I then followed all the instructions as I had done before, but this time the software couldn’t complete.
The error was one of those really useless “this operation cannot be completed at this time. Please try again later” ones. Well guess what? I tried, and I tried, and I tried, and I couldn’t get it to work.
I even thought that it might be because the update changes the name of your Windows Home Server default name to HPSTORAGE instead of HPSERVER or SERVER, but that wasn’t it.
So I started the process again – and again it failed with the same message.
So I thought maybe there was a problem with my network (even though I had already done one upgrade) so I changed cables, even tried a direct connection to the router, and then even tried a different router, but every single time I got the same useless error message!
At this point, I should say that I was using my main computer to perform the upgrade. It is a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate. But it couldn’t be that as I had already done one upgrade on the EX487 without any problems.
So, just in case it was the 64-bit-ness of Windows it didn’t like, I tried it on a 32-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium. And guess what? Yep, didn’t work, same error!
By now I have spent a good 6 or 7 hours playing around with this thing now, and I’m suitably unimpressed.
So as a last ditch attempt, before throwing it out of the window, I thought I would try the upgrade from a Windows Vista computer – 32-bit Home Premium flavour!
And guess what? Nope, you are wrong – it actually worked first time! Straight through as it was suppose to do.
So I can only assume for whatever reason that the EX475 upgrade process doesn’t like Windows 7!
Here was the version information before the upgrade:
And here is the version information after the upgrade:
Tim is planning on doing a proper walk-through of the upgrade process so we can all look forward to that as soon as he receives his upgrade DVDs.
For more information on how to order your upgrade DVDs, click here:
HP MediaSmart Server 3.0 Update for Windows Home Server Now Shipping
For more information on the updates, click here:
HP MediaSmart Server 3.0 Software Update Availability for Windows Home Server
So there you have it – both lots of HP MediaSmart servers upgraded to version 3.0, and hopefully you now have some more information on what might be the resolution should you hit the same issues with your EX475 upgrade!
Humm i don't have anything but Window 7 here .. I wonder if compatibility mode would help ?
I tried that – I tried just about everything.
It might be that your DVDs work fine – but certainly the ones I have here didn't for the EX475 but worked perfectly on the EX487!
I even tried repeating it on the original drive and the new drive but no joy!
let us know how you get on.
Andrew
Oh Andrew, giving up Photo Web sharing?
that is going to be a big one for me as it is able to use password sharing unlike the 3.0 photo program i.e can you guess the name of my private pictures folder anyone?
great GUI just really lacking in security.
although if i cant work out the explorer 8 conflics with it i may jump onboard anyway
Yeah, I know what you mean. But for those not using it then it is an easier decision, and for those who do use it they need to decide if the features they are gaining outway the features they are losing.
Im still not sure why HP keep removing features with all of their updates though!
Andrew
The video error I sent you was from a 64-bit Windows Seven PC.
thanks Tim – its weird, but I just couldnt get it to work for the EX475 but it was no problem on the EX487.
I have asked HP to comment….
Andrew
On one hand,I'm not happy that you ran into a problem with the EX475 install, on the other I am. Goes to show you that problems can occur and posting your experience make it easier for others to give it a try and see what might happen.
Imagine, you even did it the right way and still had an issue. With a lot of people having their precious data on their servers, this would freak them out.
Well I am hoping that for whatever reason the problem was me – although as I tried it on 3 different Windows 7 machines in the end and couldnt get it worked, but the 1st attempt on a Vista machine worked (and I did it on 2 different drives) I certain 7 was the culprit.
And yes, I was worried because it looked like the rebuild hadnt worked – when I looked on my network it couldnt see a machine called HPSTORAGE, but there was a machine called init…. or something like that, so I figured it hadnt finished! I even left it sitting there for a few hours on the off chance it was taking a while, but that didnt help either!
So if this is a problem and otheres will have it, I am glad I found a solution.
As soon as I hear back from HP I will post the response….
I await your next challenge old buddy 🙂 I think…..
