Hello,

I desperately need some help with my EX485. I am new to the community, and frankly new to dealing with any major issues with my MediaSmart Server. I have been frantically searching the web for a solution, came across this forum and searched here, but I have not seen this exact issue, so I thought I would ask the experts.

The brief background is this - I have an EX485 that has been running smoothly for a little more than 2 years. It has the original hard drive and 1 additional drive installed. It is backing up 2 computers and holds a lot of other data. The EX485 is plugged in to an APC battery backup (ES Series, Model BE550G), which has always kept it running steady through little power blips.

I was away for about 24 hours and when I returned home, the APC unit was beeping, and everything plugged into it (including the EX485) was off. I got the APC turned back on, and have gotten all of the other components (modem, router, tower, etc.) to come back on without any issue. The EX485, however, does not turn on when the power button is pressed. I have tried unplugging it (removing the cord from the power and from the unit) and plugging it back in to the UPS and then to a different surge protector. No matter what I have tried, pushing the power button does nothing (no lights, no sound, nothing).

I have no idea even where to begin, but I am really starting to panic - there is a lot of data on the server that I cannot access right now. Is this behavior indicative of any known problems (could the power supply be dead)? For whatever it's worth, the APC software says that the last power interruption and transfer to battery power was on 11/28/2011, which was long before this problem.

Any ideas would be a great help. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Regards,
Brandon

I am not an expert, but would suggest trying a new Power Supply. If you search "HP Medismart Power Supply" on ebay you will see what I mean. Make sure it's one that has the connector for a simple swap. These units are known for this type of failure. You could also swap the drives into another unit (cage/chassis). From what I understand the drives and data are probably just fine. You could also try using a USB Sata Drive reader, but I am not sure how to transfer the data from the "Shares" folder (I tried this once, I could see the data but could not move/transfer it). If anyone knows the answer to that, it would be appreciated. Good luck and let me know how it turns out!

I would second the power supply (PSU) failure. Between Christmas and New Years Day 2011, one of my oldest APC units bought the farm. It was beeping, with the light blinking, indicating battery failure. I replaced it, and everything powered up except the 6-year-old Dell desktop. PSU was dead, and I decided to replace the desktop altogether.

That said, it would seem to me that when the UPS battery goes kaput, it must surge or do something else terrible that damages downstream hardware.

_________________
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