Delving into the We Got Served Wiki again, we find a new How To guide, written by Gamer (a stalwart of the WGS forums) providing a full walkthrough on how to create your own slipstreamed Windows Home Server installation DVD or USB drive. Over to Gamer for the low-down:
One of the problems with installing Windows Home Server on a self-built machine is the lack of in-box driver support for many components – this can often lead to BSODs if those drivers aren’t copied to the correct location by the installer. I’ve had my part of frustrations and dispair too with this problem.That’s whyI’ve been working on a slipstream tutorial for Windows Home Server – the objective being to create a new Windows Home Server installation DVD which has your hardware’s drivers in the correct place for a seamless (and indeed unattended) installation.
I wrote this tutorial especially for beginners, so that they can build, and more importantly, install their own slipstreamed Windows Home Server. Making a slipstreamed Windows isn’t as hard is it used to be. Looking at the finished tutorial it looks like a lot of work, but it really isn’t! Personally I think it will save you time if you ever need to re-install your server and best if all it does what it should do: an UNATTENDED install.
What You Will Need
Optional:
- ISO burning software like ImgBurn (Freeware).
- Nero Burning ROM or the 15 days TRIAL version and a CD boot image for making the DVD bootable.
- a USB Stick to install WHS from.
Setting Things Up
First of all, I recommend you follow this guide EXACTLY to the letter so there won’t be any misunderstandings. You should read through the tutorial entirely before starting and familiarize yourself with the process. Once you have started, I strongly recommend NOT TO READ OR JUMP AHEAD! You’ll lose focus on the things at hand and surely screw things up. It’s really not that difficult, maybe a bit complicated at times, but if you stay focused on the steps and pictures you’ll eventually get there. For people who have experience with slipstreaming Windows this shouldn’t be too hard. This guide is aimed at people who have never done a slipstream before.
- Create a folder called WORK on your C:\ drive. This is our work area.
- Copy your DOS drivers folder into C:\WORK, and rename it to DOS.
- Make a folder in WORK called WIM, and copy the file cdrom:\SOURCES\BOOT.WIM from your WHS Disc to the root of C:\WORK
- Make another folder in C:\ called FINAL and copy the CONTENTS of the folder cdrom:\SRV_2003 to C:\FINAL. This is going to be the new WHS installer, replacing your old WHS DVD.
- Download the Windows AIK and burn the ISO or mount it with your Virtual Drive.
- Insert the burned CD-ROM and you should now see the Welcome to Windows Automated Installation Kit window appear. If autorun is turned off then navigate to the CD and execute STARTCD.EXE
- Select Windows AIK Setup and change the install dir to C:\WORK\AIK.
- Download GImageX and extract it to C:\Work. The extracted file makes a folder called Install. Rename that to GImageX to keep things clear.
- Download the Self-extracting archive of nLite and install it to C:\WORK\nLite.
Now, we’re halfway there. That wasn’t hard at all. Right? Check the pictures below to see if everything is the same.
Pic 1: WORK
Pic 2: FINAL
Slipstreaming
Part 1: WinPE
Make a note of the size of boot.wim (located in your C:\WORK) and follow the steps below:
- Execute GImageX by navigating to C:\WORK\GImageX, then select your version (x86 is for 32 bit systems, and x64 for, well, 64 bit systems
) - Select the Tab Mount.
- Mount Point: C:\WORK\WIM
- Source: C:\WORK\boot.wim
- Turn on Read and Write and click on the Mount button.
- Open up My Computer and navigate to C:\WORK\WIM. You will see the following folders: Program Files, ProgramData, Users & Windows (See Picture 1)
- Open up a Command Prompt (for Vista: Right click -> Run as Admin) and type (or copy & paste) in the following: cd C:\WORK\AIK\Tools\PETools\ <press enter> then peimg.exe /inf=c:\WORK\DOS\*.inf C:\WORK\WIM\Windows <press enter> (See picture 2)
- Go back to GImageX. Select the Mount Point, select Commit Changes and press the Unmount button. If it was successful, you will see a new window popping up with the text: Committing changes and unmounting image…please wait… Image unmounted successfully.(See picture 3)
- Close GImageX and the Command Prompt. Open My Computer again and navigate to: C:\WORK. Notice the boot.wim size. If the size has grown then the drivers are included.
- Copy the altered boot.wim file to a safe place!
Pic 1: WIM
Pic 2: Command Prompt
Pic 3: GImageX
We’re done with the first part of this slipstream.
Part 2: SVR_2003
OK, if you thought that was easy enough, then this is going to be a walk in the park. Seriously! Get yourself some coffee or a coke, stay away from the beer! We need to be focused on things to come. :)
- Start nLite (C:\WORK\nLite\nLite.exe) and select the C:\FINAL folder. You’ll see some info about Windows 2003 SBS Server. (See Picture 1)
- Press Next. We don’t have any presets, so we press Next again.
- Now we’re in the Task Selection. Press the Drivers button and press Next.
- In the Drivers section we click on Insert and select Multiple Driver Folder.
- Navigate to C:\WORK\DOS, press OK, press All, press OK again.(See Picture 2)
- Make sure the Mode: Textmode Driver is selected. Click on one of the drivers, as you can see it turns blue. Now press CONTROL+A to select them all and click OK. (See picture 3)
- We’re back in the Drivers section again, seeing a few drivers. Press Next.