Andrew
Andrew, Andrew, your looking for more punishment.:-)
I didn't want to spring this one on you so soon, give you a break, but your challenging me now. 😉
I just so happen to have one up my sleeve, I was wondering if Drive Balancer would work with the v3 update?
http://forum.wegotserved.com/index.php?/topic/646…
The method here is effective if you have enough free space to enable Folder Duplication on ALL share. This might be difficult if you have a large video collection and not enough space to duplicate.
Using Drive Balancer would not require Folder Dupication turned on, and could force data off the system drive but will reinstalling the v3 OS work ?
Good Luck , hehe (devil grin).
Finally got my HP disk and watched your install videos. Made both my backups and started the recovery. Constantly hung up on Cannot find server! Used 4 different Windows 7 machines (both 32 and 64 bit). Disabled firewall, opened recommended ports, run as administrator, different cat 5 hookup options, nothing worked. Any other things to try while I try to get my hands on an old XP machine?
Ross
To be honest, the answer is no, I cant suggest anything else because I tried for nearly 2 days to get it to work and then could only do it via Vista an not 7.
I spoke to HP who claimed they had no problems at all and it must have been me and my network setup!
Sorry!
Andrew
I spent about 3 hours with HP trying to upgrade my EX470 – nothing worked! I tried Windows 7 64 bit and Windows XP. Couldn't find the server once it's in the recovery mode. If anyone has a solution please let me know. Thank you.
Any Answers ? i think i am having same issue
I am in the same boat. Have a 470 and once the update installs, the health light flashes blue on off. have spent the entire day trying to install, to no avail on both Win 7 32 and 64 machines. will try on old XP laptop in the AM. AAAAARRRRGGGG.
Will
Sorry to report but HP still wont recognise the problem and claim that it isnt happening, even though it obviously is!
how did you get on with running it via XP?
I have tried it numerous times since I wrote the article and each time its the same…..
Andrew
No luck on the XP, the program kept crashing. Tried on both 32 abd 64. Also, just finished trying on Vista 64 and now the server is flashing red/purple health?? No idea what this means
great 🙁
at what point is it flashing purple/red?
One thing I also noticed a few times is after it did the intial work and then rebooted, I had to wait sometimes upwards of 15 minutes before it found it!
Andrew
So I found I work around. I used Win 7 Pro with XP virtualization. Had to turn off all the firewalls, and installed in XP mode. Now for the bad news, I had folder duplication turned on, but still seem to have lost all of my data. I am also getting an error that says "The Drive Extender Migrator Service is not running"
Murphy's law. I am pretty sure one of my WD 1TB Green drives failed. It was registering as healthy prior to the update. Trying to recover, but I think I may be SOL. 3TB of movies and shows may be gone. Why did I every start this update?
man that is not good!
have you tried plugging the drives into your normal PC and seeing if you can read the data?
the upgrade process should not have touched the data drives, even if one failed. that said, it should have worked perfectly the first time but we all know it doesnt!
Andrew
Andrew,
My disks shipped 3/16 and they arrived today USPS. I did some research before the disks arrived and on twitter, one user reported that he had to add HPSTORAGE to the hosts file (I did not do this) and turn windows firewall off (my win firewall is off & I use another AV firewall in its place) before his system would find the server. He did not say what OS he is using.
I am using XPPro 32 bit. My EX470 already had the 2Gb RAM installed and I followed your instructions a few weeks ago to dup my folders and let my system balance in preparation to replace the 500Gb drive with a 1.5Tb. My install is currently rebuilding the server and so far, so good.
My question is, once this install is complete with updates and everything is installed, can I take the old system drive and place it in an empty bay and just add it to the system as usual OR do I need to connect it to another PC and do a format or low level format before adding it to the system?
Thanks
You can add it to the storage pool as it will be formatted when you add it 🙂
Andrew
where can I find info on what typeof ram and directions on replacing my ram on the media smart server 475
Doug
If you do a search on Google you should find a number of links, including one to HP's support pages.
Andrew
Just had the same error using an old XP laptop. Finally managed to get past this error and continue the setup by turning off my firewall and I also had to make sure the date/time was set correctly (it was still set at 2005).