the tags, I'm fairly new to this site.

I have a bootable Windows Server 2008 DVD that I'm trying to install from on our new IBM x3250 M3 server. I've tested on my laptop that the DVD does indeed boot and it works perfectly.

Usually I can troubleshoot these issues but this EFI system is new to me, I'm used to using BIOS.

So here's what I've tried so far

• Set CD/DVD as the first option in Boot Manager (Primary Boot Sequence). This prompts the message Press any key to boot from CD/DVD... but that fails with the message "Boot Failed. CD/DVD Rom"
• Set the Secondary (WOL) Boot Sequence to CD/DVD Rom. I'm not even sure it gets to this step to be honest, Intel Boot Manager kicks in after failing the Primary Boot Sequence.
• Tried Boot From File(EFISECTOR, ...., CD/DVD), selected EFI -> BOOT -> BOOTX64.EFI - A message comes up Press any key to boot from CD/DVD... but that fails too and returns to the previous screen.

I've now run out of ideas and am really keen to get this server up and running. Anyone that has any ideas please share them and I'll give them a crack.

Much appreciated.

Solution 1

I had just a similar problem. You could try IBM Serverguide v8.43. It worked well with SBS 2011 x64.

Solution 2

For the record, I recently had a similar problem with the same model server (x3250 M3), but it was for a custom linux distribution (untangle). I was able to boot from the DVD and begin the installer, but after that the installer was no longer able to access the DVD drive. To complete my installation, I had to then remove the DVD from the drive and insert it into a USB DVD drive that the installer could detect.

Comments

[MrGigu]

When option 1 "fails" what exactly does it fail on? What happens?

[Null]

@Mark: It just says "Boot Failed. CD/DVD Rom"

[MrGigu]

Ah. How... Helpful!

[Null]

@MarkHenderson, yeah tell me about it. It then goes through the rest of the options, i.e. Boot Failed - Floppy Disk, Hard Disk 0 etc..

[Null]

This is what I'm currently researching. Do I download and burn the toolkit .iso to a disk and boot from that first?

[JohannesM]

Yes, exactly. The setup asks for the server 2008 installation disk after the configurations.

[Null]

This worked beautifully :)