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 Post subject: EX485 Constantly Reboots
PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:59 pm 
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I was given a used EX485 without any drives. It has a problem where it constantly reboots and so I can't do a factory reset with a new drive. Here's a video of the issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYC-bSCbiGw

From what I have read on the forums I have a feeling its the PSU but I wanted to see what others thought before I spent the cash on a new power supply.


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PostPosted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:36 pm 
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PSU failures are quite common and often hard for those with a single server to justify purchasing but there are only 2 confirmed venders which sell direct replacement PSU's for the MSS and DV servers. They are KDM Power and Overtek LTD and both sell their PSU's on eBay.

Try removing the hard drive and see if the server will stay running or if it will run longer then with the drive installed. If it does then it would be an indicator the PSU fails while under a load with the load being the hard drive.

There are other reasons why the server would shut down and heat is one of them. There are 3 fans the EX485 two 80mm fans in the back of the server and one in the PSU. If they are not working properly then you would experience server shut downs but in this case I do not believe the server would reboot but anything with these units is possible. I have experienced some abnormal behavior in the past so nothing surprises me anymore.

Now the PSU in your server uses the same proprietary wiring as other servers like the EX47x, EX49x and x510 so if you wanted to pull the PSU out and run the PSU and do some voltage testing you could use the info in the sites WIKI. http://www.mediasmartserver.net/wiki/in ... wer_Supply

If you do pull the PSU for testing you can also verify if the FAN is working.

Also any information you can obtain from the previous owner would be helpful. Information about how the server was performing before the current issue started and particularly if the server shut down as a result of a power failure or thunderstorm. Often when the PSU just acts up its sudden without warning or if you do have warnings it may be random reboots or shut downs.

If the server were here I would change the PSU but unlike you I have spare PSU's and a collection of other MSS units to work with along with DEBUG Boards to help me troubleshoot other issues.

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 6:07 am 
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I pulled the drive out this morning and turned it on and it had the same behavior as before and took the same amount of time to reboot.

My employer was about to literally throw it away along with a 470 and two 495s. I put WHS 2011 on the 495s and they are running well. The 470 seems to run fine but I don't have a recovery disk to do a factory restore.

Do the 470 and the 485 have the same PSU?


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 3:22 pm 
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Yes the PSU in the EX470 will work in the EX485 and your EX495. Once you are able to rule out the PSU as the problem I would not only purchase another PSU but also try to obtain the Disks for the EX470. The PSU's sold by KDM and Overtek are of better quality then what HP installed in the EX47x, EX48x and EX49x plus they come with a warranty.

I think its great you have another unit to rule out the PSU. Also know everything is basically interchangeable with the only main difference being the motherboard.

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PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2014 6:41 pm 
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A friend of mine opened it up and apparently the CPU wasn't seated properly. This has fixed the restarting issue but the lights just stay flashing Red/AquaWhite. I tried doing a recovery with the 485 recovery CD but it can't find the server. Any ideas?


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PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2014 11:31 pm 
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Back out all the drives and turn the server on then check the routers DHCP Listing to see if you see a device starting with the name MININT followed by other things. Let me know if you see this.

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PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 6:41 pm 
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It is listed and assigned an IP, however it has a status of Inactive.


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PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 8:09 pm 
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If the server is not connected to the router can you relocate it to the router and if its connected to the router can you change the port connection on the router. Doing this will eliminate any network devices which may be causing and issue if the server is located away from the router and changing the port on the router the server is connected might correct an issue with a failing port. Now other things worth looking at is the network cable and do not rule that out.

If your not able to make a connection then try directly connecting the network ports between the server and the computer your using to perform the recovery or factory reset. No need for any special cables as the servers network port will autosense the connection. Another thing worth mentioning is the status of the EX485 Network LEDs Solid Green and Blinking Amber.

Last thing is you can force the server to boot into its recovery mode by backing out the bottom drive and when the server is not able to find a bootable device it will boot from the on board USB SMI and basically once you see the servers health light blink its recovery blink code then you can seat the system drive and try the recovery. If you do not see the health light blink the recovery blink code then something is interfering with the boot process and the only way to see this is by using a DEBUG Board which will provide you a video output.

If the issue turns out to be the USB SMI then you would need to obtain a copy of the SMI Files, place them on a Bootable USB Flash Drive so that you can boot the server from the Flash Drive, however if there is an issue with the BIOS Settings you may need to change them and again this required a DEBUG Board and setting a jumper on the motherboard to unlock the BIOS or find a procedure to reset the BIOS but you would still need to set the jumper on the motherboard to do this.

