Dell Powedge 1950 was working fine, was shutdown for relocation and then won't boot. Perc sees the drives but when trying to read the OS get the error No boot device available strike f1 to retry reboot.

what OS?
what disk?
no raid card stated, no array stated, no type of array stated.
One can put 100s of RAID cards in this server.
both raid cards or HBA cards,(forJBOD)
i can fix any server, but first need to know what is in the box first
you meant the boot disk has errors, right,? boot.
that would tell me the disk IS BAD.
but if and ARRAY , that means you must run SMART tests
on the disks, 1 by 1 to find the bad disk.
if smart shows its bad, or weak its for sure BAD.
on real servers. the server sends you email, (set up right)
telling you disk 3 in a RAID 6 is bad, replace it now.

are you running hardware or software raid, or HBA or
fake raid cards, (4 classes there.!)

the base system new has.
4 port SAS 5/i integrated SAS controller (no RAID_
and optional, from DELL , news.
Optional PERC 5/i integrated SAS/SATA daughtercard controller with 256MB cache,
PERC 4e/DC, PERC 5/e adapter

or any of 1000s of other aftermarket cards there.
I run LSI 9361s (with MSM appl loaded)
this card will tell you what disk failed every time no kidding.
so will the PERCs setup correctly
the PERCs and my LSI and my HP raids
all have installed monitors for the RAID ,a program that runs full time all the time, and reports errors , many ways,
did you load that first and use it? seems not.
as no mention of SMART at all.
good luck.
Im not sure the names on DELL , MSM like software.
ah its OSA
never run a PERC lacking this APP. or you can not keep the server on line,.

http://www.dell.com/support/search/us/en/04#q=Dell%20OpenManage%20Server%20Administrator&sort=relevancy&f:langFacet=[en]

Go into BIOS Setup.
In Boot Options set the first boot device to CDROM.
Put the disk in the optical drive tray, close the tray.

Dell what?
What is the model number?
This is found on the bottom of the laptop.

http://www.wikihow.com/Set-Bios-to-Boot-from-a-CD-ROM

Post back in a Comment.

Regards,
joecoolvette

a waste of time and effort installing win xp on anything as it is no longer supported by Microsoft and had real problems with drivers for just about everything
install win 10 and it will work

Try this one first.
Boot to F8 then select Last Known Good Configuration.
If fail boot back to F8 then Safe Mode.
In safe mode try to do system restore from the time system was working fine.
After that everything will be fine.

> black screen & flashing cursor ...

Damaged boot-record on the disk-drive???

Was it configured to try to boot from 'A:' ?
Disconnect the hard-drive & CD/DVD drives.
Put a diskette into the drive, and see if it tries to find a boot-record on the diskette.
If it tries, then it has P.O.S.T.'d correctly.

> no beep codes

When it worked, did it beep _once_ when P.O.S.T. completed?

Taking out the RAM _should_ cause some beep codes, i.e., "no RAM".

> anyone?

Replace the monitor?

Replace a dead video-card?
Or, add-in a video-card, and connect a monitor to it, leaving the original monitor connected to the original video-card. One of the two displays should show the P.O.S.T.

What RAID controller are you using? Also, you must first configure RAID in CTRL-C (SAS 5/6) or CTRL-R (PERC 5/6) before even loading the driver will help.

You are not too clear, however I'll take a guess ..

1) Booting from CD ... older CD drives fitted to PE26xx range do not recognize Windows 2003 bootable install CD's .. the TS-L462C (a laptop drive) should be compatible with the PE 2650 (I know it works in my 2600)

2) Installing the Operating System onto the PERC SCSI Array drives .. a total pain .. with older OS (Windows 2000) you can use the 4 x floppy disk set to install and hit (F6 ? as I recall) to tell it to 'load a 3rd party driver' ... get the PERC drivers from the Dell site.

Alternative = toss the useless Tape Drive and install a set of SATA drives in the same space (a 3 drive Hot Swap caddy eclosure will fit = Icy Box or StarTech) .. you will need a PCI RAID card (such as Si3124) since the M'Bd has nothing but a combined floppy/TapeDrive IDE interfafce.

3) Finally, be aware that this is a SERVER level box .. spare parts & Dell 'official' upgrades are going to cost you an arm & a leg = and don't even ask what the special 'ECC parity' Memory sticks cost :-)

When a Dell server beeps in every 3-5 second that mean it comes from Raid controller.
Dell calls PERC Controller.
It usually reason of a disk failure.

Install open manage server administrator on your server.
See which disks are failed ?

Try to run Power edge diagnostics on the failed disk.
If it passes the test reseat the disk.
if it fails disk has to be replaced with a new one.
If passes the quick test, reseat the disk and update disk + perc firmware and driver to the latest level. that will solve the problem!!

99% beeping comes from perc controller because of a failed HDD

cheers

Hi

Besides standard beeps codes indicating Processor, CPU, Memory or Systemboard failures,
Dell PERC (PowerEdge Expandable Raid Controller) or SAS Controllers (Serial Attached SCSI) generate beeps to alert failures on the RAID sub-system.

From your description of the issues (when the beeps start), i suggest you check PERC or SAS setup. If you have Dell OpenManage Server Administrator installed, you can log-in and check for more information. Additionally, on the next reboot check the PERC/SAS/CERC boot up for any messages. You may also access the PERC (Ctrl+M), SAS (Ctrl+R) CERC (Ctrl+A) Management Menu for specific failures and attempt a rebuild (assuming you have a redundant RAID Volume).

You can also speak with Dell Support and raise a warranty call if the system has warranty.

Note: PowerEdge 840 would ship with PERC or SAS Controller. PowerEdge 700 will ship with PERC or CERC.

Mike

Same solution as posted before if you need to boot from a DVD: take a Dell laptop CD/DVD combo drive, remove the screws and all and exchange the PowerVault CD drive unit with it. Same internal connector. Can't remember what model I stuck in, but I had to keep the front panel of the drive since it was slightly different, I probably could have glued it, but.... That's a server machine no one is ever going to see but me! :)

That also gave me a CD-Burner which is a decent addition in case you need to quickly burn a CD/make a backup/boot disk (like a "ultimate Windows CD" boot to fix anything that could go wrong).