- Now we’re asked to start the Process, press HELL YEAH! ….erm, I mean YES :)
Now that this is done you’ll see some info in nLite. My total size is now 584.35 MB, Integrated Drivers: 0.17 MB and the installation grew by 0.55 MB. Press Next and Finish. We’re done with Part 2!
Pic 1: nLlite
Pic 2: nLite Drivers Integration
Pic 3:nLite Drivers Selection
Pic 4:FINAL+SRV_2003
Pic 5: SVR_2003
Pic 6: FINAL+WHS
Part 3: Building the ISOs
OK, here are three choices, Build your slip-streamed WHS with nLite, Nero or use your USB stick. Personally I like to use Nero for building my bootable ISO’s. Simply because it’s more reliable then nLite. If you have problems with booting from DVD created by nLite then I suggest using Nero instead. Make sure when burning CD’s or DVD’s that you burn them on a low setting. Boot CD’s or DVD’s burned on high speed might become unbootable in the end. I suggest keeping your C:\FINAL folder in case nLite doesn’t work out. That way you can start with Nero and skip the first 3 steps.
nLite
- Start nLite again and press Next.
- Browse to the C:\FINAL folder, press OK and Next.
- In the Presets Section, press Next.
- In the Task Selection, press Bootable ISO and press Next.
- Press Explore, select all the files by pressing Control+A. Press Control+X to cut the selected files. Make a new directory called SVR_2003 in the C:\FINAL folder and paste all the files into the C:\FINAL\SVR_2003 folder (See picture 4 and 5)
- Copy all files and folders (except the SVR_2003 folder) from your Windows Home Server DVD to the C:\FINAL folder (See picture 6).
- Copy the boot.wim file (located in C:\WORK) to C:\FINAL\sources, overwriting the original.
- Go back to nLite and press Make ISO.
- Press Next and Finish.
- Burn the image with ImgBurn and you’re done!
Nero Burning ROM
- Open My Computer and navigate to C:\FINAL. Press Control+A to select all the files and then Control+X to cut the selected files. Make a new directory called SVR_2003 in the C:\FINAL folder and paste all the files into the C:\FINAL\SVR_2003 folder (See picture 4 and 5)
- Copy all files and folders (except the SVR_2003 folder) from your Windows Home Server DVD to the C:\FINAL folder (See picture 6).
- Copy the boot.wim file (located in C:\WORK) to C:\FINAL\sources, overwriting the original.
- Start Nero Burning ROM.
- In the New Compilation window, select DVD-ROM (BOOT) at the left.
- At the right, select the BOOT tab. (See picture 7)
- Select Image File and browse to the boot.bin file you previously downloaded.
- Select Enable expert settings and select kind of emulation to No Emulation
- Load segment of sectors: 07C0 and Number of loaded sectors: 4
- Go to the ISO tab and select the following: File system: ISO 9660 + Joliet, File name lenght: Max. of 31 chars (Level 2), Charater set: ISO 9660 (standard ISO CD-ROM). Select all Relax restrictions. (See picture
- Go to the LABEL tab and give your disc a name, any name is fine. Press New.
- Copy the whole content of the C:\FINAL directory to the compilation. (See picture 9)
- Press burn and see how your new WHS DVD is being burned. (You’re also able to make an image file using the Image burner in Nero if you wish).
Pic 7: Nero BOOT
Pic 8: Nero ISO
Pic 9: – Nero COMPILATION
USB Stick
My absolute favorite way of installing WHS! And definitely the easiest way to prepare the installer.
- Open My Computer and navigate to C:\FINAL. Press Control+A to select all the files and then Control+X to cut the selected files. Make a new directory called SVR_2003 in the C:\FINAL folder and paste all the files into the C:\FINAL\SVR_2003 folder (See pictures 4 and 5)
- Copy all files and folders (except the SVR_2003 folder) from your Windows Home Server DVD to the C:\FINAL folder (See picture 6).
- Copy the boot.wim file (located in C:\WORK) to C:\FINAL\sources, overwriting the original.
- Prepare the USB Stick
- Copy all files in the C:\FINAL folder to your USB stick.
Done
You’re done slipstreaming your Windows Home Server. Now all you have left to do is install your new server!
FYI
Windows Home Server has an unattended installer which works almost great. There are some problems when loading drivers in the 2nd part of the installer (the Windows 2003 blue screen installer) which is very picky sometimes, turning out into BSOD’s. This has to do with the first installer (Windows PE) for some reason. Why? I truly don’t know, but it’s fixable by slip-streaming the DOS drivers for your hard disks.
I’ve tested it numerous times in a lot of different ways, but it seems adding the driver to the boot.wim alone it isn’t good enough. so we need to add the same DOS driver to the i386 folder as well.
When you have followed this slipstream guide it will make your install and, more importantly, your re-installs more pleasant. That’s why I wrote this tutorial, and because I like a challenge . The original slipstream wiki was a bit unclear in things, and I hope this revised tutorial will make things easier to understand.
Credits
I’ve learned a lot using the thread from SME at the Microsoft Windows Home Server forums (The original thread can be found here), and based my first tutorial on it. This revised version still has the basics, but I changed the whole approach of it, also slip-streaming the WinPE installer. There was not much documentation about it on the internet, but the little I found was enough to point me into the right direction.
A big thanks to Gamer for the walkthrough and to Drashna for managing the We Got Served Wiki.
27. August 2008 at 2:47 pm
This is an excelent piece of work because I got BSOD’s in the second part where W2k3 is installed because my Intel IHC9R drivers where not recognized, which resulted in the famous 0X0000007B error.
