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I'm currently attempting to install CentOS 6.3 on an IBM System x3650 M3 server using a 8GB USB boot drive that has been created using iso2usb for CentOS/RedHat.

During the installation process, when it comes time to setup partitioning, if any of the automated options are selected, an error occurs (could not find enough free space for automatic partitioning). If I instead choose a manual setup, then I find that the installer is attempting to partition the USB drive, and not the machine's virtual memory as desired.

I've attempted to Google the problem, and while I've found many with problems installing CentOS, I've yet to find any information that applies here.

Any help that you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Uwe Keim
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Taylor Hx
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    Select your storage device during the installation. If you don't have an option to do so, then your hard drive was probably not detected, and you need drivers for your HBA. – Michael Hampton Feb 21 '13 at 04:38
  • Thats entirely possible, since this machine has been sitting around for some time now, gathering dust, and was bought second hand in the first place (before I got my hands on it, so my knowledge of the circumstances is limited). Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a new hand to sysadmin work, so my knowledge and experience is extremely limited. – Taylor Hx Feb 21 '13 at 05:22
  • Additional info: I have now attempted to boot using a LiveUSB created using the UNetbootin utility [[link](http://sourceforge.net/projects/unetbootin/?source=dlp)], but upon boot from this LiveUSB, a kernel panic occurs. I have also tried to install Ubuntu Server, but encountered so many errors during installation I abandoned that almost immediately. – Taylor Hx Feb 25 '13 at 05:01
  • Figuring now that it has something to do with the default RAID configuration, I attempted to access the MegaRAID WebBIOS to reconfigure my RAID array. When I press Ctrl+H after being prompted, I am told that WebBIOS will open after POST. However, POST never seems to finish and the system hangs on a screen indicating that a boot floppy should be inserted. – Taylor Hx Feb 25 '13 at 06:40
  • You've clearly got hardware....issues. Fortunately identical RAID cards, or similar enough that they can import the existing RAID array, can be found for cheap on eBay... – Michael Hampton Feb 25 '13 at 06:45

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Turns out, the previous owners of this system wiped the system's RAID configuration when they reformatted the machine.

Resetting the server to factory defaults in the BIOS, then booting in recovery mode recovered the lost RAID drivers, and allowed me to reconfigure the RAID to my liking.

I'd just like to thank Michael Hampton for his help, as it got me thinking about the machine's firmware, eventually leading me to the answer.

Taylor Hx
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