Having gone through an ordeal trying to recover a MSS EX485 yesterday (and having read all posts on all forums about that), I could not get it to work. (Static IP on PC, change .INI to get a fixed IP on MSS, etc).
In the end I called HP customer support and got a tech who was very helpful and patient (spent almost 2 hours on the line).
What I have learned:
- network cable can not be longer than 6 feet, and cannot pass through a switch (even if that switch has no other connections); my guess: the process is very critical to latency
- copy the DVD to the hard drive of the PC (again: speed is everything)
- do NOT set the static/fixed addresses; the process that sets the addresses through DHCP really works
- disable firewalls, defenders, and anti-virus stuff
- remove WHS Connector and HP Smart Media Server software on the PC
- MOST IMPORTANTLY: if it doesn't work on one PC, try another one (this is what ended up slving all my problems; amazingly the first one was a very potent, high-end, clean machine; the second mill was very run-of-the-mill)
- once all of the copying, installing, rebooting, etc is done, after the last reboot it will come back with slow pulsing LEDs, at that time (and not sooner): power down (short push on power button), reconnect server and pc to regular network, and reboot server. Run WHS Connect installer from PC.
One hurray for HP Customer Support
; one hurray for Steve; one hurry for WHS 
; and one hurry for the HP MediaSmartServer 
that will now probably give me another couple of years of trouble-less service.AK