I build it the way you pointed it out which was very clearly now waiting on USB to finish formatting (which takes forever
)
Then off to copy all files to USB stick and ad the qs.ini
Thanks
30. October 2008 at 4:07 am
I’ve tried several websites for instructions on this and think yours is the most clear. However, with each attempt including following your instructions, I keep getting an error, while booting up with the DVD created by the process – CD BOOT – couldn’t find NTLDR.
Help – what am I doing wrong?
Dave
7. November 2008 at 5:11 pm
Thank you very much for this excellent article. I followed your instruction step by step and burned a DVD to make the installation. After testing it with Visual PC, I found that it should work, but to my great surprise the installation was interrupted during the first setup efforts, right after the disk (here a Adaptec Raid 5405) with a very strange I/O error message (something like media has changed). I wanted to abort and did a last try with all the stuff on a USB stick – and to my great surprise it worked. This sounds very strange for me and I do not have any explanation right now, but to be honest I did not search very long for it.
Again thank you for this great work.
Wolfgang
18. December 2008 at 12:08 pm
Late reaction but came across the link again for a friend and it worked like charm Thanks again Terry
17. January 2009 at 5:53 pm
Great Tutorial. I was able to Slipstream and install headless, on to the Intel SS4200-E NAS. I just followed the instructions:
1. Created a USB Stick following the instructions in this tutorial. Got all the Drivers from Intel SS4200-EHW support site
(added qs.inc file at the root of USB Stick) followed instructions in the link http://www.wegotserved.co.uk/2008/04/30/turn-your-usb-flash-drive-into-a-windows-install-disk/
2. Tested if it works on a Dell old Pentium4 based Deskside 8400 PC
3. Removed the DOM module from the SS4200-E. Have 2 500GB Disks on the NAS
4. Followed the boot sequence to allow boot from USB Stick.
5. Waited for an hour watching disk activity and 7 or 8 reboot cycles.
and the Server showed up on another XP PC as a new Network device in my home network. (My Network Places) clicked it to configure the Administrator password etc..
1. October 2009 at 2:08 pm
Agreed, great tutorial! Having issues on a SS4200-EHW though.
Don't have a PCIe x1 to PCIe x16 converter so doing this without a screen. Managed to get it to boot from USB using a keyboard (blind)
, some initial disk activity from the USB and disk drives but after a while nothing happens (no disk activity no reboot's).
Guess I'll have to get the converter to see what's going on
19. November 2009 at 3:10 am
Terry and dodo,
You Guys Rock!!! Just fired up my SS4200-E that I bought from Newegg for $150 over the weekend. Following these directions, WHS is up and running with no additional hardware (PCIx Video Card) required. Great tutorial!
8. February 2009 at 4:06 pm
I didn’t want to do each step, pariticularly the AIK (1GB Download almost). Well I spent the whole day wasting time. Then I decided to take his advice and do each step. I even installed NERO Trail because the nLite program just couldnt make me a WHS dvd that I could boot from.
Using Nero, and ALL steps above, I now have a slipstreamed DVD that loads my SATA drivers transparently and my OS can now boot.
Thank you SO MUCH!
14. February 2009 at 7:20 pm
Great writeup. Like dodo above, I was also able to install WHS+PP1.1 eval downloaded from Microsoft on my SS4200-EHW unattended from a USB flash drive (USB DVD should also work). Worth mentioning some additional notes:
1. Intel SATA drivers should be slipstreamed twice as described in writeup, and the Intel E1000 Network driver slipstreamed into SVR_2003 only (not the PE image) using nLite in addition to the SATA drivers. Without the network driver the system will install cleanly but be unable to acquire an IP address or communicate with computers on the network
2. Is possible to install without using a serial console to reset boot priorities by connecting USB flash drive or USB DVD reader and powering on with the reset switch pushed in (it’s adjacent to the LAN port). The power LED will be orange when system is in recovery mode (i.e. forced to boot from USB)
3. The install process includes some updates downloaded from Microsoft. Install will complete faster with the network cable disconnected (updates can be downloaded later, once the admin password is set and system is running)
26. February 2009 at 3:55 am
Hello,
I am a total newbie to this. It all sounds pretty good but I am stuck at the 2. Step. I cannot find the “DOS drivers” folder. It would be great if you guys could point me in the right direction. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.
Sven
26. February 2009 at 4:20 am
Either DOS or XP drivers.
26. February 2009 at 4:12 pm
The only drivers that I am able to find have the ending .sys and not .inf. Any idea?
18. May 2009 at 3:08 am
Any tips on getting the Administrator password set?? I think I have successfully installed WHS onto my SS4200-EHW… I try to connect with Remote Desktop; but the login is rejected because the password is (null)/blank.?
How did you get around this? I have only Windows 7 clients at home right now; no XP machines…..
16. September 2009 at 5:39 am
I did some search and figure out that the dos drivers are AHCI and SATA drivers. But for SATA drive, is the chipset driver or eSATA driver? cuz these are the only ones on intel site.
26. November 2009 at 12:14 pm
Thanks Terry for the detailed insturctions.
I would like to add few more things to these instructions to install WHS on SS4200-e/ewh.
I successfully installed WHS with Powe pack 3 on my Intel SS4200-e slipstreaming Intel Storage Drivers and Network Drivers unattendedly with the above instructions and through my own findings. Though I had to fiddle with the process for 2 days to figure out a proper way to install.
