Server 2003 woes

O

oDii

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 18, 2006
Messages
169
I recently moved my Smoothwall machine (700MHz Celeron, 384MB SDRAM on an ASUS CUW-RM) to the Server 2003 trial to see what the otherside was like. Being pretty impressed, I decided to keep it for the full 180 days of the trial but have discovered some issues.

Namely, bluescreening. At seemingly random times during the day I'll find myself with no connection whatsoever, and a frozen remote desktop window (if I'm using it at the time). the minidumps pointed towards driver problems, so I had a looksie in the Device Manager window (after updating the motherboard's BIOS with the latest non-beta version I could find, 1013) and found this (which is the only noticeable problem):

2003-1.gif


Which leads on to:

2003-2.gif


Which leads to ipnat.sys, and this Microsoft knowledge base article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/834831/en-us. I would inquire about the hotfix, but the page notes:
Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.
Prerequisites
Click to expand...
and I don't feel like paying for Microsoft to tell me that it isn't the problem.

Here are the 3 most recent dumps from the system logs:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: System Error
Event Category: (102)
Event ID: 1003
Date: 6/25/2006
Time: 1:10:08 PM
User: N/A
Computer: DARKSIDE
Description:
Error code 0000007f, parameter1 0000000d, parameter2 00000000, parameter3 00000000, parameter4 00000000.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 53 79 73 74 65 6d 20 45 System E
0008: 72 72 6f 72 20 20 45 72 rror Er
0010: 72 6f 72 20 63 6f 64 65 ror code
0018: 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 37 0000007
0020: 66 20 20 50 61 72 61 6d f Param
0028: 65 74 65 72 73 20 30 30 eters 00
0030: 30 30 30 30 30 64 2c 20 00000d,
0038: 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 00000000
0040: 2c 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 , 000000
0048: 30 30 2c 20 30 30 30 30 00, 0000
0050: 30 30 30 30 0000
Click to expand...

Event Type: Error
Event Source: System Error
Event Category: (102)
Event ID: 1003
Date: 6/25/2006
Time: 1:09:26 PM
User: N/A
Computer: DARKSIDE
Description:
Error code 0000000a, parameter1 00dff030, parameter2 000000ff, parameter3 00000000, parameter4 80a7259c.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 53 79 73 74 65 6d 20 45 System E
0008: 72 72 6f 72 20 20 45 72 rror Er
0010: 72 6f 72 20 63 6f 64 65 ror code
0018: 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 0000000
0020: 61 20 20 50 61 72 61 6d a Param
0028: 65 74 65 72 73 20 30 30 eters 00
0030: 64 66 66 30 33 30 2c 20 dff030,
0038: 30 30 30 30 30 30 66 66 000000ff
0040: 2c 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 , 000000
0048: 30 30 2c 20 38 30 61 37 00, 80a7
0050: 32 35 39 63 259c
Click to expand...
Event Type: Error
Event Source: System Error
Event Category: (102)
Event ID: 1003
Date: 6/25/2006
Time: 1:08:38 PM
User: N/A
Computer: DARKSIDE
Description:
Error code 00000019, parameter1 00000020, parameter2 81f10008, parameter3 81f10f90, parameter4 0bf17008.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 53 79 73 74 65 6d 20 45 System E
0008: 72 72 6f 72 20 20 45 72 rror Er
0010: 72 6f 72 20 63 6f 64 65 ror code
0018: 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 31 0000001
0020: 39 20 20 50 61 72 61 6d 9 Param
0028: 65 74 65 72 73 20 30 30 eters 00
0030: 30 30 30 30 32 30 2c 20 000020,
0038: 38 31 66 31 30 30 30 38 81f10008
0040: 2c 20 38 31 66 31 30 66 , 81f10f
0048: 39 30 2c 20 30 62 66 31 90, 0bf1
0050: 37 30 30 38 7008
Click to expand...

Has anyone encountered such an error and resolved it without Microsoft intervention? Should I try a repair installation?
 
