So the health indicator is flashing 2 aqua and 3 red, which according to HP means "BIOS recovery source not present".
MSS doesn't get assigned an IP address, it doesn't show up on my router at all, I can't start any sort of factory reset.

I've been on it for like 18 hours straight and haven't gotten anywhere. Im considering buying the debug board to flash the bios or something but Im worried that after plugging it in all I would see is a blank screen.

Ive gone through probably every web page concerning any symptom remotely similar to mine, tried direct connect between two PCs - MSS, three Macs - MSS, through routers, static or dynamic NIC, disabled firewalls, pushed the hidden button in numerous ways and time periods, I've made a recovery mode USB to plug into the lowest back port which at least makes the health light blink aqua white without the red but that is the only difference.

Anybody else experience this? If so, is there a solution or is my MSS scrap?

What do you mean when you say "I've made a recovery mode USB to plug into the lowest back port " ?

Are you running WHSv1 ?

Do you still have the original MediaSmart Server disks (3) ?

_________________
HP MediaSmart EX495 E8600 3.2Ghz CPU, 4GB ram, 8TB storage including 3TB drives in pool. WHS with Active Directory, WDS, Media Center Master, Logitech server. Office 2010 server with client add-ins.
Microsoft MVP - Windows Home Server.

Hey, great to see that the site is back up again, just when I need it!

My DIR-655 router doesn't register the MSS at all so I guess there is no way for the built in network recovery mode to start when I press the recessed recovery button on the front panel. So that is why I tried the recovery USB thing. As far as I understand it the USB drive basically acts like the onboard recovery flash drive in earlier MSS models. I got the info from several posts on this and other WHS related sites. The USB only contained some sort of jump start into recovery mode which would then allow me to use the server restore CD (still have all three CDs) on a pc, connected to the server with ethernet cable, but that got me nowhere.

I think the EX490 was running WHSv1. I might have made an upgrade once, hard to remember.. Either way I am using a new formatted HDD (Caviar Green). But I don't think the HDD is the problem, seems more like a BIOS problem, or maybe the server got stuck in recovery mode way back when, maybe its the mother board, maybe the NIC.. It is impossible to diagnose.

So I bought a german debug VGA/PS2 cable which should be here in a week or so.

Also, I opened up the server and cleaned it out with compressed air, took out the CMOS battery for a couple of minutes. When I put everything back together again the USB boot drive didn't have the same effect as before (instead of it flashing white/blue it is just solid white) and starting it without the USB boot drive is as before, two blue - three red. I also noticed that the fans got really loud after the cleansing..

Several issues.
First removing the battery may have caused the bios to halt boot up.
Due to you need to at least set the time/date.
And possibly load the defaults.

Second for the ex490 you need the whs disk.
Or a os disk to install
From the pc nic not a usb port.
There is not a bios flash involved.

Third is the drive you purchased ,
If It is a advanced format drive (probably is) and is not supported by whsv1, without alignment.

The os boot drive is the bottom bay with the lock not a usb drive.

Also the manual states to connect the server directly to the pc with a standard cable bypassing any routers,switches,hubs.etc.
It is also suggested to start the pc with the disk using safe mode with networking,when attempting a recovery or reset.

I guess you need to do some homework and figure out what os you are installing.
And probably best that you purchased a debug board,due to there probably is a prompt now in the bios,from removing the battery..

Just a thought, maybe the battery died for bios and needs replacement.

_________________
VGA/PS2 Keyboard/PS2 Mouse/Serial debug board
Popcorn C-200
Popcorn A-200
Dune HD Connect
Rasberry PI OSMC(KODI)
ReadyNAS RN316
Amazon FireStick
Amazon ECHO
AnyDvD
MyMovies

Thanks Ruben. I admit I was a bit messy, but detailing everything I have tried up until now seemed unnecessary.

Long before I took out the battery I had tried direct connection between several different computers and the server, of course I tried both in safe mode and not, as administrator and not. I had also tried connecting through the router.

I am not connecting PC to server via USB, don't worry, though I find it funny that I hadn't tried it in desperation anyway!

According to HP the 2 blue - 3 red health indicator means "BIOS recovery source not present". Which should mean exactly that, there is no recovery source for the server to launch. So it was stuck, maybe from a halted previous recovery. I figured taking out the battery would reset its state, and the USB recovery boot drive would play the part of the EX490s network recovery (since it is unable to connect to a network, let alone the internet..) But I don't know if it is me or HP who are confused since BIOS recovery is something completely different that system recovery..

When running the recovery program (I tried both from original CD and copied to PC) I always get stuck at stage 2 because the server is not found and ipconfig shows no sign of the server.

I know about the date issue, which I see no solution to as I can't access bios or the server in any way.

I have all three original discs that came with the server.

About the new drive - I will look into it. I have a Black (original WHS disk) in pretty good shape that I have tried but it doesn't produce a difference.

The problem seems to be that the server doesn't get assigned an IP no matter how I try to connect to it. The network light is blue, when connected to PC or router the ethernet port is lit up with one solid yellow and random bursts from second light so it seems to be functional.

As for your suggestion about doing my homework, thanks for the tip.. But I already know the OS I am trying to install will be the original HP WHS. I would gladly change my mind about that at a later stage, maybe after I've gotten the problems sorted out.

Another interesting thing is that when I run angry IP scanner I find on 192.168.0.170 the hostname "HPSTORAGE". Which is really strange considering the server is turned off and it is not connected to the router. When it is connected it is not even recognised or showing up in the log. I am thinking that I might have given a static IP on the server itself, but I don't understand how it can show up in angry IP, now.

German debug cable is on the way as I said, so that will be interesting, Im more excited for that then I was for Christmas..

Well it could be the internal nic went south on the server.
But it is a fickle unit to recover.

Many times for me it takes several tries.

Also when it failed, I took the new os drive out,placed it in my pc and wiped the partitions so it appears as a net new drive out of the box.

At this point in your life, I think you need the debug board to figure out if it is halting on post.

_________________
VGA/PS2 Keyboard/PS2 Mouse/Serial debug board
Popcorn C-200
Popcorn A-200
Dune HD Connect
Rasberry PI OSMC(KODI)
ReadyNAS RN316
Amazon FireStick
Amazon ECHO
AnyDvD
MyMovies