I have a Mediasmart ex490. I bought a new WD Green Drive. It is a WD10EURX model. It is 1tb. I am trying to perform a restore and install WHS v1. The BIOS recognizes the drive and I formatted the drive to NTFS. I tried the USB method and using another computer to perform restore. It can't get past the first stage.

Is there something I need to disable on the drive? I feel the drive spin but it feels like it is not spinning at all. I don't think there is nothing wrong with the drive.

You are doing the recover with another pc "client" that is directly attached to the server with a cat5 cable and running the server recovery disc on that client pc?

Most times getting a recovery to work is booting the client into safe mode with networking. That will bypass all firewalls/anti virus/ etc.
You don't need to format the drive and the server recovery will format it again anyway, but since you formatted it it should be good.

Now, the green drives, a lot of people have had problems with Greens, but some swear by them. What I don't know is if you need to do the jumper/ align thing on them.
IMHO I would not use a green drive for a OS drive, data drives maybe, I would use the RED 2tb or maybe the Black 2 tb for the OS, reds run a little slower but cooler, blacks run hotter but faster.
If you are going to have duplication turned on it would be good to have a second drive anyway, so you could still use the green drive as a pooled drive.

But to your question, Try safe mode with networking.
I did a google search and it looks like the Green drives are "Advanced Format Drives" which need to be "Fixed" before you can use them as a Boot/OS drive, check this link..
http://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=128&lang=en

This is another reason to buy reds because you don't have to do anything to them.
The greens I believe only have to be "Fixed" if they are going to be the Boot/OS drive, they may need to be fixed even as a data/storage drive but I'm not sure as I have /will not use them.

Good Luck, more then you wanted to know but let us know how it's going and shout back if you have any questions concerns or problems.
Server recoveries can be tricky and some times it takes a few tries. I have an old XP laptop that I use just for recoveries because it works every time.

_________________
[X510 CPU/RAM/All 2 TB Red's] [X510 CPU/Sync'ed Backup/All 2 TB Hitachi's]
[X510 /2 in box]
[X710 LIAN LI DIY W2012E] Stablebit Drivepool [EX-503 LIAN LI 5-bay USB3 External]
Fear the Cloud

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I am using another computer to act as a "client" and directly connected to the server. I have done server restores before so I know the process. Again, my issue is the Green drive. You said "Try safe mode with networking". How do I "fix" the Green drive to accept the OS?

I have not used "Advanced Format Drives" so have not used the "Western Digital software" at the link:
http://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=128&lang=en

But I'm guessing you will need to attach the drive to a Client, internal or with a usb to sata dock and run the software which basically formats the drive in a special way to allow it to be used as a boot drive. Then you will be able to put it in the server and finish your recovery/factory reset.

You can search (Advanced Format Drives) in these forums or Google and find out more.
Some (Advanced Format Drives) have a jumper on them that you can change and it will be good to go, some need to use the software to "Fix" them.

Sorry I'm not more helpful as I have avoided them and just went with the Red drives.

Good Luck

_________________
[X510 CPU/RAM/All 2 TB Red's] [X510 CPU/Sync'ed Backup/All 2 TB Hitachi's]
[X510 /2 in box]
[X710 LIAN LI DIY W2012E] Stablebit Drivepool [EX-503 LIAN LI 5-bay USB3 External]
Fear the Cloud

I will try to use the Acronis partition software but I don't know what good it will do. The worst case for me, I will swap the Green Drive with another drive in the pool and make the Green drive part of the pool and use it that way.

If it was me I would use the green as a data/pool drive, because I have seen where because they are green they will go into a deep sleep or offline which could be not good for a OS drive.

But like the link page says:
WD Align will allow the user to realign partitions on internal Western Digital Advanced Format Drives (AFDs).
WD Align is intended to be run on your Western Digital Advance Format drive WITHOUT a jumper installed across pins 7-8.

You might be able to use the jumper, but I would defer to Western Digital Support.

Good Luck, let us know how it goes, it could help others.

Good Luck and enjoy....

