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BIG BIG PROBLEM... EXCHANGE SERVER NOW BLUE SCREENING

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reynolwi

reynolwi

IS-IT--Management
Sep 7, 2006
452
US
ok i ran Exbpa and found a few problems that have surfaced and fixed them and rebooted exchange and now its blue screening saying unmountable_boot_volume. I can not get into sfe mode and last known configuration does not work. I can not get it to boot into any option on the boot options page.

What the heck is going on? I have a backup from Feb 27 which is the last backup i can find on this but i do not know what all it backed up.

I have a serious feeling im in a pretty deep hole right now. HELP SOMEBODY

Wm. Reynolds
RRWDS | TxPSS


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Hi, do you know what you 'fixed'?
Is this on raid? If so is it mirrored or raid 5? Is your exchange data on the same drive as the OS?

If at all possible (if the drive is stand alone or mirrored) I'd take an image of the drive before doing anything and keep it safe.

Have you tried booting into the recovery console and using the fixboot command, running a chkdsk etc.

Of course goes without saying take a backup next time before doing any 'fixing'.

Adrian Paris
- Tech forum only Google search, find answers faster by not searching the junk.
 
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Hi,

Firstly is the servers disk and RAID sets ok? i.e. no red lights on disks at front. If so your data is probably still intact on the drives.

I expect one of these fixes has caused a problem with the drivers used by windows or altered the boot files.

If you have a bootable CD with the SCSI drivers for you server you should be able to boot off this and as a minimum access your raw data. For this you could use ERD Commander but for a free version check out 'Bart PE'. You can download the app which creates a bootable cd using Windows XP. Read the online instructions to download and install the correct SCSI drivers when you create the disk. A tip if you have a HP Proliant DL380 G5 model. The win2003 scsi drivers wont work so use the win2000 ones.


If you can restore the systems boot files to another location then replace the ones on the server once booted with a recoery CD (as above) this may fix.

Worse case you ghost off the data using the boot cd. Build a new server and install exchange using the /disasterrecovery switch. then copy over your dbs or alternatively restore if your back was good.

Cheers,

Steve

PS Good Luck.
 
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its not raid at the moment. i have it booted after an all night session with recovery console and i lost a sata port for some reason. the only settings that were changed were exchange settings like directory access and stuff like that. it said the paging file was to big and i reset that as well but nothing else was changed.

I am now have major issues trying to get it to communicate with the local ad server here at this site. It keeps wanting to connect to the remote dc in another site. I am going to replace the NIC most likely because i am thinking the NIC is having issues.

I am seriously thinking of replacing this server and just start from sratch. We are getting a newer server in that is suppose to replace the current DC here at this site but im thinking of using that to replace this exchange server and then working on the problems with this one and then using it for the domain controller.

Wm. Reynolds
RRWDS | TxPSS


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ok i had to manually set the directory access information in exchange to see the local server. when i run exbpa it is saying it can not contact the domain controller, but exchange is still running and i havent seen any errors in the logs as of yet. Someone give me some input on what i should do next. I know i will probably go ahead and replace the nic and go at it like that. Should i go ahead and replace the exchange server with the server that we are buying and just start kind of from sratch?

Wm. Reynolds
RRWDS | TxPSS


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Hi,

If your server is logging onto the wrong DC i.e. one in a different site then you should check the following before ripping out any NICs.

Make sure your primary DNS is pointing to the correct server.

Make sure your Primary DNS suffux is correct.

Check the IP-Subnet configuration of your sites in AD Sites and Services.

Check the following registry value: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameters\DynamicSiteName

Verify your DNS records using nslookup see:
Use DCdiag on your DC to check the health of your domain if above fails.

Cheers,

Steve
 
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i have checked everything and did the nslookup and it all is resloving like it should be. It shows 3 domain controllers with their correct ips in the nslookup query. the exchange server registry value is the correct site entry. the primary dns is correct and the dns suffix is set to append primary and connection specific dns suffixs.

i had to fix my vpn tunnel that went down but after that i did run dcdiag on the local domain controller here as well and everything passed.

I updated the nic this morning with newer drivers after the recovery console finished and it booted to the newest version offered by intel. The nic is the onboard nic and its a Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop adapter. Im thinking of getting the Intel PRO/1000 MT Server Adapter either in the single or dual port version. The current exchange server is a dell precision 360 and its current on all its updates and the drivers are all up to date. I did a microsoft update scan and it didnt find any hardware that was out of date.

Wm. Reynolds
RRWDS | TxPSS


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On the DC you wish it to connect to can you check that it is resolving the exchnage server correctly i.e. its not talking to it on a DHCP address or any other address.

Can you browse between the DC and Exchange server i.e. \\servername\c$ or by \\server_ip_address\c$

You may be best as you say to build a new exchange server on the new box in the same exchange site and organisation. Then try to move mailboxes from the original server to your new server (right click on user in AD > exchange tasks > move mailbox).

Cheers,

Steve
 
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i checked on both the exchange and domain controller and both are resolving the names of each other. I can open the c drive of the other using the server name or static ip address without any problems. I pinged both of them using server name and ip address and made it resolve the ip address.

I am ordering a new NIC and am going to have it just in case i need it. Im going to keep watching this server. I still want to know why i can not get it to auto discover the domain controllers it needs for exchange to run.

Wm. Reynolds
RRWDS | TxPSS


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Hi,

Sorry I've lost track of this one. What is the current state of the Exchange server now? Can the users access their mailbox or is Exchnage not running?

The error generated using EXBPA regarding the domain controller could you post that here? Are there any related event IDs in the app logs?

Cheers,

Steve
 
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the exchange server is up and running smoothly. right now the only problems i am seeing is the recipient update service did not process all changes and that DSAccess is hardcoded. Its telling me that there is only a single gc and thats because its hardcoded right now. Im not about to attempt to set it back to auto until i am sure that nothing else is going to happen.

Wm. Reynolds
RRWDS | TxPSS


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ok, i have the server basically back where it was. The errors and reciepient update service are back running without problems. Should i go ahead and risk setting the DSAccess back to auto and see what it does? I have a new NIC ordered because while i was cleaning the server yesterday i noticed that it was damaged. It doesnt hold the cable in place anymore. The little tabs that hold the cable back are damaged. I do not know how that happened but im thinking this might be the problem.

Wm. Reynolds
RRWDS | TxPSS


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Is this the same server from your thread "Serious problems and exchange becomes unresponsive"? If so, this discovery of the damaged NIC certainly explains the connectivity issue I pointed out in my 7 Feb replay to that post. I would set DSAccess back to auto.



XMSRE
 
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it is the same exchange server as that thread. i have ordered a new NIC... Intel Pro/1000 MT dual server adapter. I might wait until it gets in to switch it back to auto because our new server is suppose to be here this week and im going to hope to get it online before monday.

Wm. Reynolds
RRWDS | TxPSS


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