Here are the Refined Steps to Follow:
Part 1: Do as mentioned by Terry in Setting things up and Part 1. Please also download a copy of
ISOMaster. This is needed to update the ISO with the changes. I went with this approach as ISOs created through nLite and ImageBurn gave me NTLDR not found error during setup when I booted through DVD-ROM.
Continue…
26. November 2009 at 12:16 pm
Part 2: Do not proceed to Part 2 mentioned above. Please do the below before going to step 2.
a. Dowload PRO2KXP.exe from intel. Extract the files from there either using 7-z. Create a new folder called NetWork and copy the folders PRO100, PRO1000, PROXGB and paste into NetWork folder.
b. Now do Steps 1 to 6 mentioned in Part 2 by Terry.
c. Then repeat the step 4 mentioned above. (4.In the Drivers section we click on Insert and select Multiple Driver Folder) and select the Network folder and hit OK and select all 3 folders and hit OK. This should add Network drivers to the list.
d. Then do the rest of the steps 7 …. till the end of step 2.
Continue…
26. November 2009 at 12:17 pm
Part 3: Building the ISOs:
If you are not using nLite or Nero mentioned above in part3. Skip those and follow these instuctions.
a. Here use the ISO master to update the original ISO. Open the oringial ISO and delete the contents of folder SVR_2003. Now Copy the contents of WorkFinal to SVR_2003.
b. Delete file boot.wim from folder sources located in the image. Copy and Paste boot.win from the Work folder.
c. Done. Now on the file menu click save as and give a new name to the Image to save the image.
d. Now burn this image with any DVD burning software.
Continue…
26. November 2009 at 12:18 pm
Part 4:
If you want to do the unattended install from USB flash drive.
a. Follow the instructions from here. http://www.wegotserved.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title...
b. I did format my flash drive as NTFS as it is faster to copy.
c. Extract the contents from the image created by ISOMaster. to this USB flash drive.
d. For unattended installating, create a qs.ini file in the root folder. with the following text. If you are not evaluating change the key to your key.
[Q Setup]
ServerName=KVRR-WHS
ProductKey=00000-00000-00000-00000-00000
Continue…
26. November 2009 at 12:18 pm
e. Now insert the USB to SS4200-e and attached one SATA drive to SATA 1 cable. Attach a USb Keyboard
f. Boot the system and keep pressing F11 for a while till the BIOS loads the boot option. We will not be able to see this. So keep pressing F11 may be for a minute. Then select down arrow once and hit enter.
g. If you are lucky your system should start installing. My USB drive has a light to it. I could see the activity.
h. System reboots for 4 to 5 times. Wait for 30 – 60 minutes.
i. Connect to WHS from any other windows system by using client connecting CD dowladed from Miscrosoft. This will finish the setup with Password etc…
j. This concludes installation.
Thanks,
KVRR79
27. November 2009 at 4:52 am
Hi, KVRR79. Could share your SS4200-E images without key on BT? I'm stucked at the mount part. Always shows can not find the file.
27. November 2009 at 5:04 am
Or just the new BOOT.WIM file. Could you email to allaboutjst AT gmail dot com?
8. December 2009 at 4:32 am
Did you get it ?
30. November 2009 at 6:05 pm
What a wonderful guide. Big thanks to Gamer. That said, I'm one of a number of Intel SS4200 users looking for an unattended installation. This worked great. Follow the instructions to the letter, and you will not be disappointed. I was fortunate and was able to slipstream and install the first try. My results differed from KVRR79, as I didn't deviate from the guide at all. "Setting Things Up" Step 2 is the only step that there seems to be some ambiguity around for SS4200 users. I've uploaded my DOS folder to the following links.
http://rapidshare.com/files/314374525/DOS.zip.htm...
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KEH1WZ1Y
So my pointers are as follows:
"Setting Things Up" : Follow exactly (using the drivers I've provided for Step 2)
Part 1: Is very detailed. Read it carefully, and do exactly what it says.
Part 2: Is fairly straightforward, where you will use NLITE to slipstream the DOS drivers from "Setting Things Ups"
Part 3: Use the USB stick method to install. Part 1 and 2 you've prepared the files necessary for the USB stick. Make sure you've formatted the USB stick properly using the guide here :
http://www.wegotserved.com/wiki/index.php?title=T...
Part 3: To ensure the unattended installation works, you have to create a qs.ini file in the root directory (the directory that contains autorun.inf, bootmgr, win51il.sp2). The qs.ini file should contain the following:
[Q Setup]
ProductKey=00000-00000-00000-00000-00000
ServerName=INTEL-WHS
Just enter the information in notepad, and save the file as qs.ini (make sure your file extension does not end with .txt). You should replace the zeros with your WHS product key. You can replace INTEL-WHS with whatever name you want to call your server. I hope this helps out other INTEL SS4200 users.
12. February 2010 at 6:35 am
Are there any other Quick options that work with this i would like to use the qs.ini file for reinstall possibly in the future. As some of you have found out that this method is not good for a reinstall as it wipes out the drives and data on the server. As I found out today when I used my USB stick to reinstall with the qs.ini file on it. =:(
30. November 2009 at 6:15 pm
Once you've created your USB stick, plug it into the back of your SS4200 where the plugged in LAN connection is. Hold down the RESET button, and press the Power button. The Power button should flash amber, now release the RESET button. The USB key should flash a couple of times, and your system should begin the unattended installation. The Power button should now turn blue. The installation will take around 45 minutes, so sit back and watch a tv show. Around the 45 minute mark, check NETWORK and you should see your server (INTEL-WHS) show up. You can now install WHS Connector on the computer to connect to your server and setup the Administrator account and password. Once I've done this, I use Remote Desktop to setup the rest of WHS. Good luck
5. December 2009 at 4:14 pm
I am new here and these instructions and comments really helped me get close to a good install.
