Thank you in advance for any help to reconnect to my HP EX475 WHSv1. It has been running reliably since 2009. (Obviously over that time I have replaced failed drives, increased the RAM to 2Gb and replaced the button cell battery every few years.)
Problem:To free up some space I used the WHS console to remove the backups of some old machines and started a database cleanup. This took several hours but once finished the EX475 fell into a boot cycle and would not restart. After exploring several options I decided a server restore was the only solution. (Note, this is not the reset option... this is the ZAP everything option). I still have the original v1.1 disks for my HP EX475 and ran the Server Recovery Disc. My server was located and everything went perfectly with the EX475 rebooting and the LEDs colored purple as expected. So far, so good.
I then used the Software installation disc to reinstall the HP MSS Tools and WHS connector, but that immediately failed with a warning that it will not run on 64 bit OS (I have Windows 10 64-bit).
Then I tried to visit
http://hpserver:55000 to download the software but I get the following error...
The HPSERVER is in my File Explorer so I open it to go to the Software share but I am them asked to enter a username and password for the HPSERVER. Remember, at this point I have not installed WHS connector so I have not been asked for a password. I tried various different passwords for the Administrator user (including blank) but nothing worked.
I then tried to RDC to HPSERVER and successfully connected but of course I was again presented with a logon dialog.
Does anyone know what the default credentials are for WHS v1?I then remembered that I had a backup of the Software share and found the Home Server Connector software. This contains WHSConnector_x64.msi dated January 2011. I ran the setup and everything looked to be going great.
All the HP tools successfully install and then it starts to install the WHS Connector.
It successfully finds my hpserver and then asks if I want to wake it up to perform a backup.
This is where everything goes wrong. Once I click "Next" the dialog goes blank, the title bar intermittently shows Not Responding and then after 3 minutes I get an unknown network error.
I have tried installing multiple times with different choices but I consistently and repeatedly get the same failure.
My assumption is that the more recent WHS Connector software that I have does not like the original WHS v1 server software?? Note: I did upgrade to all the free updates provided by HP but never upgraded to the v3 software.
What have I done to help myself?In addition to all of the above, I have searched this board. I did find a post from 2017 with a link to a potentially more recent server recovery ISO but alas it is now a 404 error. I also found some great instructions at
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=14784 (thank you @lioninstreet) and I will be following these once I get connected to my EX475.
I also tried using the Credentials Manager on my Win10 machine to create a recognised login to my HPSERVER but that didn't work. (If that should have worked then I may have done something wrong).
Just in case I also replaced the button cell battery.
Can you help please?At this point I am now stuck. I can only see two options; 1) get a more recent server recovery iso that will work with my WHS Connector software from 2011, or 2) Install WinXP 32 bit onto a VM or old laptop and run my original WHS connector from there. I'm not sure how to source the software for either of these.
Maybe you have other ideas?
I really like my HP EX475 and want to keep it running for as long as I can. Thanks in advance for your help.
Kind Regards