@Johnny5: I've sent an email answering your questions. Be sure to check the "Frequently Asked Questions" section on the second post in this forum thread (linked here).

@Triplefun: I have not done a CPU upgrade on an EX490 so I cannot comment on whether it works or not. However, in my experience, you should not need to change any BIOS settings if you do some homework on the hardware (CPU, RAM) you are going to install. People did need to reflash the BIOS on their EX470 models to fix a small cosmetic error on the WHS screen after performing a CPU upgrade. I don't think you need to do this for the EX490 though.

If you did need to re-flash your BIOS, I would strongly suggest spending the little extra money to get a PS2-Keyboard in case something goes wrong and you accidentally disable USB support in your newly flashed BIOS.

If all you want to do is view or change a few values in your BIOS, then the VGA-Only cable should suffice.

If you want to simply do a hardware update (CPU or RAM) and you did your homework and you know the hardware is compatible, then you shouldn't even need a debug board.

Great questions. If you have any more, feel free to post them here.

Email sent. Hope to be in the next order. Email me when you want paypal sent, id like to send it closer to the ship date.

For completeness I have now received the Q8200s (SLG9T) and successfuly installed it in my EX490 - took a number of retires but now all 4 cores are recognised. I used Arctic 5 Silver and after 10 minutes the cores are running 38c, 34c, 38c and 35c respectively. HD0 (Seagate 1TB) and HD1 (Samsung F4 2TB) are 31c and 27c respectively.

I d not do any BIOS changes

I just got my Gen3 for my EX495, and must say it's great. I really feel I have total control of the server now, just as with my other computers. Yesterday I tweaked some bios settings, (like having the server boot up automatically after an AC power loss), and also upgraded some drivers which I wouldn't touch before (like NIC drivers!) for fear of losing RDP to the server if something went wrong. Additionally it allowed me to discover another Service Control Manager error popup appearing on startup which is prohibiting a normal shutdown with the power button while the popup hangs on the desktop/login screen (still trying to fix this!). I would have never seen it without the GEN3/monitor. It doesn't appear on the RDP desktop.

Yes, I could have built this for less money, but I have to say the hardware is first class, and very professional looking. (Don't think my build would have been so neat!). It's definitely worth the money for any who want complete control of their Mediasmart server and are considering possible future upgrades (WHS 2011, etc).

Heartily recommend!!

_________________
HP EX495 | Q9300| 4GB | Sans Digital TR5M-B (Now Retired) |(2) Mediasonic Probox HF2-SU2S2 eSATA/USB2.0| WHS 2011 | |Stablebit Drivepool |FlexRAID 2.0| [9x2TB]

just sent in an order!

Thank you all for the kind words. I take great pride in my service and these testimonials are a clear indication that people like what they get.

By now, the short backlog that existed earlier has completely cleared so if you made a request earlier and you have not head from me, you need to either check your spam folder or simply email me again to re-submit your request for a cable. Follow the directions on the first post to make a cable request.

I'm seriously interested in getting a VGA + PS2 Keyboard + PS2 Mouse Assembly, but would like to see some alternative installation pictures if anyone has taken any.

My X510 is fully populated with drives, so I cannot use a empty tray.

I'm thinking of velcroing the assembly onto the top/back of the unit, but wondered what other people had done.

TIA.

Thanks Charles - the Gen3 VGA cable arrived promptly and worked first try in my HP 470. Well worth the cost, as I was chasing a Vail upgrade that went wrong... "BOOTMGR is missing" said it all, as I had botched prepping the USB key.



Barry

Hi Charles,

my cable has sadly has gotten stuck having cleared customs as it has been decided there is an import charge to pay on it. It's a shame there is no offer of UPS International shipping to Europe when ordering from you as they have a warrant to deal with import\export charges themselves (in the UK where I am and most EU countries) and in most cases are very fair about it and deliver the item and send you an invoice for any charge later.

As it is at the moment USPS did a great job shipping the cable to the UK at great speed for it to then spend 4 days in customs to only then get sent to be held at a delivery depot until the charges are paid. USPS say an attempt to deliver the item was made this morning which I think is a confusion in the system as Royal Mail\ParcelForce both state that the item is being held as a duty charge has been applied to the parcel.

This sort of situation gets really crappy in the UK (for the benefit of those that aren't aware) in that as a charge is due they won't attempt a delivery as postal carriers in the UK aren't allowed to take payments at the door so they keep your parcel at some godforsaken hell-hole depot that once upon a time if you wanted your parcel you would have had to go to directly even though it might be 10s of miles away.

The point where it all breaks down is that they send you a postcard with details about your parcel which are well-known to get lost in the post (ironic isn't it!) and so you have no means of referencing your parcel to pay the charge (which you can now do on-line, thankfully) as the tracking number is insufficient because you need a customs charge reference number to go with it in order make a payment (found only the postcard you may never receive)...Aaah!

The worst thing is not being able to pay the charge to have your item delivered even though you know exactly where it is because you can see via it's via tracking info.

