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I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
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Author:  JimP [ Mon Dec 07, 2009 2:03 am ]
Post subject:  I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
I set up my ex495 today. I added my new drives, and then attempted to do a factory reset just to be sure that no data goes onto the system drive. Well... I could never get the reset to work. I directly connected to my desktop first... and did my best to shut down anti-virus software as they recommend. After getting a failure (fails at step 3 of 4)... I tried to set it up with a laptop... and I uninstalled the anti-virus SW. Same error.

Instead of doing the reset... I ran the server as-is and I will soon be starting a server backup. However, I have zero confidence that I will be able to perform a server reset if it becomes necessary.

I am leaving for a few days, so my debug will need to continue when I return... but I am not happy at all. I never had problems like this with my EX485.

Any suggestions as a next step?

/Jim
Author:  TechVet [ Mon Dec 07, 2009 5:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
The Server Reset is one of the most fickle things about the EX49x series. I tried several times with my first unit and eventually gave up. If you read through the threads, you'll pick up some pointers. You've already done one - hook direct up to the PC. You may also want to pre-format the system hard drive on another PC. Of all the stuff that I've read, those two suggestions done concurrently seem to be associated with most consistent results. Then again, there are no guarantees.
Author:  JimP [ Mon Dec 07, 2009 11:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
Is there any word from HP on a fix? I feel very uncomfortable committing my data to a machine where I do not know if I could fix the OS if there is a problem. The EX485 worked quite well. Is there any technical reason that they cannot resort the the EX485 method of doing an OS restore?

/Jim
Author:  yakuza [ Mon Dec 07, 2009 3:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
JimP wrote:
Is there any technical reason that they cannot resort the the EX485 method of doing an OS restore?

/Jim


Yes, the 256MB onboard flash no longer exists on the EX49x servers. I also do not expect any updates to this process from HP, as it would likely require a BIOS or PXE boot change on the server, or else a new Server Recovery disk for changes to the client side of the process.

I've noticed some people having issues with this, and have wanted to do some more in depth investigation into the process so I can produce some troubleshooting help. I'll try to raise the priority on this to work on it sooner rather than later.
Author:  JimP [ Mon Dec 07, 2009 8:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
yakuza wrote:
JimP wrote:
Is there any technical reason that they cannot resort the the EX485 method of doing an OS restore?

/Jim


Yes, the 256MB onboard flash no longer exists on the EX49x servers. I also do not expect any updates to this process from HP, as it would likely require a BIOS or PXE boot change on the server, or else a new Server Recovery disk for changes to the client side of the process.

I've noticed some people having issues with this, and have wanted to do some more in depth investigation into the process so I can produce some troubleshooting help. I'll try to raise the priority on this to work on it sooner rather than later.

Alex,

Thanks for the priority on this. One of the things that the instructions specify is to disable virus protection and firewall. One of my next things to check is if Windows Vista & Windows 7 have a firewall that can be disabled. I simply did not have to do that last night before I had to get to sleep. This will be something to google this week while I am gone on a biz trip.

I will actually be in a meeting with some MS folks... so maybe I will ask them. I'll make sure to open my Parallels Windows XP to full screen on my MacBook. ;) I'll also make sure that I "Bing" instead of "Google" when I am with them.

/Jim
Author:  Stacy [ Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
I cannot start a factory restore on my new EX490! I've had many problems with this server, right out of box. I'm not sure if I have a lemon, or if there are hardware/software issues on this version.

For the factory restore issue, I disabled anti-virus and turned off firewall. I connected the network cable directly from my vista system to my server. I launch the factory restore CD from my Vista system and after about 15 minutes of a progress of "working" I get the error "Step 3 of 4 failed." Clicking the Help button results in the following: "there was an unidentified error"

The reason why I'm doing a factory restore is because all of a sudden I cannot access the server via the WHS Connector or RDP. I tried turning it off and then back on after a few minutes, and still no luck after many attempts.

Recommendations are appreciated!

Thanks
Stacy
Author:  TechVet [ Fri Dec 11, 2009 12:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
It's been a while since the restore failed on my first EX495. However, looking back, there are some things I wold definitely do differently. Mind this is based on limited personal experience, and somewhat follows what others have done and seem to have found successful.

1) Pretty much everyone says to hook the network cable direct and it appears you have done that. That you have gotten to step 3 of 4 is evidence that this step is working. If it weren't you wouldn't get to step one.