Back with Smoothwall. Last straw was when the ISA Server Firewall service crashed... yeah, it might have disabled the external connection but I can now see why companies need full time staff to manage Microsoft technologies.
 
oDii said:
Back with Smoothwall. Last straw was when the ISA Server Firewall service crashed... yeah, it might have disabled the external connection but I can now see why companies need full time staff to manage Microsoft technologies.
Click to expand...

I'm going to guess you had bad memory, or memory that was not 100% compatible..tested..and approved for your specific motherboard, a failing hard drive..or something faulty with hardware. I've built quiiiiite a few server in my time...on the few occasions there's issues like that, it's a hardware issue like a part that's failed. First rule of thumb though...install on top quality compatible parts, preferably ones that the OS will support in the first place. If it's the Asus you mentioned above...Windows NT has no business being on a Celery, and 384 megs of RAM..yeeeesh...that thing was living on pagefile if you just move the mouse.
 
I, like YeOldeStoneCat, have built quite a few servers in my time. Server 2003 is something my present employer relies very heavily on as a matter of fact and, with over two-hundred servers running it across out sites, I have yet to have a problem related strictly to the OS.

99% of the problems I have encountered in this specific niche are related to scratched or improperly burned CD media, bad memory, bad hard drives, bad memory on the raid card, a faulty processor, etc. i.e. Hardware problems.

One of the biggest problems in the SOHO/Small-Business segment is that people expect to have 100% uptime with cheap components. They do not understand the TCO and ROI concepts. But with that said I have setup 2K3 on boxes that left much to be desired and had them be very reliable...

It sounds like you either have some hardware problems or a bad install due to media or hard disk error. Try grabbing memtest86 and running a loop or two of it on the box sometime, even if you stay with a linux distro. It may also be useful to run and compare an md5 on the iso you downloaded, just like you would with your favorite linux distro.
 
I dunno guys... as a Smoothwall the machine is pretty much perfect - I've run it for months on end and memtested for 24 hours and it found nothing. I've tested and retested both the disk and CD - nada.

I will admit that trying to run 2k3 on a box that was really built for Linux was a bit optimistic and perhaps my comments regarding it where unnecessary (had been a long, frustrating night). This experience hasn't put me off running a Windows server and was in fact a good learning experience, but I guess I'll need to wait for July 23rd before trying it again...
 
oDii said:
I dunno guys... as a Smoothwall the machine is pretty much perfect - I've run it for months on end and memtested for 24 hours and it found nothing. I've tested and retested both the disk and CD - nada.

I will admit that trying to run 2k3 on a box that was really built for Linux was a bit optimistic and perhaps my comments regarding it where unnecessary (had been a long, frustrating night). This experience hasn't put me off running a Windows server and was in fact a good learning experience, but I guess I'll need to wait for July 23rd before trying it again...
Click to expand...

2K3 was definately crying on that machine. I would say double the ram and the mhz and try again.

You have to remember that smoothwall basically loads into memory on boot and it doesn't touch the hard drive. With only 384mb of ram 2K3 was living and breathing off of the pagefile. It would have been thrashing your hard drive 24/7.

I run my network behind 2 ipcop firewalls. (I have 2 internet connections) One of them has a hard drive that has bad sectors and gets a SMART failure on boot. IPCop runs flawlessly on it and it has been up for months, since like smoothwall it runs off of the ram and not the drive. Leave smoothwall up on that machine and test 2K3 on a beefier machine. My work is 100% 2K3 servers and I run one at home with exchange. I have never had a problem that wasn't due to some type of hardware problem. My current server (see sig) has 1gb of ram in it and there are still times that I start to rely a lot on the pagefile.
 
700mhz is very sufficient for a little 2k3 box
I ran it on a P1 233mmx@266 on the best Socket7 board money can buy :D lol
DFI something or other... UDMA 66, PC100, 4x AGP :D
it ran just fine, no problems (even with only 384mb mem). Was a bit slow at running my network backup and stuff... and was no speed demon.... but ran pretty decently :)

I agree... I think you have a hardware problem or bad installation due to media.
 
700mhz and 384mb RAM is fine for 2003. As stated, it won't be a speed demon. But, it will run just fine.
 
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