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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 6:04 am 
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Hi all,

i have bought(unfortunately) 3 Hp mediasmart servers! The first is a EX487. i have been using it for 1 year it never created any problems for me. I use it to store my data and i have duplication off since i need more space.

I bought then a EX495 which out of the blue stopped working as homeserver and i can only use it as a storage device. I cannot connect through WHS connector or Remote Desktop. i can only copy/paste files. So actually this server is useless for me. I tried to do facotry reset but it couldn't happen.

THen i got an EX490 which i have only for 3 months and it has worked perfectly, until yesterday. THe EX 490 has the stock 1 TB drive and 2 X 2 TB WD greens. Out of the blue one of the HDDS failed, therefore i have a large portion of my data(if not 100%). I will try to do a System restore to see if i can keep the rest of my data.

i have read on the forum that resetting the OS or doing a facotry OS is near impossible on the EX490/495! can somebody provide me with a specific walkthrough so i can give it another try?

please............


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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 7:39 am 
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Could you elaborate on your problems with doing a Factory Reset?

I performed a factory reset on my EX495 last night and even though it took several tries to get it right, I was successful. Here is what I learned ...

- I needed a direct connection between the client and the server. Going through the router was a non-starter.

- I needed to disconnect all of my USB connections to the server. This was a tricky one to figure out. I have a UPS and a Printer attached through USB and the reset would fail 3/4 of the way through before I realized what was happening.

Todd


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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:41 am 
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can you also tell me what else you did?

thank you!


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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2010 12:59 pm 
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Yep you need to connect directly to the server from the pc.Bypass any switches,hubs or routers.
Insert and start the server recovery disc.
Follow the prompt to reset the server.
With bent paperclip in hand find the reset hole next to the leds on the front of the server.
Power down the server. Then power up the server. As soon as the right led flashes red ,push in the reset button and release with the paperclip.
Open a beer and wait.
May take up to 15 minutes according to the note.
If the server does not boot in recovery mode.
Repeat the reboot and get another beer.
You have to be fairly quick with paperclip.
So I usually line up the paperclip in the hole prior to rebooting the server.

Some people here have posted that they pulled out the system drive rebooted and then reinserted the drive under power.
I have never tried that method.

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PostPosted: Fri May 28, 2010 6:42 pm 
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Is it possible to do a factory reset prior to using it for the first time? I ask this because I just bought an Open Box 490 and there's a possibility that it was a customer returned item, and if it was, I don't want to take a chance of connecting any of my equipment to something that could have a virus in it, or anything. I'd like to ensure that I start with a blank page.

To follow the instructions you just posted, Ruben Rocha, would the pc used need to be previously "connected" to the MSS?

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PostPosted: Fri May 28, 2010 8:35 pm 
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Yes, definitely perform a Factory Reset on a used or refurb server that you get. You do not have to previously joined the client, the Recovery/Reset software is standalone.

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 10:03 pm 
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JDookie wrote:
Is it possible to do a factory reset prior to using it for the first time? I ask this because I just bought an Open Box 490 and there's a possibility that it was a customer returned item, and if it was, I don't want to take a chance of connecting any of my equipment to something that could have a virus in it, or anything. I'd like to ensure that I start with a blank page.

To follow the instructions you just posted, Ruben Rocha, would the pc used need to be previously "connected" to the MSS?


Yes I had to do so when whs did not like any password I supplied. But yes its more than possible :)


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 7:01 am 
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One thing I learned from 8 hours of trials and tribulations on the 490 server restore (which i would only imagine is the same for a reset) assign a static IP of 169.37.37.38 to the computer you are perfomring the reset from.

I got it to work once correctly without that step, and then the DVD was ejected accidentally.
Had to restart the process...
It didn't take until i assigned 169.37.37.38 to the adapter on the computer connected to the server.

Mask should auto fill to 255.255.0.0.

And away you go.

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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 2:21 pm 
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Humm.
For a restore/reset process.
Did you not connect the server directly to the desktop?
Bypassing any network connection such as a router/switch or hub?

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 4:39 pm 
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Ruben Rocha wrote:
Humm.
For a restore/reset process.
Did you not connect the server directly to the desktop?
Bypassing any network connection such as a router/switch or hub?


Ruben,

I did indeed do a direct connection..
However the TFTP DHCP portion of the process was very vexing for me.
It had little little success actually binding an IP to the host machine's NIC.
One try in 25 I would say.

Once I did a static IP of .38 on the host, it dropped .37 on the server and away it went.

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PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:50 pm 
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HI All.. 1st thank you everyone who has gone before me in the factory reset struggle. I learned a lot and you all probably saved me many many hours.