So...The whole process falls down if you don't get a flimsy piece of card delivered with a 'magic' number on it. To top it all off, if the item's charge isn't paid within the a month (possibley 3 weeks) the parcel gets shipped back to it's origin which in the case of an an item like the VGA/PS2/Serial cable probably costs the postal carriers as much to do as the cost of the duty charge to deliver it.

In all seriousness A UPS shipping option would certainly benefit other UK customers who purchase a cable from you as it would remove Royal 'pain in the ass' Mail from the equation altogether and lead to parcels arriving in what would most likely be just a couple days.

I just hope I get my customs charge notification postcard soon!

Cheers, Charles (and everyone that bothers to read my message).

Regards,

Dizzy

Thank you for the valuable feedback.

International shipping can be a frustrating thing and your remarks certainly reflect the pains that a small number of customers can experience. While I do my best to make sure each cable ships in a timely fashion, the reality is that after your cable leaves my hands, there is not much I can do if a problem arises except make some phone calls. Most international customers get their cable in a timely fashion but if something looks suspicious, there can be delays. If your country's customs officer fails to send a collection notice, there can be delays there too.

Some people complain about the high cost of international shipping but forget that, when there are delays, your package is insured and tracked with a tracking number. You can use that tracking number to identify your package to the courier over the phone (should a problem arise). Most couriers are pretty good at resolving issues too.

I want to also mention that while I do offer UPS and FedEx International shipping to the select few who ask, the prices are typically so high that I simply don't bother mentioning it on the forum post. If you want a more reliable international shipping method, simply ask and I can quote you a price.

Thanks again Dizzy and welcome to the mediasmartserver.net forums.

Hi Dizzy.

How did you know it had got stuck ??

Who decided there was an import charge ??

My cable was sent out by cakalapati on 14th/15th March.

At what point do I start worrying about mine being stuck ??

TIA.

Wow, this was easy. Ordered the VGA-only one, made the payment next day, and got the shipment confirmation the day after. And I just installed it and it is working great.

Thanks for making this possible.

The only problem I had was that the boot priority was set to the embedded USB flash drive after boot. I had to change it back to the first disk to make the system boot.

And now I am only worried about if it gets burned. I have an EX485 and it is coming out of the top hard drive bay. Did anyone have any such problems because the cable was close to the heatsink or the hard disk in the third bay?

FYI: The cable should withstand temperatures up to 75 Celsius so if your internal fans are working, it's usually not an issue. If you do need your cable to withstand higher temps, you can place additional sleeving around it at a relatively low cost.

Update: One more thing...I've never had anyone contact me about a ruined cable caused by heat. But it's still good to be cautious none-the-less and exercise good judgment during installation, since a heat sink is just a few inches away from the connector on the HP MediaSmart server models.

Hi CBers,
I got my parcel today. With regard to your delivery times (assuming you too are in the UK) you could perhaps use it to get an idea of what to expect.

In my case the UK customs decided there was import tax to pay to which, because they have to then process that charge etc., they add an admin charge an extortionate cost of £13.50 (almost as much as the import tax). The total charge came to £27.33 ($44.36) with the import duty overcharged at 0.27% (18p so not worth arguing over).

As you can see from the tracking info (things get a little confusing because of the time differences, dst et.al, reverse order etc.) the US side was great at moving the parcel and that it was the UK side that caused the delay. It was also unfortunate that my import invoice came on a Thursday so payment of the charges couldn't clear until Friday by which time the first rescheduled delivery date was today (Monday) so that added an additional 6 days from when the invoice was posted.

Anyhow I have my cable now, hurrah! And I wouldn't have the skill to have made one myself so when all is said and done I'm still glad that I made my purchase.

Cheers all,

Dizzy

----------------------------------------

UK ParcelForce Info
21-03-2011 14:56 Charlton Depot Delivered
21-03-2011 04:24 Charlton Depot Loaded to vehicle for delivery
17-03-2011 19:31 Charlton Depot Delivery scheduled
16-03-2011 03:42 Charlton Depot Awaiting payment of charges
15-03-2011 07:16 National Hub Received and processed
15-03-2011 01:52 International Hub Received from Customs - charges to be paid
10-03-2011 10:37 International Hub Awaiting Customs clearance
10-03-2011 10:35 International Hub Received in destination country
09-03-2011 13:35 Heathrow Airport Received in destination country

USPS Info
Arrived Abroad, March 10, 2011, 10:35 am, GREAT BRITAIN
International Dispatch, March 08, 2011, 12:52 pm, ISC CHICAGO IL (USPS)
Arrival Acceptance, March 07, 2011, 6:25 pm, AUSTIN, TX 78799
Processed through Sort Facility, March 07, 2011, 6:12 pm, AUSTIN, TX 78710
Electronic Shipping Info Received, March 07, 2011

Hi Dizzy.

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, I am in the UK, not far from you by the looks of it - I'm in Kent.

My package is in the UK:



So I am about a week behind you - hopefully I'll get something through soon.

Do USPS continue to follow the parcel through to delivery, or is it the Royal Mail that now does it ??

If I enter the US tracking code in to the Royal Mail tracker system, it gets converted to a GB tracking number - is that correct ??