Conflicting PDCs on a SBS 4.5 install on NT 4.0

[MrDan]

I've just installed a new server running Small Business Server (SBS) 4.5 and NT Server 4.0. I'm already<br>
running a multiple server domain with a PDC and 6 BDCs (remote locations on the WAN). <br>
I've installed this SBS server about<br>
three times now, and nowhere during the install does it ask if I want it to be a PDC or a BDC. It<br>
does ask about the name of the domain, then it just assumes it is the PDC. Of course, the<br>
current PDC isn't very happy about this and now I've got elections every time something changes.<br>
I've gone into server manager and demoted the SBS server to a BDC and that seemed to work,<br>
except when I go into event viewer on the SBS, I get a message the my PDC and the SBS server both claim<br>
to be PDCs, and to please remove one of the servers because they have different security<br>
identifiers(SIDS). I've installed this sever stand alone, I've installed it hooked to the network, I've<br>
tried promoting it to the PDC but the sync. fails. Any ideas on how I can get this thing to<br>
demote? I've looked to try and find a Registry entry to edit but I can't find any reference to being<br>
the PDC vs. BDC except for one about being the master browser and I've already tried that one,<br>
no luck. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. btw, I didn't do the initial install on this<br>
computer. It was up and apparently working fine, although I hadn't looked at the even viewer.<br>
We then had some sort of crash that we had to rebuild from, the problem has been since the<br>
crash. The root drive was reformatted after the crash so I don't think we have any residual setting<br>
left over from it.<br>
<br>
Thanks for your help.<br>
<br>
Dan Moore<br>
<A HREF="mailto:mooredan@jddealer.com">mooredan@jddealer.com</A>

 

[damhna]

Is this a dell machine?<br>
<br>
They have a very unusal generic flavour of NT preloads.<br>
Unless you specifically request that you want the machine configured as a member when you buy then this will happen.<br>
The server assistant cd that they have has the bizzare preloadon it.<br>
<br>
Wipe the thing clean and use one of your other full version NT disks.Contatc Dell re the correct procedure to licence.<br>
<br>
This had me at my wits end for about 3 days and it took about 5 hours on the phone to get it figured out.<br>
<br>
You could also disable the browsing services and check the properties on your nic to ensure that its broadcast are kept down.<br>
<br>
Good luck <p>Paul O'Connor<br><a href=mailto:damhna@hotmail.com>damhna@hotmail.com</a><br><a href=

http://www.johnpaulconstruction.com>

</a><br>

 

[MrDan]

Although we do run some Dell laptops, this is an Acer machine and a straight retail version of small business server, purchased through my local computer vendor. I could disable browsing and broadcasts at the NIC but I've spent so much time on this thing already that it's a moral crusade now. Plus, we are going to be configuring Proxy and Exchange the 1st of December and I want this thing to be running correctly before we start adding new glitches.<br>
<br>
Thank you for your help. This is my first visit to this site, and I must say I plan on returning quite often.<br>
<br>
Dan Moore<br>
<A HREF="mailto:mooredan@jddealer.com">mooredan@jddealer.com</A>

 

[damhna]

Just reading the post again you would appear to have a real problem. I'm not too sure whats going on .<br>
You might ask th nice folks at <A HREF="

http://www.nowonder.com"

TARGET="_new">

http://www.nowonder.com</A>

or at <A HREF="

http://www.i386.com"

TARGET="_new">

http://www.i386.com</A>

<p>Paul O'Connor<br><a href=mailto:damhna@hotmail.com>damhna@hotmail.com</a><br><a href=

http://www.johnpaulconstruction.com>

</a><br>

 

[MrDan]

Well, I at least feel better that it's not just something stupid I overlooked. I'll check out your suggestions.<br>
<br>
Thanks.<br>
<br>
Dan

 

[waynemaples]

if the problem is the registry setting that determines whether a domain controller is a PDC or a BDC, check out<br>
<A HREF="

http://is-it-true.org/nt/registry/rtips94.shtml"

TARGET="_new">

http://is-it-true.org/nt/registry/rtips94.shtml</A>

which details how to manually demote a pdc. Situation you may need to handle when bdc across a wan gets promoted to pdc when the wan is down and then you have 2 pdcs when wan comes back. <br>
<br>
in any case that tips lists specific reg key and values used.<br>
<br>
-Wayne

 

[bjas]

Small Business Server always installs as Primary Domain Controller. It is not really designed for multiple server domains. Check out article Q200866 in M$ knowledgebase.

 

[MrDan]

Ok, I just got the correct answer from about three different places all at once. You are correct, SBS is ALWAYS the PDC. It's designed to be THE server in a SMALL BUSINESS. Duh, I'm just getting it now. Thank you for all your help. Now I've got a new question. I'm working on the SBS server trying to get it to promote to a PDC. I'll just let my current PDC hum merrily along as a BDC/DNS/DHCP server. Problem is, when I try and promote the SBS server, it won't synchronize the &quot;Built in&quot; user accounts so the promotion fails. I'm just starting to research this on Microsofts website but I thought I'd pass this along to anyone in case they've dealt with this before.<br>
<br>
Thanks again.<br>
<br>
Dan

 

[MrDan]

Paul,<br>
<br>
I mentioned earlier that I had received the answer from different places. One of which was <A HREF="

http://www.nowonder.com"

TARGET="_new">

http://www.nowonder.com</A>.

Thank you for mentioning them. A very good resource I was not aware of.<br>
<br>
Dan

 

[damhna]

Just a though but a manual copy of the Sam should do the trick <p>Paul O'Connor<br><a href=mailto:damhna@hotmail.com>damhna@hotmail.com</a><br><a href=

http://www.johnpaulconstruction.com>

</a><br>

 

[MrDan]

Just wanted to close this thread. I ended up rebuilding the PDC from scratch as a BDC, then set it up to synch with the remote BDCs. I then promoted one of the remote BDCs, synchronized everything, then promoted my local server back to being the PDC. Voila! All the user account info was back. I rebuilt the SBS server as a straight NT 4.0 server as a BDC and everything works fine now. I've got a copy of Backoffice coming so I'll have Exchange, Proxy, etc without all the PDC/BDC junk.<br>
<br>
Thanks again for all the help.<br>
<br>
Dan Moore