I wanted to lay out for you what i think was the biggest stumbling block - TIMING! I have now done 7 out of 7 successful recoveries , each using a different hard drive in different states (brand new out of the box, formatted, partitioned, full, etc)

The set up.
my MMS ex495 (purchased used)
my Macbook Pro running Windows 7 pro (wireless off)
a small 8 port switch
The server recovery software

1 - hooked the MMS and Macbook into the switch. nothing else on it
2 - copied the server recovery to the harddrive of the mac book
3 - fired up the recovery software
and I think this fixed the timing issue
4 - proceeded through the recovery software accepting the agreement and clicking NEXT on the screen that explains how to get the MMS into recovery mode
5 - POWERED up the MMS and used a paperclip to set it into recovery mode.
6- opened the TFTP software (green icon in system tray
7-selected DHCP tab and saw 169.37.37.37 (client) and 169.37.37.38 (server) immediately
8-selected the TFTP server tab and say the file about 25% uploaded
9-at complete i clicked FACTORY RESET, it did it's thing
10 after it finised i reboot the MMS and it did it's thing. bout 20 minutes later, poof a working MMS again 7 out of 7 times :cheers:

I did try it many times doing the intuitive thing as most of the documentation stats but this process seemed to always work.

Good luck! my HP EX495 is proving to be a kick-a** little machine. Hope yours does as well!


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PostPosted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:15 am 
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I combined the methods Daniel Baird and GaryMeer outlined. It works.

I bought a used 495 without drives. Formatted a new 2tb Hitachi and after 11 attempts had not gotten past the
"step 2 of 4 failed" error message. I ran the setup on two 7 Ultimate machines and 2 XP machines. Always the result was that the server and the pooter were not negotiating.

I was direct wired client to server, I ran the most current PassMark SMART suite on the hard drive, used safe mode w/ networking, bobby pin... you betcha, and generally tried to follow the various and well laid out methods both sensible and voodoo right up to waving chicken parts around over my head in a sack, but after 11 attempts I was not winning.

Going to the static IP, copying the Recovery disk onto the hard drive and firing up in safe mode with networking on the 7 Ultimate PC that I started on and following the GaryMeer steps the install was flawless, albeit slower than a factory reset on a 470 series.

So, convert your PC LAN to the static IP 169.37.37.38 (google it) and connect your ethernet directly to the server.
Kill any wireless on the PC by disabling the adapter and in my case since my HTPC has multiple ethernet ports disconnect all LAN but the direct line to the server. (GaryMeer went through his switch. I went straight machine to machine. It's one less link in the chain.)
F8 your PC to Safe Mode with Networking, keep your bobby pin close at hand, click the WHSRecovery icon in the download you made of the Recovery CD and follow the directions for the next 1/2 hour or 45 minutes.

I cannot guarantee this method but I can say unequivocally that after 11 failed attempts it was a revelation that made my day.

Thanks to the posters. Recommended!


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 5:41 pm 
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My favorite factory reset was yanking the system drive, installing it as the only drive in my desktop PC, installing WHS 2011 and once installed putting it back in my EX490.

No more dependency on HP proprietary crap and no need for a debug cable for a monitor/mouse.


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:04 am 
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I tried the following suggestions to get server restore to work:

1. Booted into Safe Mode w/ Networking
2. Waiting to turn server on after tftpd was started
3. Manually setting IP address to what is listed in tftpd
4. Pulling all drives but system

None worked and I could not get MediaSmart server an IP address.
I would get "request 2 not processed" or "statically assigned to address 0.0.0.x" for all server requests. I would get an IP just fine on my PC.

I read somewhere that you could hardcode the MAC address in the registry but tftpd is not installed and therefore not listed in registry as installed. So what I did is copied the Recovery CD to my computer and edited the tftpd32.ini under the PXE folder. I added xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx=169.37.37.38 (the Mac address for your server listed in prior logs of tftpd32=the ip address my pc was getting + 1) I put it at the end of the [DHCP] section.

You must wait till your PC has an IP before turning on the server or it will try and start transferring immediately. The HP protocol that makes the server wait till you have an IP is bypassed by doing this. This let me get the files copied to my server and complete the recovery.


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File comment: This is how it would look if you could add it in the Registry.
dhcp-static-ip.jpg
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:21 pm 
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Okay I have had persistent errors with a reset/recovery on a ex490 on occasion.

What I ended up doing is yank the system drive. connect it to my desktop.
Wipe out the partitions so it appears to wh1 to be a new blank purchased drive .
re-insert the drive in the ex490 and start over.

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