I am working with the WHS Eval Download, an SS4200-E, with a single new drive to get up and running. Using the steps above, supplemented by NeO-AZN's driver zip (Thanks!) and KVRR79's instructions on expanding the Network drives and using ISO Master to update the ISO (again, Thanks!), I was able to get an install and found the server in Network on Vista and used Connector to connect.
Unfortunately, when I tried to configure it with Console, I get the message
"The evaluation period for this copy of windows has ended. Windows cannot start. To continue, please purchase and install a retail copy of the product. "
I used the serial number of all 00000's in the qs.ini. Is there a real number you need for the Eval?
And finally, will it be possible to do an unattended USB reinstall with the full version if I do get the Eval working ? Isee that the instruction require choosing a reinstall versus a full, anyone done this?
I am thinking it may be easier to wait for my on order full copy and start the install from scratch, but I can see needing an unattended reinstall in the future.
Thanks!
5. December 2009 at 5:07 pm
Asunc – I had the exact same issue. It was caused by the fact that the clock on the ss4200 was set incorrectly when you first powered it on. An early date was used during the install, which was then auto updated once WHS was up and running. Since the 30 days was up, it gave you that error.
Just pop the flash drive back in, and let it reinstall everything from scratch now that the clock is set correctly. Worked for me! Good Lick
5. December 2009 at 9:14 pm
Ogiewon,
That worked beautifully! Just reinstalled and now I am up and running.
Now another question or two – do you know if I need to remove the DOM drive again now to prevent it possibly wiping my data if there is a problem?
Also, I asked in my original post about doing a USB unattended upgrade to the retail version of WHS – I think i will need to do a re-install, rather than a from scratch install. I haven't found how to do this unattended on a USB drive – since the SS4200-e has no Video. Any experience with this?
Thanks again!
6. December 2009 at 5:39 am
Hello,
The instructions I suggested are for a full USB unattended installation, but it is a fresh install, not an upgrade. No video is required, as you setup the automated installation in the qs.ini file. I used an OEM key to install which should be no different than a Retail installation. I left the DOM disconnected with my installation, as it serves no purpose in WHS. That said, as the installation is fresh, be prepared to wipe the drive clean of any data.
Regards
7. December 2009 at 1:32 am
Thanks – I should have my retail version in a couple of days, so I will build a new USB install and start from scratch as suggested.
6. December 2009 at 1:57 pm
From what I have read, there is no way to perform an unattended re-install. The QS.INI file technique isn't officially supported by Microsoft. It was to be used by their development and test team.
Glad to hear you've got it up and running! Enjoy!
8. December 2009 at 6:16 am
Its been frustrating couple of days for me with WHS and Intel SS4200-E. First I ignored the instruction to format USB in vista. it did not even boot. After learning my lesson, formatted the USB properly, followed the original instructions exactly, using the drivers offered by Neo-AZN. Did not work. Now I followed the procedure suggested by kvrr79. Same result.
In both cases, it starts to boot, i can see the light on the USB flickering, also disk indicator is also flickering. After a minute or two, the disk i/o light of 4200 turns solid blue. All the while the power light is solid amber. it never flickered amber as was suggested by Neo-AZN.
i rechecked my qs.ini file. Anyone had this experience. I wonder what the solid blue disk indicator means. Is it waiting for something? Maybe I should change the disk and try it again. Any suggestions?
8. December 2009 at 7:41 am
Sorry, False Alarm. It did finish the install. Although it took close to 90 min to finish. I panicked when I did not see any activity either on 4200 (disk i/o light is solid blue) or USB. The Power light was solid amber for a good 30-45 min. Then the power light started flashing blue. And I can see a lot of disk activity from flashing disk light. i can assume it went through 4-5 reboots from the loud fan noise each time.
Again, thanks to everyone who contributed to my success – Neo-AZN, kvrr79 and especially Terry Walsh.
9. December 2009 at 12:17 am
I have tried this method many times over, and finally tried it on another machine I have lying around (with a video card). I am seeing it sticks at the "setting up" screen, wanting me to agree and such. This requires a mouse and pointing to accept, which I cannot do on the NAS. The hard drive is wiped to zeros, and I followed the tutorial over and over again- it always hangs here. Is there a step I am missing? In the title is says "Slipstreamed, Unattended" but I only see slipstreaming in the steps…I see NO unattended work being done. Is there a step I dont see? I am familiar with winnt.sif in XP but not sure how unattended is done with WHS.
9. December 2009 at 2:36 am
You have to add a "qs.ini" file to the root of the USB drive. Read through the comments for all of the tips and for the specific format of the contents for the qs.ini file.
9. December 2009 at 12:19 am
sorry, not "setting up", it actually says "Welcome to Windows Home Server Setup"….
9. December 2009 at 5:24 am
Actually I have tried with and without the qs.ini, and tried with a USB stick as well as on DVD. They all halt at that welcome screen. I am on the trial version so I do not have a key- I have left the product key out like I would in a winnt.sif. Could that be the problem? If so, anyone know the default key for the trial version I could type in? (works on XP Sp3 anyway! LOL)
9. December 2009 at 5:38 am
Nevermind, I am an idiot. I thought the 00000's were placeholders, and removed them completely like i would in a winnt.sif file. Got it now! The original topic should really be updated with the extra drivers and qs.ini file so it is complete!
