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nickhammon...
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BEST ANSWER  decided by votes   |  nickhammond  |  June 30, 2009 02:54 PM
This question might be better addressed over at http://serverfault.com

It's very similar to mahalo answers but specifically for system admins and servers.

Voted as best: krysstel
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robbrown
robbrown  |  June 30, 2009 03:10 PM
There may be a sysadmin or two around here who can help ;)

Serverfault is a good Q&A site. I can't knock it. However, if some of the Serverfault folks noticed that here on Mahalo you can make money for answering questions... that might change things a bit.
robbrown
2
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robbrown  |  June 30, 2009 03:09 PM
Error 0x0000007B points to an elusive system bus error.
Remember that the bus connects everything and solutions you'll find online will range from hard drive problems to cables to ram. 7B may be Windows' way of telling you to get a coffee and toss some Irish Cream in there because you're in for a challenge.

Do you have the latest bios version installed?

If so....

The easiest / quickest fix for this is to replace the replace the motherboard. However, you're using a Dell so this may not be the best course of action.

It sounds like you've don't a top-shelf job of diagnosing. Here are a few other things to try.

1)
"I have Two precision T3400s and both of them had the exact same error."

This problem could be caused by an IRQ or DMA conflict. Remove everything from the computer except for the RAM, Hard Drive and Video Card. If the video card is embedded into the motherboard, find an old / spare video card, disable the video card onboard in bios or using the jumper on the motherboard and use the old (simple) one. Also, disable the sound card if it is onboard.

Install SBS and if the error does not repeat, remove the video card and enable the stock one. Install again to verify this was the error. If not, add the next component you removed.

2)
Wipe the disk. Use the manufacturers software to boot from a safe (virus free) environment and completely format the drive. Windows will often give you all sorts of odd (almost random) messages if a virus is interfering and is loaded into the boot sector. Sometimes disk management software also gets in the way.

3)
Call Dell.

Yuck. This is of course the last resort. However, you've already spent a good amount of time diagnosing this problem, have even tried a second machine and have duplicated the error.

Your conversation with them will likely be quick. Since you were able to recreate the problem, they likely have the issue documented and may even have a fix.

I don't like calling Dell anymore than anyone else does... however, putting up with the flow chart maze until someone will listen to you is sometimes the quickest path for problems that shouldn't (for any good reason) exist. I find that when the support tech gets on the phone it is helpful to quote your certification number(s) so that they know they're not dealing with a home user.

voted helpful: sysaaron, dannyjohnson

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aleghart
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aleghart  |  July 01, 2009 12:46 AM
The T3400 is a low-level workstation built for Vista. The RAID drivers available for this model are written for Windows XP for the 6i controller. You did not state that you had this controller installed. Is it?

The only other controller drivers I see are Intel Matrix Storage Manager, which is software for the on-board SATA controller. Again, written for XP.

Generally (I say "generally" because this is what I do in my work), the RAID array should be built before any OS. That way, a new volume is presented to the installer. The OS does not know what RAID type...nor does it care. It's just a usable volume. If your RAID configuration is software-only after the OS is installed, you are fighting an uphill battle.

Since you are in troubleshooting mode, have you tried installing on just one drive? After the OS loads and you can install appropriate drivers, you can setup your RAID 1 mirror.

If this works, then I suspect the controller and driver combo are not working with the SBS 2003 installer. XP drivers _should_ work with 2003...

I've SBS 2003, Server 2003, Server 2000, and XPP all installed on various Dell servers. Never had to install RAID or controller drivers. Just went to the RAID controller setup during POST. Set up the OS volume. Re-booted. Installed OS.
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