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Anyone else having problems with DCPromo with Windows 2008 R2 x64? RRS feed

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    I have installed Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 on my test system.  It is a fresh format/install - not an upgrade.   It is running on a Core 2 3GHz with 4 GB of RAM and a 500 GB drive with nothing other than Windows 2008 R2 x64 on it.    Windows installed without any issue whatsoever however I seem to have issues revolving around network functions (not a network driver as I can browse the web without issue).    I've tried running DCPromo without running Windows update and after running Windows update - it fails to work properly either way.

    I tried to open homegroup and I get no repsonse so I went to homegroup troubleshooting and I got a 0x80070057 error.   No big deal I just thought I'd see if it could be part of my Windows 7 homegroup.

    I've assigned the IP4 static address and tried the following with and without IP 6 enabled.

    So I started dcpromo (I've done this on about a dozen 2008 (pre r2) servers before installing any other roles or services and that's when things got interesting.   I wanted to set up new forest and domain  I've set it for 2003 functional level.  It says currently Configuring the local computer to host Active Directory Services.   I realize it said set up can take from a few minutes to several hours but I've never ever seen it take more than 10 minutes to do dcpromo before.   It took over an hour to run DCPromo.    It reboots upon completion and I get the windows startup screen for over 20 minutes with the little bar moving across the bottom.    It finally gets to a black screen with just an arrow cursor, not ctrl alt del or anything else.   After an hour it reboots on its own - never letting me even log in.   Then it goes back to the 20 minute startup before it gets to a black screen with just the cursor pointer - no CTRL alt del - no login.

    Since I waited over an hour for it to boot after it took over an hour to run dcpromo, I've gone a head and tried booting it in safe mode  with networking  - no luck,  safe mode  only - no luck (just hangs on boot - never gets in) and finally directory services repair - no luck.   I've also run memory check - it is fine.

    I've tried reformatting 3 times - each time Windows 7 installs without issue, let's me apply patches without issue but DC Promo hangs on Windows 2008 R2.   I've installed Windows 2003 and 2008 on this same computer without any issue.   2008 R2 is the first server OS that didn't run properly on this computer.
    Saturday, October 24, 2009 2:24 AM

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    I have installed Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 on my test system.  It is a fresh format/install - not an upgrade.   It is running on a Core 2 3GHz with 4 GB of RAM and a 500 GB drive with nothing other than Windows 2008 R2 x64 on it.    Windows installed without any issue whatsoever however I seem to have issues revolving around network functions (not a network driver as I can browse the web without issue).    I've tried running DCPromo without running Windows update and after running Windows update - it fails to work properly either way.

    I tried to open homegroup and I get no repsonse so I went to homegroup troubleshooting and I got a 0x80070057 error.   No big deal I just thought I'd see if it could be part of my Windows 7 homegroup.

    I've assigned the IP4 static address and tried the following with and without IP 6 enabled.

    So I started dcpromo (I've done this on about a dozen 2008 (pre r2) servers before installing any other roles or services and that's when things got interesting.   I wanted to set up new forest and domain  I've set it for 2003 functional level.  It says currently Configuring the local computer to host Active Directory Services.   I realize it said set up can take from a few minutes to several hours but I've never ever seen it take more than 10 minutes to do dcpromo before.   It took over an hour to run DCPromo.    It reboots upon completion and I get the windows startup screen for over 20 minutes with the little bar moving across the bottom.    It finally gets to a black screen with just an arrow cursor, not ctrl alt del or anything else.   After an hour it reboots on its own - never letting me even log in.   Then it goes back to the 20 minute startup before it gets to a black screen with just the cursor pointer - no CTRL alt del - no login.

    Since I waited over an hour for it to boot after it took over an hour to run dcpromo, I've gone a head and tried booting it in safe mode  with networking  - no luck,  safe mode  only - no luck (just hangs on boot - never gets in) and finally directory services repair - no luck.   I've also run memory check - it is fine.

    I've tried reformatting 3 times - each time Windows 7 installs without issue, let's me apply patches without issue but DC Promo hangs on Windows 2008 R2.   I've installed Windows 2003 and 2008 on this same computer without any issue.   2008 R2 is the first server OS that didn't run properly on this computer.