9. December 2009 at 6:30 pm
Does anybody with the vid card know what step comes directly after the first reboot – my unattended install seams to hang at this point – any suggestions comments ?
10. December 2009 at 12:36 am
I tried testing it by creating a vm – hangs at harware check – says that it can not find a sutible hard drive -
10. December 2009 at 3:02 am
Fixed the VMware issue by changing the type of HD to IDE – the rest worked like a cham. I thought to look at my drives next. I start it up bu holding the reset button – the main I/O button goes amber and I see activity on both the USB and the disk for a good 6 -8 min. Then the machine does a reboot I see activity on the HD and usb for a few seconds then nothing – no usb or HD activity – Power lights stay on and the main button blink but the usb and HD do nothing. The drive in slot 1 has some of the install files on it. ( connected it to a different machine to take a look) I am thinking when it does the first reboot it is not checking the correct HD – anybody out there got a suggestion ?
10. December 2009 at 9:02 pm
Ok, just when I thought I had figured this out and had successfully loaded the Eval version I find I can't get the full version to load.
I build the USB stick like I did with the Eval and try to load it – it seems to make it to the first boot and then nothing. I think I had an initial problem with the drive I had installed -it had the old WHS OS partition, so I would boot from the USB (Reset and Power till amber) and the USB would flicker and a few minutes later the box would reboot. But then nothing. I figured this was because it was trying to reboot from the old OS on the drive.
So I tracked down Seagate's Disc wizard and erased track zero. Still no luck – doesn't even reboot.,
I bought the OEM version of WHS and have been using just the WHS Server install disk. It comes with a PreInstallation Disk – is there something I need to do with that? Did I get the wrong version of WHS?
I am close to trying to track down a 1x 16x extender to hook up a monitor, if anyone has a suggestion of where to buy the parts.
Thanks
10. December 2009 at 11:42 pm
I will say that your issue looks very much like what I now see. I am using the MSDN version – When i use that same usb stick to do a slip/unattended on a vm instance it works great but on the actual sever it does the same thing yours does . I am getting a vid card now – i will let you know what i find
11. December 2009 at 2:16 am
After posting this I tried one more time – and found success. I think my problem was copying some of the WHS DVD files rather than using the advice above to work with an ISO image. I created an ISO image from my Install DVD and then used ISO Master to update it with the SVR_2003 files from C:Final and the new Boot.wim.
After this, it installed perfectly.
18. December 2009 at 2:32 pm
awesome post, followed everything exactly and installed whs on my ss4200ehw. one thing, i would say is the dos file megaupload attachment by NeO-AZN made everything easy and quick. thanks for the excellent instructions guys.
18. December 2009 at 7:26 pm
Excellent guide. I too was able to do an unattended install of the latest eval from Microsof't's downloadable ISO on an Intel SS4200-EHW.
For those of you on XP, I was able to create a bootable flash drive first by using HP's Drive Key Boot utility, using MBRWiz.exe to verify the master boot record with a start sector of 63 (My Sony flash drive for some reason had a different start sector), and then running "AIKToolsPEToolsx86bootsec.exe /nt60 E:" command from the AIK CD. (where E: is your flash drive) to copy the correct boot sector.
See: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc7491...
I've now purchased an OEM copy from newegg ($99 + free shipping in the US), which unfortunately comes with power pack 1.
Should I bother with trying to slipstream PP3 onto this OEM image? I wish I could just enter the new key, but apparently you have to re-install to get it licensed correctly. It would be nice to have an unattended re-install option.
18. December 2009 at 7:27 pm
AIK/Tools/PETools/x86/ is the path… for some reason the slashes got cut out
24. December 2009 at 7:08 pm
Help!
I am trying to install WHS on a Fujistu Scaleo server. I have installed 2 1TB WD green drives. I followed the instructions several times with the same results. I used the drivers provided by NeO-AZN. And I do have the qs.ini file at the root. I also removed the DOM.
The system hangs on installation before the first reboot. On the first boot both the USB drive and Scaleo drive light flash. Then the Saleo Drive light is consistently on for about five minues. Then the light goes off and the system appears to hang. The network light does keep flashing though. I've left it for hours in this state and it never reboots.
When I connect the internal drive to my computer the following folders are present: DOCS,Install,redistr,WHS.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Paul
25. December 2009 at 9:29 am
Hi Paul,
Have you tried just connecting one drive and performing the installation? Add the second 1TB drive once you're able to get the installation to work.
That said, I don't sit around watching for reboots. After about 45-60 min of TV, I try using WHS Connector or Remote Desktop to connect to the server. If you check your Network (Neighborhood), you should see the Server show up which gives you an indication that the server is ready to be personalized with Connector/Remote Desktop.
Although typically the source of problems is usually the qs.ini file, perhaps the installation serial is incorrect? What version of WHS are you using? Trial/OEM/Retail? Was the slipstream using nlite as per Gamers guide? I followed it exactly, step by step and the system installed on the first try.
Regards,
28. December 2009 at 1:27 am
I imagine you're either missing a driver or qs.ini file is wrong and your not getting past the serial screen.
For the qs.ini fil,e ensure in explorer that it shows as a configuration file and not a txt file. If it shows as a txt file you can solve it two ways. Go to Folder options in Explorer settings, and deselect "hide full file extensions" (something like that, should be below 'show hidden folders'). Now that you have done that you will see that the file actually has a .txt extension after.ini, all you have to do now is rename it in explorer, and remove the .txt.