_________________
[X510 CPU/RAM/All 2 TB Red's] [X510 CPU/Sync'ed Backup/All 2 TB Hitachi's]
[X510 /2 in box]
[X710 LIAN LI DIY W2012E] Stablebit Drivepool [EX-503 LIAN LI 5-bay USB3 External]
Fear the Cloud

My 2 cents.
Every one is using the wd reds.
Not just for this old server but also for modern servers and nas units.
Now I have issues with the wd red pro, which is 7200 rpm.
Two out of two failed.

The regular wd red!
Yes they are only rated at 5400 rpm.
But,
They are designed to run 24/7 and run cooler.
Other than os, for storage it really does not matter much until you add data then it may run a little slow.
For a os I have used a wd red,wd red pro, and a wd black in a ex490( the black and red pro are 7200 rpm).
Never noticed any difference.
Other that the wd red pro went raw twice.
Now I currently have a wd black since it was my last try. But it gets very hot,so much that the fans run at a higher speed.

When the next time comes to run a recovery I will probably replace the os drive with a wd red and use the black elsewhere.

When I started adding drives I used the green drives but they all went down the tubes in a couple of years.
My wd reds I think the oldest is 2012? ,and they all show no signs of trouble from smart.

Also on the wd greens advanced format tool.
Which I tried.
For the tool to work as I recall if they still make it is you need to have data on the drive to re-align it.
what it does is find out how many sectors off it is and move all the data over. Somewhat like a disk defrag on steroids.

PS,
Back to your first post.
what is the first stage that it stops at.
That means nothing to us.
We need more info on where the error starts and what the error says.
can't get in recovery mode?
cant' find the server?
and whatever else.

_________________
EX-490
WHS v1
VGA/PS2 Keyboard/PS2 Mouse/Serial debug board
Q9450s CPU
Stock Ram
ESATA Sansdigital Towerraid TR5M-B
Popcorn C-200
Popcorn A-200
Dune HD Connect
Rasberry PI OSMC(KODI)
ReadyNAs RN316

Thx for the heads up on the Pro reds, that is a shame and If I didn't have so many spare normal reds setting on the shelf I may have been temped to use one for the OS drive for the speed. Not that I really notice it.
But now I'll stick with the normal 2TB reds.

He said he has done Recoveries before so I assumed it was just the Green Drive that was giving him problem. But you know as well as I that recoveries can be hit or miss.
And I have not had the misfortune to have a Advance Format Drive to fight with.

Hear ya on the greens, I had one that was 3 months old I got in a slightly used X-510 and it started throwing Smart errors right away, so I gave it the hammer and trashed it.

Take Care.....

_________________
[X510 CPU/RAM/All 2 TB Red's] [X510 CPU/Sync'ed Backup/All 2 TB Hitachi's]
[X510 /2 in box]
[X710 LIAN LI DIY W2012E] Stablebit Drivepool [EX-503 LIAN LI 5-bay USB3 External]
Fear the Cloud

well what I can say about the pro reds is I bought them when they first came out with a 5 year warranty.
Wd did honor the warranty but the replacement only has a 1 year warranty.
so I went from a 5 year warranty on my drive used like 3 months to a 1 year warranty with the replacement.
Sucks!!!!!!

_________________
EX-490
WHS v1
VGA/PS2 Keyboard/PS2 Mouse/Serial debug board
Q9450s CPU
Stock Ram
ESATA Sansdigital Towerraid TR5M-B
Popcorn C-200
Popcorn A-200
Dune HD Connect
Rasberry PI OSMC(KODI)
ReadyNAs RN316

Well, I tried the alignment trick and not sure if that did anything or not. Next, I put a jumper on 7-8 and still was not able to perform a recovery using a client computer. In terms of the "first stage", I am talking about, after I connect the drive and put the server in the recovery mode, regardless of the recovery option, there is no errors or any error messages that appear on the screen to indicate any drive issues. The only thing that comes up is Step 3 of 4 failed during the recovery process.

Unless someone else can add some new suggestions, I am going to add the Green drive to the pool and use it that way.

sorry to hear, I don't know if it is the green drive or if the recovery is just being stubborn.

Here is some information from the HP forums about that error and how some resolved it.
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktops-Archive-Read-Only/MediaSmart-EX490-server-restore-reset-fails/td-p/149924/page/2

If you have moved the jumper, maybe deleting the partition and formatting it again will help.
Also:
If you have another drive 500 gig or bigger that you could put in the server just to test, that might help narrow it down.