2) Pull the system hard drive out and hook it up to another PC. Delete any partitions you find and reformat to one large active partition using NTFS. Then reinstall it and begin the restore again. Why??? I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest this may be related to something I saw over on the LX195 boards. A user over there was swapping out the stock 640GB drive for a fresh 2TB drive. Based on what the poster wrote, the restore process on the LX195 seems to be very similar to that of the EX49x series and in his case, the restore process was hanging (I am unsure of what step this occurred at.) It was suggested that he format the drive for one active partition using NTFS on another PC. He did that and it worked. He surmised that the server was timing out while it was trying to format the 2 TB unit and noted that the formatting on the PC did take a while. So this seems to maybe make sense.
Author:  Stacy [ Fri Dec 11, 2009 1:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
Here is an update on this issue.

I was able to get back into my server via RDP by powering down my router, waiting a couple minutes, and then powering back up. Disconnecting the network cable from the server itself did not resolve this issue.

Thanks for the feedback

Stacy
Author:  JimP [ Tue Dec 15, 2009 10:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
UPDATE:

I spent a long time on the phone with HP support (David) this evening. In the end, he thinks that I have a bad EX495. We tried backing up up with two different clients (one Vista, one W7). We also tried to recover with zero drives installed (not even the system drive) which he said would isolate the issue to the HDD or the system itself. In the end, he says there is something wrong with the system.

I have a choice to make. I can return it to Newegg, in which case I do not know if they will charge me a restocking fee or shipping. HP can also send me a replacement unit... but they cannot guarantee that I will not get a factory refurb.

Newegg is closed for the night. I'll call them tomorrow to determine my options.

/Jim
Author:  JimP [ Wed Dec 16, 2009 3:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
JimP wrote:
UPDATE:
I have a choice to make. I can return it to Newegg, in which case I do not know if they will charge me a restocking fee or shipping. HP can also send me a replacement unit... but they cannot guarantee that I will not get a factory refurb.

Newegg is closed for the night. I'll call them tomorrow to determine my options.

My EX 495 is on the way back to Newegg. This way I will get a new unit.

BTW: While on the phone with HP Service... I was told that:

Failed step 2 of 4 indicates that the server could not be found
Failed step 3 of 4 indicates that the data transfer failed

In my case, I was failing step 3 of 4 irrespective of which computer I used.

/Jim
Author:  JimP [ Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
Still patiently waiting for my replacement to arrive. It's on a truck... and should be here Monday. I sure hope that the old one was really broken wrt "restore/factory reset" operations. My biggest fear is that the new one will arrive, and I still cannot perform those operations. I'll let you know sometime late on Monday!

/Jim
Author:  JimP [ Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
My new EX495 arrived today. I spent many hours on the phone with HP Tech Support... and we have been totally unable to get my computer to do either a Factory Restore, or a Server Reset. I tried 4 different computers running 3 OS's (XP, Vista, W7), several direct connect Ethernet cables, and now two EX495s. I tried both with just the original drives of the EX495, and also with two of my WD green 2TB drives.

At this point... I just put my drives into the server... added them to storage blowing away everything I have on there (the data is all backed up other places)... and I will start from scratch.

It is a very uneasy feeling knowing that I am starting with a new server and I am unable to reset my server should my OS go bizerk. My only real hope is that someone here can figure out the secret formula to rebuild an EX495.

I really cannot believe how poorly this is coming together. HP took some logs from my computer and is supposed to call me back tomorrow.

/Jim
Author:  jmpage2 [ Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
The last time I saw someone report success with this they connected the OS drive to another computer and wiped out all partitions and then did a reformat to NTFS of the drive.

It does sound as though the recovery process is totally hosed and HP needs to get on it to improve it.

Remember that we are going through all of this pain so that they could save $10 in parts costs on not having to put a flash chip in the box!
Author:  JimP [ Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
jmpage2 wrote:
Remember that we are going through all of this pain so that they could save $10 in parts costs on not having to put a flash chip in the box!

This is the part that infuriates me. I would guess that the two service calls that I made with HP were 3 hours each (6 hours total). My result to date: I have an EX495 that seems to work OK... but I do not know of a way to recover my OS should I have an issue.

My next step is to try a freshly formated NTFS drive with my existing drives de-populated. I am going to use a different drive than my current system drive... because that system drive is currently mission critical.

/Jim
Author:  scrabble [ Tue Dec 22, 2009 9:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I have no confidence in being able to do an OS restore
I also have this issue. Placed a call into HP today, in the end they recommended I send it back to Newegg or do an RMA with them.

I plan on putting Linux on it anyway, I just wanted to make sure a restore works in case I need it.
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