The cluster service failed to start due a miniport adapter initialization failure

Correct any problems with the physical network adapters and the cluster virtual adapter. If a previous change in the configuration is interfering with the function of the cluster virtual adapter, it might be necessary to reinstall the failover clustering feature on the node.

If you do not currently have Event Viewer open, see "Opening Event Viewer and viewing events related to failover clustering." If the event contains an error code that you have not yet looked up, see "Finding more information about error codes that some event messages contain."

To perform the following procedures, you must be a member of the local Administrators group on the server, or you must have been delegated the equivalent authority.

Opening Device Manager and checking adapters used by the failover cluster

To open Device Manager and check adapters used by the failover cluster:

1. To open Server Manager, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
2. In the console tree, expand Diagnostics and then click Device Manager.
3. In the center pane, expand Network adapters.
4. Right-click the listing for one of the physical adapters on the cluster node, and then click Properties. On the General tab, review the Device status. Repeat this for each of the physical adapters in the cluster.
5. Still in Device Manager, click View and then select Show Hidden Devices.
6. In the center pane, under Network adapters, confirm that the Microsoft Failover Cluster Virtual Adapter is listed.
7. If the Microsoft Failover Cluster Virtual Adapter is listed, right-click it and then click Properties. On the General tab, review the Device status.
8. Using the information gathered in the previous steps, correct any problems with the physical network adapters used by the cluster node.

If other solutions do not correct the configuration problem, it might be necessary to reinstall the failover clustering feature on the node.

Opening Event Viewer and viewing events related to failover clustering

To open Event Viewer and view events related to failover clustering:

1. If Server Manager is not already open, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
2. In the console tree, expand Diagnostics, expand Event Viewer, expand Windows Logs, and then click System.
3. To filter the events so that only events with a Source of FailoverClustering are shown, in the Actions pane, click Filter Current Log. On the Filter tab, in the Event sources box, select FailoverClustering. Select other options as appropriate, and then click OK.
4. To sort the displayed events by date and time, in the center pane, click the Date and Time column heading.

Finding more information about the error codes that some event messages contain

To find more information about the error codes that some event messages contain:

1. View the event, and note the error code.
2. Look up more information about the error code in one of two ways:
   • Search System Error Codes ( http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83027).
   • Click Start, point to All Programs, click Accessories, click Command Prompt, and then type:

     NET HELPMSG errorcode

<Rule ID="Microsoft.Windows.2008.Cluster.Management.Monitoring.The.cluster.service.failed.to.start.due.a.miniport.adapter.initialization.failure" Enabled="true" Target="Clus2008Library!Microsoft.Windows.2008.Cluster.Monitoring.Service" ConfirmDelivery="true" Remotable="true" Priority="Normal" DiscardLevel="100">

  <Category>Alert</Category>

  <DataSources>

    <DataSource ID="DS" TypeID="Microsoft.Windows.2008.Cluster.EventProvider">

      <Criteria>

        <SimpleExpression>

          <ValueExpression>

            <XPathQuery>EventDisplayNumber</XPathQuery>

          </ValueExpression>

          <Operator>Equal</Operator>

          <ValueExpression>

            <Value>4871</Value>

          </ValueExpression>

        </SimpleExpression>

      </Criteria>

      <LogName>System</LogName>

      <PublisherName>Microsoft-Windows-FailoverClustering</PublisherName>

    </DataSource>

  </DataSources>

  <WriteActions>

    <WriteAction ID="WA" TypeID="ClusLibrary!Microsoft.Windows.Cluster.GenerateAlertAction.SuppressedByDescription">

      <Priority>1</Priority>

      <Severity>2</Severity>

      <AlertMessageId>$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.Windows.2008.Cluster.Management.Monitoring.The.cluster.service.failed.to.start.due.a.miniport.adapter.initialization.failure.AlertMessage"]$</AlertMessageId>

    </WriteAction>

  </WriteActions>

</Rule>