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PostPosted: Sat May 10, 2014 8:14 pm 
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I was able to connect the server directly to my machine. It was found and I was able to begin the factory reset. The factory reset failed about half way through twice, I tried 2 fresh drives. I received the following explanation from the software: "The factory reset operation failed because the primary volume on the server could not be written. "

If I start the server with either of those drives now it will get to a point where it flashes aqua, however it doesn't show up on the network and as soon as I click the power button on the back it turns off. I tried running recovery again with those two drives and it cannot find them.

How do you find the recovery blink code? It just seems to blink red and aqua a few times then goes into blinking red and white.


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PostPosted: Sat May 10, 2014 8:41 pm 
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When you see the Health light on the EX485 blinking White/Red it means the server is in its recovery mode.

I would recommend deleting the partitions off the hard drive your using to perform your recovery on then insert the drive and turn the server on. It should boot into its recovery mode. Sometimes existing partitions cause issues with the Recovery or Reset Process.

If the drive is an Advanced Format or AF Drive then check to see if you need to do something to it to make it work with a legacy OS. Anyway your on the right track.

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PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2014 9:21 am 
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I wiped both disks again and tried again. It failed again both times with the recovery CD.

I wiped them again and tried using the same usb thumb drive that I used to install WHS2011 on the EX495s that I had.
The behavior is different though. When I installed on the EX495s, it would flash aqua/red during install and stay that way for a while. After about 10 minutes I could see the server on the network and finish the installation via web browser.
When I try it on this EX485, it goes into recovery mode forever (Red/White flashing).
When I powered down and pulled the drive it had 3 partitions on it. 100MB, 60GB, and 871.41GB. Since the WHS2011 has a 60GB partition size I think the installation started to work but something got in the way. If I put that drive back in I get a flashing Aqua status light but I can't see the server on the network.

Both drives that I am using are Seagate ST1000DM003 and from what I can tell they do have advanced format. I'll check to see how I can get them to work.


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PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2014 9:49 am 
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Backup a bit because now I am confused here. I thought you were installing the original software provided by HP.

Can you confirm if your installing the original software provided by HP or installing WHS2011?

If its WHS2011 then you will need to get into the BIOS on the EX485 and disable the SMI in two area in the BIOS to stop it from booting or rebooting into its recovery mode and to do this you will need a DEBUG Board and have to unlock the BIOS. Now others will differ from this but I can tell you there are some who have experienced this and the only way to get it to boot properly with other Operating Systems is to disable the SMI in two areas of the BIOS, which can be found in the ADVANCED and HP settings areas within the BIOS. If later you wanted to reinstall the original software you would need to put these settings back. Also the SMI area would or might become exposed and its important not the mess with it.

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PostPosted: Mon May 12, 2014 7:02 am 
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I was trying to do a factory restore (for WHS) initially with the EX485 restore CD. That has failed a number of times. I did however install WHS2011 on the two EX495 machines that I had using a usb drive and an unattended install file. That worked fine on those, and from my research the same installation can be performed on the EX485. So I tried, since the factory restore has failed, to do an unattended install of WHS2011 with my thumb drive on the EX485, that seems to have partially failed as well. Is the EX485 so different from the EX495 that I need a debug board to install WHS2011 when I did not on the EX495s?


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PostPosted: Mon May 12, 2014 7:34 am 
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Not always the EX485 is a different animal and has been know to do weird things with boot orders and such. Not clear why this is just know its occurs. The DEBUG board once installed and a jumper on the motherboard set will allow you to gain access to the BIOS and then you can check and change the BIOS Settings.

If the SMI for example is at the top of the boot order it will boot into recovery every time which is what your reporting so it would have to be changed for normal operation so that it would only boot when it does not detect another bootable drive. For WHS2011 its best to as I have mentioned to disable the SMI in the ADVANCED and HP Setting Areas to ensure it never comes into play.

I am certain that many have installed WHS2011 onto their EX48x MSS units blind without ever having to use a debug board or muck around in the BIOS but there are times when this model server requires some additional attention.

Since you have multiple servers the DEBUG Board could be used on the other units too so its not exactly a waste of money. In fact a DEBUG Board is your best troubleshooting tool you can purchase for any MSS plus it would allow you to easily install any OS that can run on them much easier.

The headless approach works great in a perfect world but when issues arise during the boot process or if there is loss of connectivity then your sort of not going to easily remedy the situation and to be honest performing recoveries is a PITA especially when they may not be required. So the DEBUG Board takes the mystery out of issues that often drive people crazy because they expose the issues.

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PostPosted: Mon May 12, 2014 1:08 pm 
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Would eBay be the best place to get a debug board? Will debug boards be usable across all EX models?


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