Why is the hard drive light blinking Aqua/White?

Originally posted on the HP EX48x Support Pages

A breathing or blinking aqua white light bar indicates that a hard drive has been installed, but has not been initialized. It occurs in the following conditions:

• When setting up the server for first time—the light-bar is breathing aqua white until the set up on the first computer is complete.
• The drive has been removed from total storage and the light bar is blinking—for example, when removing a drive from the drive bay. See Removing a hard drive from the server.
• When adding a new drive the light bar blinks aqua white, before it has been added to server storage.
• For information on initializing a hard drive, see Server Storage in the Windows Home Server Console Help.

This document applies to HP MediaSmart Server EX485 and EX487.

Adding and Removing Drives from Server Storage

Drives added or removed from an expansion bay must be added or removed from total server storage.

CAUTION: When adding a hard drive to server storage, the hard drive is formatted. Make sure to back up any important files that are on the hard drive before adding it to server storage.

To add a drive to the server’s total storage

1. At the computer, double-click the Windows Home Server icon in the system tray.
2. Log on to the Windows Home Server Console.
3. Click the Server Storage tab.
4. Follow the instructions in Adding a hard drive in the Windows Home Server Console Help.

To remove a drive from the server’s storage

1. At the computer, double-click the Windows Home Server icon in the system tray.
2. Log on to the Windows Home Server Console.
3. Click the Server Storage tab.
4. Follow the instructions in Removing a hard drive in the Windows Home Server Console Help.