    Have you put Fixed IP Address?
    Please dont Use server name, like wildcards and so on, could be a problem reaching NETBIOS....
    Marco Enxuto, Lisbon, Amadora, Portugal
    Saturday, October 24, 2009 3:20 PM
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    Thanks

    Unless I'm misunderstanding your question, yes - as mentioned - I've tried it with a static IP4 address and IP6 enabled and disabled - same problem either way.
    I'm not sure what you mean by don't use server name.  
    Shouldn't a problem with reaching netbios time out after 15 minutes anyways? 
    Saturday, October 24, 2009 4:42 PM
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    Thanks

    Unless I'm misunderstanding your question, yes - as mentioned - I've tried it with a static IP4 address and IP6 enabled and disabled - same problem either way.
    I'm not sure what you mean by don't use server name.  
    Shouldn't a problem with reaching netbios time out after 15 minutes anyways? 

    Maybe, but i hadnt any problem starting after a fresh install, try it, using in your own PC, using VMware. If you couldnt be successfull, tell me the steps you take before reach DCPROMO
    Marco Enxuto, Lisbon, Amadora, Portugal
    Saturday, October 24, 2009 5:10 PM
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    I'm sure most people aren't having an issue as I can't imagine this would slip by but my guess is that is something to do with compatability with a hardware component of this system even though I've installed the previous version of 2008 many times without issue.

    Fomat drive completely
    Install Windows
    Apply patches
    set ip address
    reboot
    run dcpromo

    I've also tried
    Fomat drive completely
    Install Windows
    Apply patches
    set ip address
    disable IP6
    reboot
    run dcpromo

    I've also tried
    Fomat drive completely
    Install Windows
    Apply patches
    set ip address
    disable IP6
    ad active directory services.
    reboot
    run dcpromo

    I've also tried
    Fomat drive completely
    Install Windows
    Apply patches
    set ip address
    disable IP6
    add active directory services.
    add DNS
    reboot
    run dcpromo

    I've also tried
    Fomat drive completely
    Install Windows
    Apply patches
    set ip address
    disable IP6
    disable nearly every service except security ntfs workstation
    reboot
    run dcpromo

    I've also tried
    Fomat drive completely
    Install Windows
    Apply patches
    set ip address
    disable IP6
    disable the chimney stack
    reboot
    run dcpromo

    I've also tried
    replacing the memory
    Fomat drive completely
    Install Windows
    Apply patches
    set ip address
    disable IP6
    reboot
    run dcpromo

    I've also tried
    Fomat drive completely
    Install Windows
    Apply patches
    install MS Loopback nic
    set ip address
    disable IP6
    disable the onboard nic
    reboot
    run dcpromo

    I've also tried
    Fomat drive completely
    Install Windows
    Apply patches
    set ip address
    disable IP6
    disable nearly every piece of hardware but the main functions in device manager
    reboot
    run dcpromo
    • Edited by boe_d Sunday, October 25, 2009 1:45 PM
    Saturday, October 24, 2009 5:47 PM
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    This does sound strange, whilst I dont have a solution have you thought about using this as a host system for virtual machines. (eg your test R2 DC)

    unless of course this the hardware  also mirrors your production environment.

    What is the hardware vendor, Dell /HP ?
    have you made sure the bios firmware is up to date ?
    Saturday, October 24, 2009 6:13 PM
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    Hello,

    It is not running any virtual systems - it is a straight install of Windows 2008 R2 x 64 standard - direct to the boot drive.

    The firmware is up to date.
    The motherboard is made by Intel.

    I support many clients with many hardware platforms so I can't buy every hardware platform available - I need to find a solution to this issue for any platform although I don't expect it to effect every platform.
    Saturday, October 24, 2009 6:18 PM
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    as an additional note, (which may be obvious) what CPU you are using make sure your CPU will support 64bit as r2 is only 64bit

    Saturday, October 24, 2009 6:20 PM
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    Hello,

    Yes  - I've installed 2008 (previous version to R2) x64 several times.
    Saturday, October 24, 2009 6:27 PM
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    whats the hardware vendor ? have you made sure the bios is upto date, it may seem trivial, but it looks like you have tried everything else
    Saturday, October 24, 2009 6:30 PM
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    It is an INTEL manufactured system.  The bios is the latest available from INTEL.   I can run Windows 7 without issue on the same system including Virtual XP mode.
    Saturday, October 24, 2009 6:39 PM
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    Thanks - I did install Windows 2008 R2 x64 in Hyper V  on the same machine running Windows 2008 R2 x64 on the physical server (without running DCPROMO).     DCPROMO on the virtual system ran very quickly - about 1 minute.   So I'm trying to figure out what hardware it doesn't like.    It also rebooted the virtual system very quickly.

