True Image Incompatibility with PowerEdge Servers

I’ve run into a sticky situation with one of my servers.

I wanted to restore the system to a previous image I made a few months back. I have restored to this image before (true image would reboot the server and then let me restore the system drive from there) but my recent problems started with true image no longer rebooting into its special boot program.

I don’t remember what the message was in the logs but it basically said True Image failed to initialize the startup recovery manager or whatever its called.

The same problem occurred with both server versions v8.0.903 and 9.1.3567 on Windows 2003 Server.

So, I decided to create a recovery CD and then try to recover that way. I restored the system drive form the image on a network share and when I rebooted the server nothing loads. The server gets to the point where Windows would now start to load but nothing happened.

I used the Server 2003 CD and ran fixboot, fixmbr, and bootcfg /rebuild but this had no effect.

I have seen others with the same situation and I believe I know the conditions for this problem. The reason the fixboot and fixmbr commands didn’t do anything is because my server is a Dell Poweredge 1850. It seems the poweredge servers have some strange boot configuration that Windows can’t repair.

Here’s an example… If I start a Windows setup using a Windows CD, after its done copying the installation files, the system reboots. Most systems would now have a sort of boot configuration now listing the Windows setup as an option to boot into. Not on a Dell Poweredge though. Nothing appears. You can run the setup as much as you like and the Windows setup won’t continue.

Instead, you have to use the Dell Server Assistant CD to start the setup for you. Except, I didn’t want to wipe my drives. I just wanted to boot to a nice clean operating system already on the drive. The only exception I have experienced where I didn’t have to use the server assistant CD is Windows Small Business Server 2003. It doesn’t work with the server assistant CD but DOES work without it.

I spent several hours on the phone with Dell Support to no avail. I don’t really believe this is an Acronis issue… It seems to be a Dell Poweredge problem, but I what I do believe, is that if the Dell Server Assistant CD can make the setup work, then Acronis should be able to modify True Image server versions to work properly on Poweredge servers.

The data was restored successfully and I could access it using the recovery console via the Windows setup CD but the Dell Poweredge server just doesn’t know that the operating system is there. Acronis needs to fix this somehow, either by taking this matter into their own hands or working with Dell to find a solution so us PowerEdge owners don’t have to suffer.

I decided to stop wasting my time with support techs that couldn’t help me so I wiped the server and started from scratch. That defeats the purpose of having True Image in the first place.

Luckily this poweredge wasn’t being used much while I was trying to restore it, but if our other poweredge servers have to be restored for some reason I do not want wipe the servers because True Image can’t restore the system. We can’t afford downtime like that.

If Acronis can’t resolve this then we will not be purchasing their products in the future.
Has anyone gotten a restore to work properly on Dell Poweredge servers?

 

Hello ryanv,

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Server Disk Backup Software.

Could you please try to fix Master Boot Record on your hard drive? We have two special utilities for this purpose.

1. Using floppy drive. Please insert a diskette into the floppy drive and run the file available by the link below:

http://www.acronis.com/files/support/mbrautowrite_en.exe

Once the floppy is written, boot the computer from it and confirm that you want to fix the master boot record.

You do NOT need to copy this file to diskette. Just launch it from hard disk (or any media) with the diskette inserted.

2. Using CD. Please use the following ISO image to create a special CD:

http://www.acronis.com/files/support/mbrautowrite_en.iso

You can read how to record a CD with an ISO image at the following links:

http://trb.org/publications/burning_iso.html
(Nero Burning ROM and Roxio Easy CD Creator)

http://iso.snoekonline.com/iso.htm
http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm
(other applications)

Once the CD is written, boot the computer from it and confirm that you want to fix the master boot record.

If these utilities do not help you in resolving the described problem then please create Acronis Report in the way described below:

- Download and run Acronis Report Utility;
- Select the "Create Bootable Floppy" option;
- Insert a blank floppy disk in the A: drive and proceed with creation of the bootable floppy;
- Boot the computer from this diskette and wait for report creation process to finish;
- Collect the report file from the floppy.

Please create an account, then log in and submit a request for technical support. Attach the collected report.txt file to your request along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken before the problem appears and the link to this thread.

We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with the solution, so if you send us the above mentioned report then you will certainly be a big help to us in resolving this issue.

Thank you.
--
Kirill Omelchenko