These are the steps I have recommended to others that have problems: maybe something will click for you....

1:XP or WIN 7 client booted into safe mode with networking. If laptop, disable the wifi nic.
2. Copy the server recovery cd contents to the desktop of the client so access is faster then hitting the cd-rom.
3. Direct connect with cat5.
4. Fire up the recovery program from the desktop and click ok/ok till it tells you to fire up the server, power the server up and wait for the light Blue/red/Blue/red/blue/red 3 times and then press and release the tiny button on the front.
5. Then click ok on the program, hopefully it will find the server and continue on.

I realize you have done at least some of this before, But I know that sometimes it just takes 1-2 little tweaks sometimes to get it to go and sometimes people have had to use a different desktop or a different laptop and then it magically works.

Hopefully it will start working, wishing you much luck, it Microsoft and sometimes it's just a pain.

Let us know how it's going.

_________________
[X510 CPU/RAM/All 2 TB Red's] [X510 CPU/Sync'ed Backup/All 2 TB Hitachi's]
[X510 /2 in box]
[X710 LIAN LI DIY W2012E] Stablebit Drivepool [EX-503 LIAN LI 5-bay USB3 External]
Fear the Cloud

Sometimes for me a recovery goes very smooth.
Sometimes not ,like you.
it can be very fickle.
Even with a existing good drive that I just decided to re-install.

I can tell you what I do.
before I try safemode with networking etc.
I yank the os drive out connect to my pc and run diskpart -clean all
no need to wait forever just a minute or two.
Stop the process then initialize the drive using disk management.
be careful with diskpart if you never have used it.
then place it back in the server.
try again.
That will make the drive appear to be new out of the box again.
If it fails I do it again and try the safemode method.

what os is your client pc on that is direct connected?

Also as I said the alignment tool only does anything at all after data is on the drive.
and it really only helps with disk file corruption and read/write access speeds.
I have used afd drives before in fact the reds are afd.
The real issue with them is as Gardian stated. they may go to sleep.

_________________
EX-490
WHS v1
VGA/PS2 Keyboard/PS2 Mouse/Serial debug board
Q9450s CPU
Stock Ram
ESATA Sansdigital Towerraid TR5M-B
Popcorn C-200
Popcorn A-200
Dune HD Connect
Rasberry PI OSMC(KODI)
ReadyNAs RN316

My 2 cents worth................... Avoid WD GREEN DISCS LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've had loads of problems with them and some (if not all??) are factory recons. At least one of mine had a label on it indicating such. I think all the discs that fail quality get downgraded to 'green' status because it won't be long before you have moss growing on them. I actually decided to take a particularly troublesome 2TB one some years ago and cut it in two with an axe. It took a bit of doing but gave me some closure. I've found Toshiba to be pretty good, I wouldn't ever buy a WD disc again.

I was being nice about the Greens, But I do agree (Avoid)
I do not agree with the WD drives overall as the 2tb Red drives I have been running 6 of them since they came out with no problems, but I have heard that the 3 TB reds (used in whs 2011) and the Pro Reds have problems.
I have 4 tb reds in my 2012 server but it has not been online long enough to know for sure, but no problems in a couple years.

I also have heard that Comp1962 has tested and used the Toshiba drives and had great luck with them.
I also use the Hitachi 2 tb drives and although they run hot have 6 of them for my backup server. Some people think that Hitachi is as bad as the WD greens.

So, on any given day it's a crap shoot really, you will have to decide. A lot of factors go into picking a drive:
Price
Running temp
Speed
AFD or not

Let us know how your doing, it could help others...
Good luck and enjoy.
P.S. Here is a secret, I use refurb Hitachi in my backup server because I don't leave it running all the time.

_________________
[X510 CPU/RAM/All 2 TB Red's] [X510 CPU/Sync'ed Backup/All 2 TB Hitachi's]
[X510 /2 in box]
[X710 LIAN LI DIY W2012E] Stablebit Drivepool [EX-503 LIAN LI 5-bay USB3 External]
Fear the Cloud