Want to install Server 2012 on PowerEdge 1800

2012 is not officially supported on 8G systems (1800, 2850, etc. - but it is not officially supported on 9G systems either).  That doesn't mean it won't work ... just that Dell Support will not guarantee an resolution when installing or troubleshooting issues and they won't be providing any necessary drivers.

First, make sure that you are using a DVD drive and not a CD drive ... DVD media was not very common when the 1800 was shipping.  If it is indeed a DVD drive, you could try reseating it, but if that doesn't work, then you'd either need to replace it or just install from USB.

First issue you are sure to encounter is the storage driver (probably/hopefully the PERC 4e/DC, as some other controllers are not supported at all) ... Windows will not find any drives to install to - without 2012 drivers, you will need to use the 2008R2 drivers instead.  Remember that the PERC's do not support non-RAID, so you MUST configure RAID prior to attempting an install, or even with the right driver, no drives will be seen.

Also keep in mind that, while the processors in an 1800 should all be 64-bit, none of them will support VT, so you will not be able to use Hyper-V.

I got to the point of installing the 2008R2 drivers and it simply came up with a blank page. I did uncheck Hide drivers that are not compatible. If I check it, none show up...and I tried the 4e/DC and others for grins. Unless I find some that are "compatible" I suspect this is a useless effort. Any other source of drivers?

It depends ... which controller do you have?

Here is what I have:

LSI LOGIC / DELL - PERC4/DC DUAL CHANNEL ULTRA320 SCSI RAID CONTROLLER WITH 128 MB CACHE (PCBX518-B1).

The 4/DC is not supported even on 2008R2, so 2012 is probably a lost cause.  You could try the 2003x64 driver, as some have reported it to work [with 2008R2] - if I remember correctly (although I don't know how stable it will be), but if not, then you would need a different controller ... the 4e/DC, using the 2008R2 driver.

I am using an IDE DVD drive with my Poweredge 1800. I would make sure it is enabled in the BIOS. I have also tried to install Server 2012 and haven't had any luck... I get stuck on Windows is loading files... The bar goes all the way across... and it just sits there... I am using a Perc6 RAID card with SATA HDDs and 2x 64-bit Intel® Xeon® Processor 3.20 GHz, 2M Cache, 800 MHz FSB SL8P5 processors 5GBs of DDR2-3200R Ram.

Have you tried installing via USB?  Have you tried the DVD on another system to make sure the image/disc is good?

So I found the answer to my issue. I tried server 2012, 2008R2, 2008, and all had the same issue with locking up after the files loaded.

I removed the Perc 6/i RAID card and attempted again... Success. After the Server 2012 was installed, I was able to boot the OS from the HDD that was plugged into the Motherboard SATA port (set to ATA in BIOS)... It appears when there is a RAID card plugged into the Mobo when trying to install windows, the installation will not start... However, after the OS is installed, I can re-install the RAID card and use the HDDs that are on the card... Install just doesn't like add-on RAID cards I guess.

No ... I have installed DOZENS and DOZENS of systems with 2008R2 with "add-on" cards (most with a PERC 6/i), and one with a PERC 6/i and 2012 ... had to have been a driver issue or an issue with the method used.