WeGotServed has the scoop on an announcement from HP stating that it will no longer void your warranty to perform the RAM upgrade that is so popular for the MediaSmart Server. From the announcement:
Based on customer feedback, HP will now offer a path for consumers to upgrade the memory on the HP MediaSmart Server without voiding the hardware warranty. HP customer feedback and research shows that some customers are installing multiple add-ins and/or additional software to the MediaSmart Server, which can lead to a need for additional memory.
Details
Upgrading the memory, in and of itself, will not void the warranty on the MediaSmart Server. Damage to any part of the MediaSmart Server during the upgrade may violate the warranty, however, leaving the cost for repairs the responsibility of the customer. Customers should perform a backup to an external device before adding additional memory.
HP is only providing information on a customer memory upgrade path at this time, and customers will not be able to send their MediaSmart Server to HP to perform the upgrade. Customers may be able to find technical assistance for the memory upgrade, however HP is not recommending or training authorized resellers to conduct the memory upgrade on a MediaSmart Server. HP has not qualified any particular DIMMs, but compatible memory includes 1GB or 2GB – DDR2 667 MHz DIMMs. Customers should not upgrade beyond 2 GB of memory. Other than disk drives, HP does not support any other hardware upgrade paths, such as processor upgrades, on the MediaSmart Server.
This is a very good thing, in my opinion. So many people were performing this mod (with very little risk given the wealth of excellent tutorials available across the internet), and the performance improvement is nothing short of amazing, especially after the recent 1.3 update from HP that delivers the Packet Video and McAfee Add-Ins.
You can read the full scoop at WGS here, and discuss in our forums here.
Article by Alex Kuretz
I'm Alex Kuretz, and I'm the founder of MediaSmartServer.net. I was the Lead Test and Integration Engineer at HP for the MediaSmart Server until April 2008 when I moved on to other opportunities outside HP. I've kept active in the Windows Home Server community, creating several add-ins and helping users make the most of their Home Servers.
{ 6 comments }
Well, I did the RAM upgrade on my new EX475 and broke the, I’ll call it one of the eight capacitors, on the back plane. Having trouble getting the solder to stay, so I need to replace the back plane. Advise?
Thank You,
Jim
Hi Jim,
I’m really sorry to hear that. While I’ve never broken the capacitor, I do know that the backplanes can be kind of tricky to remove. Unfortunately HP does not offer this as a replacement part. I’d probably suggest posting on the forums here and explain your situation with a picture if possible. We’ve got some very talented members that may be able to offer tips on getting the solder to work, or someone may even live in your area and be willing to help.
Alternate solutions might include taking the backplane and capacitor to a local electronics shop where I bet a professional repair would be relatively inexpensive, or bed and plead to HP support (though I’m not sure how far you’d get going this route).
Best of luck and let us know how it works out.
Alex
Thank you for your quick reply. I will try all your suggestions.
Jim
Upgraded RAM on my EX475. When restarting, the drives lights are red for a second or two and then go out. The power light and network lights are blue, but the drive light is a constant purple. I receive two critical errors in the console. One is that the CPU is running too hot and the other is the fans not running at the proper speed. I have taken it apart and put back together at least a dozen times and have also put the original RAM card back in, and every time it starts, I have the same issue. The temperature and fan speeds are all reporting -1, and the voltages are all reporting -0.001. What really strange is that everything seems to work. Backup works, I can see the drives and the data, the box does not appear to be overheating at all. If anyone has any ideas, I’m all ears!
Thanks
Hi Bill,
There’s a couple possibilities, but I’d prefer you start a forum topic so that I and other members of the community can help you troubleshoot. It’s much easier to do this in the forums.
Thanks,
Alex
Thanks Alex…I have posted a forum topic for this item.