    I tried installing the latest network driver just in case direct from Intel on the physical server before running DCPromo on the non -virtual OS and it still hung.   I also tried disabling the onboard card and running it on a loopback adapter - still hung.

    Saturday, October 24, 2009 8:33 PM
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    I am having the exact same issue: a Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 clean install that takes forever to run dcpromo and hangs on reboot after the dcpromo (hangs at the little bar moving across the bottom).  If I let the reboot run long enough I also get a black screen with just an arrow cursor (ctrl alt del, nothing changes that screen state).

    The system runs Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 just fine...networking is not an issue and joining a domain works just fine.

    However, when I try to install active directory and then run dcpromo to promote the machine to a domain controller, the problem (as I've described and as the OP described in detail) surfaces.  A dead machine results.

    I've re-installed from scratch 3 times, and always gotten the same result.

    The machine has a static IPv4 address.
    The machine is joining a very small domain hosted by a single Windows 2003 server.
    The Windows 2003 domain has been treated with "adprep32 /forestprep" and "adprep32 /domainprep /gpprep"
    The Windows 2003 domain server is also the DNS server for the domain.

    Tuesday, November 17, 2009 7:51 AM
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    The symptoms seem pretty similar to a discussion at http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/windowsserver2008r2general/thread/d25a73a1-b1e1-40b3-9528-46a26cf5d55e

    The solution, at least for one person, was related to disabling write caching on the driver storing the active directory data files.
    Tuesday, November 17, 2009 8:19 AM
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    Ok, after re-installing Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 (clean install) three times and then installing active directory with a dcpromo that resulted in a dead system all three times (see previous posts), I finally got a working system (a server 2008 R2 that dcpromo'ed without resulting in a hung system).

    The only things I did different were:
    1)  I installed the latest Realtek networking interface drivers prior to installing active directory. (Windows 7 driver dated 8/20/2009).
    2)  Prior to running dcpromo, I disabled IPv6 on the network interface.
    3)  During dcpromo I specified that the AD data files should be placed on a different drive than boot drive (c:\).  This 2nd drive was previously configured in device manager to turn off write caching for the drive.

    I'm not sure which of the three changes fixed the issue, but I'm leaning towards the realtek drivers.
    • Proposed as answer by ls01c Thursday, November 26, 2009 7:44 AM
    Tuesday, November 17, 2009 9:39 AM
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    After further testing, in this case it was the "disable write caching" issue.  I believe dcpromo turns off write caching on the drive where the AD data files are stored.  With some hardware combinations, attempting to disable the write cache on a drive can hang the system.  In my case, an AMD 790GX chipset motherboard (SB750? southbridge) and an older WD 120GB SATA drive, attempting to disable the write cache on the boot drive (drive c:), causes the system to hang.

    If your dcpromo problems sound similar to this thread, it's easy to test: before bothering with a dcpromo, try disabling the write cache on the drive where you plan to store the AD data files. (Use device manager.)  If it hangs there, dcpromo will probably hang.

    • Proposed as answer by Big Joe Smith Thursday, November 26, 2009 7:48 AM
    Thursday, November 19, 2009 7:56 AM
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    boe_d, did the solution provided by Big Joe Smith able to solve your problem?

    i found you have another thread http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverDS/thread/1b112768-9089-4001-a9b5-d7fe7d319640 with the same problem.

    hope that Joe's solution can solve your problem.
    Thursday, November 26, 2009 7:49 AM
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    Hello,

    No, it didn't solve the problem.   After countless reinstalls, mods, tweaks and about 20 hours of my time I gave up.   I figure I won't have this issue on a dell server which is what I always use for production environments as too many other people would have had the same problem.   Since this was a PC I can live with it.  I installed 2008R2 x 64 on the PC.  Then I installed a hyper-v copy of 2008 R2 x 64 on the same PC.   On the Hyper-V session I was able to run DCPromo even though I couldn't on the physical session.   My guess is that 2008R2 just doesn't like the hardware since it can be promoted in the virtual session.

