Hi all,

I've been scouring the internet looking for answers to no avail....

I bought an HP Mediasmart Server ex495 at an estate sale, as is, with no software or passwords etc.

I cannot even find a download link to the original included software.

Each bay has a 1.5TB harddrive in it and it boots just fine.

How do i even begin to get into this thing or to reformat it so i can start fresh?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

You'll want to perform a Factory Reset on the server.
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/wiki/in ... _and_EX495

The restore discs aren't available from HP or Microsoft unfortunately but they can be found. I'll shoot you a PM with some suggestions.

_________________
Alex Kuretz
Remote Notification: Monitoring and alerting for your Home Server via email, Twitter, text message, RSS, push notifications, and on your Mac desktop
Have you tried our Add-Ins?

Thanks Alex for pointing zonksthehero in the right direction. That'll get them up and running.

zonksthehero -- that being said, if you are feeling more ambitious, there are other things you can do with your EX495. The original Windows Home Server (WHS) that runs on the EX4xx servers is no longer supported by Microsoft or HP, so if you're lucky enough to find downloadable images, you may not be able to get the latest updates. Also, since most hard disks available these days are Advanced Format (AF), you'll have to go through an involved process to get them working correctly with WHS. This is because WHS is based on the Windows XP/Server 2003 platform, and the way it partitions disks can cause issues with AF disks. If you have lots of old hard drives on hand, this is a non-issue. But if you're planning to use 2TB and larger disks, chances are they're AF disks.

So what can you do? I've got an EX487, EX490, and EX495, running Windows Server 2019 (yes, you read that right, 2019) on the EX487 and EX490, and Windows 10 on the EX495. Each is set up with a solid state disk (SSD) in the bottom bay (the system drive), with hard drives in the other bays. Each has 4GB of memory.

I have the debug cable attached to each of these servers, so they're no longer "headless" -- I can use a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. However, it is totally possible to install WHS 2011, Server 2012 R2, Server 2016, and Server 2019 in an unattended manner on a headless server, and then access it using Remote Desktop.

Let me know if you'd like to know more -- just wanted to give you some things to consider.

_________________
Matt Sawyer
Owner, Dojo North Software, LLC

HP EX490, 4GB, E5300, 15TB - Server 2012 - Sharing and Streaming
HP EX487, 4GB, E5300, 13TB - Server 2012 Essentials - Backups

Can Win 10 Pro be installed headless, too? I seem to remember something along these lines, but maybe it was a "start install in another computer, then swap drive to ex49x and finish with remote desktop" type of thing. I'd also like to hear about the SSD? What do you need to do to make that happen?

I can always track down a debug cable if that's my only option, but I fear the minute I spend a buck my HP EX (which has been running flawlessly for what, a decade now?), the hardware will die on me

To be honest without even thinking of headless.
I doubt the the server even meets the minimum hardware requirements to run at a acceptable level.

_________________
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
Amazon FireStick
Amazon ECHO
AnyDvD
MyMovies

With any CPU less than the e5200, Ruben is prolly right. Luckily both the more robust 65w dual core Conroes and Wolfdales as well as the quad core Yorkfields are up to the task. These days they can be had for next to nothing. Be sure your running your fans on full or at least altering the fan slope in the bios if your going with one of the higher benchmarking (hotter) chips. I've personally found the Yorkfield's all benefit from a little 30mm fan or two stuffed in front of the stock heatsink.

Debug VGA only cables are still common on fleabay for about $30. You'll have to use up two of the four usb ports for your keyboard and mouse.

Don't forget that the bottom USB port on the back is the only one that is bootable.

Good luck

_________________
Hi All, Thanks to everyone for your continued effort to keep the MSS & WHS alive. Haven't registered yet? Please do so the moderators know your here!

ex49x/v1 (toyin w/Vail)
VGA
Q8200s w/two 30mm cooling fans
4gb Ram
Rear Casecover Cooling Mod

Also as far as a ssd.
Unless you use a newer os that supports trim and garbage collection for a ssd then forget it.
The stock whsv1 does not support it.
It also requires AHCI which only is with a newer Bios.
Now it may run I am not sure, as long as you get a bracket to properly align the ports to the backplane.
But it will eventually get trashed since it uses a different method than defrag to cleanup the drive on occasion.

_________________
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
Amazon FireStick
Amazon ECHO
AnyDvD
MyMovies

Here is another opinion on using SSD without TRIM that was published in 2015.

ARStechnica is of the opinion that the modern garbage collection combined with the OE's cleanup-utility that comes with the more recent SSD's is more than sufficient, even when TRIM is not present as with WHSv1.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/04 ... rim-right/

The alternative if having TRIM is non-negotiable would be to use WHS11 as is inherently enabled.

Note that if you want to move in the direction of using an SSD with either WHSv1 or WHS11, you should verify the sector size of the SSD you are using is 512 or 512e and that once the OS has been installed to the primary drive (before any other drives are installed in the unit and before any data has been added) that you verify the partitions aligned properly and re-align if needed using Paragon Alignment Tool or Gparted.

https://lifehacker.com/speed-up-your-ss ... ns-5837769

I'm personally waiting a bit longer before attempting a SSD migration. Instead of just setting up the OS drive, I'm planning a swap over of all my WHS drives to SSD. Due to the current glut of NAND chips, prices have really dropped and they are expected to continue dropping as this year continues.

When the MLC 2tb's are coming in below $200, I'm in. Rumor is the new QLC's are garbage.

_________________
Hi All, Thanks to everyone for your continued effort to keep the MSS & WHS alive. Haven't registered yet? Please do so the moderators know your here!

ex49x/v1 (toyin w/Vail)
VGA
Q8200s w/two 30mm cooling fans
4gb Ram
Rear Casecover Cooling Mod