Option 2 is create the qs.ini file in notepad, however when you save the file, put the name in quotations ie "qs.ini" , and it should save it w/o the .txt extension as well.
29. December 2009 at 6:03 am
I concur, that the qs.ini file is probably the problem. If you're using the drivers I've shared you should be good.
28. December 2009 at 1:14 am
For Scaleo/SS4200-E users,
Does your power button continuously flash, even after a successful install and reboot? Mine flashes blue like it is still booting, however the system is operational.
Second, is there a default password? I didn't see anything regarding adding a sys file to the slipstream that sets the admin password during install.
Thanks
28. December 2009 at 2:04 am
Nevermind,
Connector allowed password set, and it looks like HW monitor resolves the blinking light issue.
29. December 2009 at 6:05 am
Yups, mine flashes blue continuously. I don't worry about the aesthetics so long as the system runs fine.
As for the default password, there is none. You set it up using WHS Connector once the OS has been installed. Using WHS Connector, permits you to complete your installation by configuring it. Slipstream is merely for OS installation.
30. December 2009 at 1:43 am
NeO – If you install the "Intel Hardware Monitor" Add In it will take care of the flashing blue light for you. Plus it has some nice Health monitors. (Tak already suggested HW monitor, but I wanted to make sure you caught his meaning.)
30. December 2009 at 3:37 am
Thank you Asunc and Tak for the update. To be honest, since I never look at my server since I've installed it, the blinking lights were never of concern. However, I've since insalled the Intel Hardware Monitor as advised, and can confirm the blinking is now gone. The temp/fan monitoring is kinda cool as well.
30. December 2009 at 5:12 pm
I've been trying to install WHS unattended from a USB key on my SS-4200E without success. It will boot, read the USB key, format the HD, then reboot, show some HD activity for a couple of minutes and then hang with the power light flashing. Any what may be holding me up? Thanks!
30. December 2009 at 7:25 pm
Sounds like you are close. Did you try to use WHS Connector to configure your system?
30. December 2009 at 1:41 pm
i used the slipstream on a fujitsu/siemens scaleo home server. it installed — HOWEVER, i can not get to the box with the whs connector. i have the cd, and i run the whsconnectorinstall.exe however i get an error message that the files were not downloaded from the server and my server is “out of date”. i have also tried going to \\myserver:55000 and i promptly get 404′d and it can’t find the connector. i’m unable to log in with an RDC as i don’t have the administrator password (none was ever set up) any suggestions?
31. December 2009 at 3:01 am
i get the same exact thing!!! i dont know what to do because my system is headless
30. December 2009 at 7:27 pm
Did you try downloading a newer version of WHS Connector? You must use Connector to configure your system. It sounds like you are close with completing your installation, you just need to find a way to update your Connector software. Try uninstalling, and downloading a new version.
30. December 2009 at 8:21 pm
i downloaded the latest version right from M/S and get that error. it will not even install it as the "client connector" CD tries to d/l it from the whs itself
30. December 2009 at 8:40 pm
new problem. I downloaded the latest trial of WHS from Microsoft with the intent of recreating the entire slipstream. however, when i load GImageX (64-bit) on my WIndows 7 Ultimate PC, and try to mount the boot.wim copied from the eval download, i get an error that it can't mount the boot.wim and the error is "?????". what gives?
30. December 2009 at 10:42 pm
So I believe that I successfully completed a unattended slipstream of the eval version of WHS onto my Intel NAS, but I'm having a few issues.
After I initially connected to the WHS with the connector software, I set up an admin pass and it downloaded a bunch of updates. Now, it is saying that I have 0 days left to activate the product and won't let me continue until I enter a valid product key.
Any ideas? I know that I m using the eval version, as in the bottom right hand of the login screen it says Windows Home Server – Evaluation Copy. Build 3790 (Service Pack 2)
Where's my 30 days!!???
31. December 2009 at 1:00 am
Paul – The onboard clock on your ss4200 was not correct when you installed WHS, but the time-synched after WHS was installed, thus eliminating your 30 days. I had the same problem. Just re-run the installation from the USB drive one more time and you'll have the 30 days to mess around before activating. That's what I did before consuming my key.
31. December 2009 at 6:08 am
That worked perfectly. Thanks a lot!
So if I decide to purchase a key after the 30 day evaluation, do I have to reinstall? Or can I simply enter the product key and activate the evaluation copy?
I only ask because I don't know why they would offer a separate evaluation disk from the retail disk, when normally you can install the retail disk and use it for 30 days or so.
31. December 2009 at 2:01 pm
Assuming you used the OEM WHS media as your starting point, then yes you can simply buy a copy to get the key and activate it. The trial version from MS allows 120 days vs the oem's 30 days. Unfortunately, the trial cannot be actiivated without reinstalling.
Glad you got it working! Bumping the memory from 512 to >=1GB really made a huge difference on my system's performance. With just 512 it hits the page file a lot, degrading overall system performance.
31. December 2009 at 4:23 pm
Well, I'm honestly a little unsure of what version I am running right now. I followed the links to the evaluation download of WHS as outlined in the very beginning of the guide. It ultimately brought me here – http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfami...
This states that it is the trial version of WHS, but also that it is only a 30 day trial. Maybe it was changed from 120 days to 30?
I don't have a problem reinstalling – I do however want to know if I were to follow this guide again, would it format the entire drive that is in bay 1, or would it simply overwrite the C: partition that it created when it installed the WHS trial? I am currently moving over about 1TB of data, and want to make sure I don't lose anything from another unattended installation.
