Altos G330 MK2 server with Windows 2003 Server Edition is booting into EFI Shell

Hi.

We have a legacy Altos G330 server that has been sitting around gathering dust for a few years, but we now realise that it has an expensive software license key that we would like to use on another machine. To do this we need to boot the server into Windows 2003; run the piece of software; and deactivate the license over the internet via a utility the software provides. We will then be able to activate the license elsewhere.

However, when we started the G330, it doesn't boot into Windows (even if we use a rescue CD) but instead boots into EFI Shell despite the boot sequence being CD-ROM/Harddisk/[EFI Shell] in the BIOS. The shell displays a Device Mapping Table showing blk entries for the four HDD disks and the CDROM. It also has an fs0 entry pointing to the CDROM.

As per instructions I found on the internet, I can change to fs0: and run cd \EFI\BOOT and ls to find BOOTX64.EFI, but I cannot run it as it returns 'BOOTX64.EFI' not found - Exit status code: Invalid Parameter

I just need to boot into safe mode once. Can anyone assist me please?

Thanks.

Accepted answers

All comments

billsey

There should be an option in the BIOS to use a legacy boot instead of UEFI. Windows server 2003 doesn't understand UEFI... If I were to make a guess I'd guess the CMOS battery died and left a corrupted configuration.

Kistle

Thanks for your response Billsey. I think you are right about the CMOS battery and the corrupted configuration. When we first powered on the machine after it had been sitting around a while the date and time were back at their defaults and we had to reset them so it would seem to indicate that the battery was struggling.

I can't find any legacy boot option in the BIOS though to stop booting into EFI shell.

We have bought replacement CMOS batteries but installing one doesn't seem to make a difference to the booting sequence as it still boots into the EFI shell. Any ideas how we could recover from a corrupted configuration?

billsey

You should be able to boot into the BIOS and a reset from there. IIRC you use F10 to get the boot menu, then select 'enter setup' to get the BIOS.

Kistle

There wasn't a reset option in the BIOS menu, but I did find in the manual that there is a CMOS RAM reset jumper on the motherboard which seemed to reset the BIOS. I then reset the BIOS to their default values, which all looked correct, but it still booted into the EFI shell.

The only thing that didn't go as per the manual instructions was when I powered up after moving the jumper - it was supposed to boot to the point where the machine beeps after which I was to shut it down again, replace the jumper into its original position and boot up again. In my case it didn't boot at all when I moved the jumper, but when I got into the BIOS menu after changing the jumper back and rebooting again, it said that the BIOS had been reset through the jumper, so I am not sure if that is an issue or not.

billsey

OK, can you boot into the Server 2003 install media? If not, when you are at the command line can your run diskpart to see how the drives, volumes and partitions are setup?

Kistle

I have sent the machine to an Acer approved repair specialist, so I will wait to see what they can do. I don't hold out a lot of hope as they are saying they will do a cursory inspection only as it is out of warranty. If they can't sort it I will pick your suggestion up when I get it back.