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PostPosted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 11:00 pm 
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Looking for a replacement motherboard for my EX485/487. Or I could make use of a debug board for same.

My exact model FL700AA#ABA. PM with availability and asking price. I'm located in the US.

Thanks in advance,

HD


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 11:23 am 
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Well the debug board is just a accessory to the motherboard.
Since it is a headless system. Meaning no monitor,keyboard or mouse.
It allows you to access the os using your monitor and keyboard and mouse.
Now it may,MAY help to determine what your issue is since you can see the actual error message generated during post.
I myself have never seen a motherboard replacement.
Other than possibly say ebay, and then usually it means buying a complete unit.
Power supplies are another thing altogether. you can find them on ebay.

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:58 am 
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Thanks Ruben my research has shown the same. Looking at completed sales on eBay I found exactly one MB for for this models sold. Item ID: 321492745936

Using that to figure out the part number I found nada on the secondary market. Or at least not from a country I'd trust doing business with.

For not much more than the selling price of the MB I have a working unit on the way. I'm hoping that I can just swap the drives, connect, and be up and running. If so I'll back everything up over to my FreeNas box and then install a USB NIC as backup for the new unit.

Most (but not all) of what I want back is backed up in the cloud but if I can avoid a long restore I'm all for it. Good times.

From the eBay listing:


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HP EX485.487 Mobo.JPG
HP EX485.487 Mobo.JPG [ 186.68 KiB | Viewed 31163 times ]
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 12:08 am 
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That board doesn't look right it looks way to flat. I went to eBay to see if I could find that listing hoping to see the other side of the board. I mean it could just be the angle the picture was taken but I would of expected to see the board some what more elevated showing more shadow under the pic because of the component connectors. It just looks funny and why only the bottom side of the board?

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 6:18 am 
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Comp1962 wrote:
That board doesn't look right it looks way to flat. I went to eBay to see if I could find that listing hoping to see the other side of the board. I mean it could just be the angle the picture was taken but I would of expected to see the board some what more elevated showing more shadow under the pic because of the component connectors. It just looks funny and why only the bottom side of the board?


My bad I only posted the picture with the part number. The listing had additional photos.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/321492745936


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 7:29 am 
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Now that looks better. If all goes well you should just be able to install the motherboard and pop in your drives, turn the server on and pickup where you left off. I did notice that motherboard has an E8500 on it so I assume the BIOS was modified to accommodate the processor and if so your going to see a major performance boost over the stock Celeron. I would not worry to much about the broken plastic part of the DEBUG Connector that happens when you remove the plug probably the plastic on one of the smaller ends but the debug connector will still fit tightly if used.

Please let me know how that E8500 works out for you performance wise and more importantly the temperature.

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 8:36 am 
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Comp1962 wrote:
Now that looks better. If all goes well you should just be able to install the motherboard and pop in your drives, turn the server on and pickup where you left off. I did notice that motherboard has an E8500 on it so I assume the BIOS was modified to accommodate the processor and if so your going to see a major performance boost over the stock Celeron. I would not worry to much about the broken plastic part of the DEBUG Connector that happens when you remove the plug probably the plastic on one of the smaller ends but the debug connector will still fit tightly if used.

Please let me know how that E8500 works out for you performance wise and more importantly the temperature.


Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately this auction was over before I had the need. I obtained a like new unit for not much more money. Popped in my drives and retrieved my data. I installed both a usb NIC dongle and USB wifi adapter while I was at it as back up.

Turns out only the NIC was bad on my old unit. Probably going to sell the "newer" one and regulate the older unit to media only. Looks like the system drive is approaching end of life so I need to research replacement.


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 10:23 am 
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If your going to run your EX48x with a USB-LAN adapter you need to acquire the SMI Files, place them on a Bootable USB Flash Drive and then add the USB Lan Adapter Driver to the root directory then again to the Drivers Directory and then there is one file that needs to be modified so that the SMI will be able to load the driver during the recovery process.

The reason for placing the drivers on the Root Directory is to make it easier to find during the recovery process because WHS will ask for them. This you will see only if you have a DEBUG Board Installed otherwise its a PITA to do it blind.

Of course this is only if your still using the software which HP Supplied with the server. If you like I can dig out the Flash Drive I made for the EX48x to properly identify the which file needs to be edited and which folder to copy the USB Driver too which I will also mention has to be a 32bit driver.

You may want to hold on to both EX48x units the fully functional one would come in very handy to process recoveries or if something should happen to the one your using at least you would be able to continue using the solution your use to and it would buy you time to figure out your next solution should be if your not already looking for one.