    Thursday, November 26, 2009 2:40 PM
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    boe_d: Just to clarify, can you successfully disable the write cache on the drive where you are trying to store the AD database?  You can quickly test this by using the device manager and attempting to disable the write cache.  It should take only a second to complete the command; if it takes a long time, then dcpromo will also hang.  Or if the system reports back that it can not disable the write cache, then that will cause problems too (dcpromo will complete after a long long time, and the system will work, but boot times are half an hour or so as the system gets hung for a while trying to boot).
    Thursday, November 26, 2009 6:00 PM
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    Yes, I did try this along with many many other things - all detailed in the Windows server newsgroup.  I also tried disabling most of my hardware - still couldn't figure it out.  My best guess is that it is something on the motherboard I couldn't (or didn't try to disable) or the core 2 processor.

    Thursday, November 26, 2009 6:21 PM
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    hi there, anyone else in this forum also facing the same problem described?
    please share it with here.
    thank you.
    Saturday, November 28, 2009 4:21 PM
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    In my view, this indicates a problem with how Windows Server 2008 handles disabling the write cache on SATA/IDE drives. Different drives/controllers behave differently, but in no case should attempting to disable the write cache cause the system to hang.

    Saturday, November 28, 2009 9:20 PM
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    I have the same exact issues. I also have an Intel MOBO. It took about an 1 or 2 for DCPromo to finish. Also on the reboot it took about 20 minutes or better to get me to the login screen. This happens everytime I reboot my system. So I will be looking for a solution and if I find one, I will post it.

    Specs: Intel i7 920 OC 3.8 Ghz
               WD V-Raptor 300 GBs Single drive
               Inel DXSO58 MOBO
              
               
    Sunday, January 31, 2010 11:27 AM
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    Did you try disabling the write cache on the drive before running DCPromo?  For me, that's a good test.  If disabling the write cache hangs, then DCPromo will hang (take a very long time (hours?) to finish), and once complete, everytime you reboot the Server 2008R2 machine, it will take a long time (about half an hour) to get to the login screen.  If you find a controller/hard drive combination that does not hang when you disable the write cache, then that combination will work for DCPromo.
    Sunday, January 31, 2010 6:03 PM
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    Dpromo hanging on 2008 R2 (64bit) was driving me insane.

    Thank you all so much. Disabling the write cache not working was the problem.

    On my AMD motherboard I have put the SATA controller into ACHI mode (instead of IDE mode)

    and now (after fresh install of server 2008 R2 64bit ) disabling write caching works.

    And dcpromo doesnt hang and  . . .. roberts your mothers brother.

    thanks again !

    You have made my bank holiday Monday !

    Monday, May 31, 2010 4:51 PM
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    Restating what I discovered previously: Windows Server wants to disable the disk write cache on the disk drive that stores the active directory (probably for data integrity reasons).  So one of the things that DCPromo does is to disable the write cache.  So a good test to see if DCPromo will hang is to first, before running DCPromo, just try disabling the write cache on the drive that will hold the active directory.  If you have a controller/hard drive combination that hangs when you disable the write cache, then DCPromo will probably hang.   I'm glad that you were able to put your SATA controller into a mode (ACHI) that didn't hang when the write cache was disabled.

    Monday, May 31, 2010 5:06 PM
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    Same prob. DCPromo killed the new 2008R2 server. After aeons, reboots to live cursor, black screen, and nothing else at all. After restoring it (& huge time spent eg at the time, couldnt find a thread with a fix), disabled Write Cache on a second drive and pointed AD at that. DCPromo then succeeded.

    ASUS P5QPL-AM mobo. C: Seagate ST3500418AS. Second drive Seagate ST31000528AS.

    Note that I could disable Write Cache on both drives with no hang or apparent consequences. But with it enabled on the ST3500418AS, DCPromo is fatal.

    I suspect I just had to manually disable Write Cache on the C: drive.

     

     

    Wednesday, June 30, 2010 2:36 AM