5 replies to this topic

[thoorb]

I have an HP MediaSmart Server, model EX485. It has the original 750 GB hard drive, and three 2 TB hard drives. It has worked for several years without problems until last week. The network port has stopped working. I have tried several cables, different ports on the router, direct connection to my laptop, nothing works (The lights on the back of the Server's network port do not light up at all). The Server boots up normally and seems to work fine other than that.

So, to sum up, my data appears to be on the server, but is inaccessible.

My idea was to buy another server (the same model) and put all four drives in the new server, and hopefully, it would boot up normally with no loss of data. Before I went that route, I was curious to see if anyone here thought it would work, or had a similar experience.

Would this work, or can anyone help me come up with an idea to get my data off the Server?

Thanks so much!

[cskenney]

You have a few choices.

1. Since you have a WHSv1 you can remove the drives and put them into another computer to retrieve the data off the drives.
2. You can try installing a USB network adapter on your MSS like this guide suggests. How to resolve a failed LAN PORT.
3. You can try your method. I think you will have a tough time finding another EX485 to do that though.

Personally, I would give #2 a shot and you can always do #1 to get the data off the drives.

[thoorb]

I'm going to try #2 first as you suggested. I have ordered the USB/LAN adapter, hopefully it will arrive soon. To clarify option #1, I can install these drives in a Windows PC as a second hard drive and just read the data like normal? Does it matter what version of Windows I use? I'm assuming I could just hook them up as an external drive as well?

Thanks for the help. looking forward to getting my server back!!

[ikon]

I have never personally seen an MSS box. But, my Acer H340 has one 4x PCIe slot. Does the EX485 have one? If yes, you could buy a gigabit NIC and install it. Use the USB NIC to connect to the server and install the drivers for the gigabit NIC and then you have the USB NIC ready for future troubleshooting. The gigabit NIC will be faster than the USB one; that's mainly why I recommend it.

[cskenney]

I have never personally seen an MSS box. But, my Acer H340 has one 4x PCIe slot. Does the EX485 have one?

There is no PCIe slot on the MSS boxes.

[ikon]

There is no PCIe slot on the MSS boxes.

that sux