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Windows Server 2012 R2 install on Dell R520 - boot order issue

Installing Windows Server 2012 R2 on a Dell PowerEdge R520. Initially had problems with the “We couldn’t create a new partition or locate an existing one” error. Fixed by going into the bios and changing the boot order so that the internal SD card module came second rather than first (which was needed to make it boot from the SD cards).

Permissions for scm-manager repository directory (.deb install)

For new server mounted storage volume at /var/lib/scm to fit with scm-manager defaults on Debian. Note – need to give the scm user permissions to this if the install doesn’t create the directory first!

Booting from dual SD card module on Dell R520

Installed FreeNAS 9.3 on Kingston Ultimate 16 Gb cards on dual SD module in Dell R520 (took ages – so did card synchronisation when first inserted). Came up as boot device missing initially on reboot. Changed hard drive order in the bios to put SD cards first and it booted ok.

Lenovo laptops freezing issues - WiDi driver

Had a new X240 that gave lots of problems when going to sleep. A factory restore sorted some of the issues, but not all – the system would bluescreen on entering sleep mode. Uninstalling the Intel WiDi software seemed to fix it, and also let the wifi work properly on a home router.

RAID Monitoring: PERC H710 Mini and Debian

Debian 7 works with the PERC H710 Mini in a Dell R520 out of the box. To monitor this however you need a binary from LSI. Helpfully, this comes in a packaged form from http://hwraid.le-vert.net/wiki/DebianPackages

http://blog.mattandanne.org/2012/01/hardware-raid-controllersrequire.html pointed me in the right direction. To install, add the repo in a .list file:

deb http://hwraid.le-vert.net/debian wheezy main

and then add the key:

wget -O - http://hwraid.le-vert.net/debian/hwraid.le-vert.net.gpg.key | apt-key add -

Update the repository lists, and then install the relevant package:

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