Resolved: IDRAC Drive Error Either Virtual Media is detached or redirection for the selected virtual disk drive is already in use

I haven't used Dell servers much in an enterprise environment, so working with their IDRAC (Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller) controllers was a little new to me. So when I got the error message below when trying to mount an ISO, I was a little confused at first.

Drive ErrorEither Virtual Media is detached or Virtual Media redirection for the selected virtual disk drive is already in use.

I guess it just comes down to sloppy navigation in my mind. You have to go to a completely different screen to "attach the virtual media" before you can mount an ISO.

Resolution:

1. In IDRAC, click on "System" in the far left column.
2. Then, click on the "Console/Media" tab.
3. Then, click on "Configuration".
4. Then, select "Attach" in the "Status" row under "Virtual Media".
5. And finally, apply your changes.

You should now be able to mount an ISO as you would expect to be able to.

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Resolved: Error message Windows is unable to install to the selected location. Error: 0x80300001 after loading additional drivers

There is a very misleading/deceptive error that you might run into when installing various versions of the Windows operating system. It typically happens when you load additional drivers for raid controllers, fiber cards, SCSI controllers, etc. That error is:

Error: "Windows is unable to install to the selected location. Error: 0x80300001."

When you get this error you will most likely get it for every available hard drive. Why? Because the error doesn't actually have anything to do with the disk that you are trying to install the OS too. It is complaining because the OS install CD is no longer in the drive because you took it out to load the drivers!

Resolution: Put the OS install CD back in the CD drive!

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How to Turn On Debug Logging for Group Policy

When you are troubleshooting group policy issues, it's helpful to turn on some additional logging. Unfortunately, it's not just a simple switch you turn on. You have to know what you are doing to get those logs.

1. Open regedit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
2. Create a subkey named "Diagnostics"
3. Create a new DWORD value under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Diagnostics named "GPSvcDebugLevel" (this is case sensitive)
4. Set the value of GPSvcDebugLevel to 0x00030002
5. Create the "usermode" directory under %windir%\debug\
6. You can run "gpupdate /force", but I prefer to reboot so you get a clean log as the policies are applied under normal circumstances.
7. Your new log is at %windir%\debug\usermode\Gpsvc.log

When you are done, change the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Diagnostics|GPSvcDebugLevel to 0x00000000 to disable the debug log or else it will continue to grow.

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