You've been a great help. Thanks!
31. December 2009 at 3:15 am
Michigan Server Guy:
What I did was reinstall whsconnector using the install cd/usb… now it installed correctly and let me set up my server name and password.
Go to CD/USB>WHS>Setup… it will ask to reinstall software.
31. December 2009 at 4:31 pm
Well, from the specific link –
"A move to the full retail version of the product requires a complete reinstall of the software and not an in-place upgrade. This means you will need to go through configuration and backup steps one more time. We suggest that you backup your files to an external hard drive before performing a complete reinstall. While we recognize that this may be inconvenient for customers, the technicalities of the current product prevent us from allowing an in-place upgrade."
Looks like I am going to have to reinstall. Wonder why they changed it to a 30 day trial…?
4. January 2010 at 6:11 pm
VMWare 2.0 question. I have followed the guides to a T and have a question. When I install using the ISO I created in VMWare 2.0 for Mac I encounter 2 problems.
A. It hangs at the Serial Number screen and asks for a serial. The only way it will advance is if I put nothing in, no 0's, and no X's. How do you reflect this in the qs.ini file? Other wise it wont continue on its own. I left them as X's but this did not work. Secondly, it gets to a blue screen asking me to Inser my Windows Server 2003 disk. I think it might have something to do with my floppy drive or some other settings in VMWare, I hope. Anyone take this route?
8. January 2010 at 7:49 am
I saw this thread searching for some information regarding the Intel SS4200 server and thought I'd contribute. While I'm not an expert on the topic, I have successfully installed WHS unattended. There was no need for video cards or need to burn DVDs. There's been so much good information out there, particularly in the responses from various SS4200 owners. I've since decided to include a PDF guide (with the pictures provided from the original guide written by Gamer), with additional pointers as well as necessary files to get the installation working.
I hope this will help out future SS4200 owners looking to install WHS on the system.
The link to the guide is below:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=M9MBIE18
12. January 2010 at 8:53 am
I finally got all the pieces together tonight and am having some trouble installing WHS on my Saleco Home server. I have one WD Caviar Green 2tb drive installed and followed the guide posted very closely. It does not seem to want to boot off of my USB key however. After resetting it and getting the Amber light it simply sits there with a solid Amber light (not blue as other have suggested) and has zero HD activity. Has anyone had this problem?
12. January 2010 at 5:23 pm
I did finally get it to boot off of the USB (needed to format it in NTFS not FAT32. The screenshot vs. the guide show different things), but now I believe I am stuck where some others are. It appears to do something for a few minutes, then hangs. I left it overnight and it did not complete the installation.
12. January 2010 at 7:31 pm
I would suspect its your qs.ini file. Is it in the root directory (the directory that contains autorun.inf, bootmgr, win51il.sp2). The qs.ini file should contain the following:
[Q Setup]
ProductKey=00000-00000-00000-00000-00000
ServerName=INTEL-WHS
Make sure the file extension does not end with *.txt, as that can happen when people edit and save the file provided in the package.
12. January 2010 at 7:37 pm
Thanks for the reply. I'm sure my qs.ini file is correct, I have checked it several times. I am going to get my retail copy of WHS tonight, so I will retry the process with that.
14. January 2010 at 7:53 am
I'm having the same issue. Boots off USB and seems to be working until it restarts. Then all i see if the blinking blue power button, sold blue drive light and no activity. I've left it overnight as well and am not able to connect or see it on the network. I tested it on an old desktop and it works perfectly so I'm at a loss at what to do and I'd rather not buy the parts just to see the install work once.
also, I put in a 1tb WD Caviar Green drive to start. I noticed you used a WD green as well. There shouldn't be issues with the right?
15. January 2010 at 2:32 am
I used WD Green drives in mine. Try installing with just 1 drive, and add the second drive once your installation is complete. Make sure to disconnect your DOM (Onboard Memory) if yours came with one. Check your qs.ini file.
If everything still fails, I can only suggest you try rebuilding your USB installation from scratch again. Follow the guide carefully, and you shouldn't run into any problems. I was able to install mine the first time following the guide exactly.
-Make sure to slipstream the Intel drivers properly.
-Lastly ensure you format your USB key using VISTA or Windows 7.
Read the comments in this thread:
http://forum.wegotserved.com/index.php?/topic/120...
3. February 2010 at 6:02 pm
Have tried to run this twice and not able to get past GimageX. getting. Error: unable to mount image Error: A required privilege is not held by the client. I’m logged in as an admin and have set to run as admin still no go. Has anyone else run into this? I’ve already spent 2 nights working on this getting a little axtiouse to get this up and running.
18. May 2009 at 3:10 am
See reply to another post above; I think I've installed; WHS is answering a remote desktop connection request, but I can not log in due to a blank/null admin password.?!
How did you get around this?
Is there a way to set the default password via the qs.ini?? I've been trying to find an answer for the past few hours but no joy!
30. October 2009 at 4:52 pm
You need to use the Connector Software from the Connector CD to set the initial password ! I was stumped by this at first too.
15. January 2010 at 9:57 pm
Thanks for the response. Maybe i'll try rebuilding the USB install. It's odd though – it works perfectly on an old desktop where I can see what's happening but on the Intel server, it appears to stall after the first reboot. I'll try again over the weekend.
16. January 2010 at 6:21 pm
If the automatic installation worked for your desktop, then likely you've likely messed up something with regards to the slipstream of the Intel drivers. Good luck with your rebuild.