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 10:25 am 
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Great point about drivers during the recovery process. I installed the dongle on the working unit using remote desktop then switched drives back to the unit with the failed NIC. Voila, but when I run a recovery I'll be stuck again.

I'm interesed in knowing the proper directory to place the driver in and file to edit. Thanks again.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 1:34 pm 
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Here is a picture that shows what is on my USB Bootable Flash Drive for an EX48x:

Attachment:
EX48x_SMI_Example.JPG
EX48x_SMI_Example.JPG [ 107.72 KiB | Viewed 31051 times ]


You may have to set the computer to show Hidden Files and Folders but what your interested in here is the file drivers.lst and the folder drivers

What you need to do is:
(1) Acquire a copy of the specific SMI Files for the EX48x
(2) Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive
(3) Copy the SMI Files to the Flash Drive
(4) Place the drivers for your USB-LAN Adapter into the Root Director of the Flash Drive and into the drivers folder
(5) Edit the file drivers.lst by adding your USB-LAN Adapter driver path.

In my case I am using a Sabrent USN-LAN Adapter which uses the driver Ax88187 and there are 2 files a .SYS and a .INF. In the top left corner of the picture is the Root Directory on my flash drive. In the right corner is the contents of what is written in the file drivers.lst which as you can see is open with notepad. The bottom left shows the contents of the drivers folder. Looking at it now I may have chopped off a file or two but you get the idea.

Once you have this configured you will want to test it out. Since you might be worried about your drives in the server there are two ways to test it out.

Test 1: Safe Test:

(1) Turn the server off and back out the all your drives

(2) Plug the Bootable USB Flash Drive with the SMI files into the bottom rear USB Port

(3) Turn the server on and observe the health light. The Health Light will blink Aqua White and Red

(4) Logon to your router and check the DHCP Listing for a device starting with the name MININT

If you see the Device Name on the router starting with the name MININT then your server has properly booted into safe mode and has successfully loaded and is using the drivers for your USB-LAN Adapter.

Full Recovery Test:

This test you will want to do with a blank drive 80GB or Larger. The importance of doing this is so you will know how the entire process works with your USB-SMI Flash Drive and to see where WHS once its installed will ask you for the drivers for the USB LAN Adapter. Its best to know how the process works so that one day when you go to actually put it to use you will know its going to work for you. In this test we are going to do a Factory Reset so only 1 drive will be in the server and it should be a bare drive with its partitions wiped or one with a single clean partition.

Make certain you have the DEBUG Cable Installed and that you have a Keyboard, Mouse and Monitor Connected. Only item that needs to be in a specific location is the Flash Drive and it must be in the bottom rear USB Port. A Keyboard and Mouse can be connected to the other USB Ports if your DEBUB Board lacks the PS/2 Connections for them.

Follow Steps 1-3 above only this time when you see the health light blinking Aqua White and Red you will insert the Test Hard Drive. DO NOT USE YOUR EXISTING SYSTEM DRIVE OR IT WILL BE FORMATTED!

(4) Run the Server Install Software on a 32 bit client. A 64 bit client will work but you may encounter a software failure when the client software is installed.

(5) Since you have a DEBUG Cable connected you can see when WHS will request the drivers for the USB-LAN Adapter and since they are on the root directory of the flash drive they will be very easy to find. Just browse for them and select them and WHS will then install them after which you can remove the Flash Drive.

Note: The point in which WHS is prompt you for the USB-LAN Adapter Driver will be when you see on the client screen that the server will reboot several times or somewhere around that time. If the client recovering the server is close to the actual server this will be very easy to see but I have my servers in another room and so when I have done this I typically know when to got into the other room to look.

For those with EX47x's:

The process is the same but the difference is the SMI Files and the health light blinks Purple/Red when the server is in its recovery mode.

For all other MSS Server Users LX19x, EX49x, x310 and x510:

A while back Diehard did a recovery project using an EX49x that allowed you to recover the EX49x while connected to a network much like the EX47x and EX48x. http://mediasmartpodcast.blogspot.com/2 ... sb_09.html

I see no reason why what I have written above can not be applied to his procedure although I have never put it to the test but since I have all the other server models here maybe one day soon I will because there is nothing worse for any HP MSS then to have a failed NIC but as I have demonstrated time and again its not the end of the wold.

If you have read this far then I recommend you get a USB-LAN Adapter and a Debug Board and install them while your server is fully functional so that should the time come when you need them they will be ready to go.

Enough said but its important and so I keep repeating it over and over because it is important. Your server your choice but here is your chance to eliminate future stress when a Lan Port Fails and you have your wife breathing down your back about those family pics and vids......

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~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
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~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8


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