Hp Proliant Microserver Gen8 G1610t

[Desmond Hutchins]

Im new to OMV and I'm trying to install on HP Proliant MicroServer Gen8 by booting from USB stick. But each time I try I get "no system disk media error" message and boot process stops. I've tried few USB sticks with the same result. I'm sure the stick is fine since I can mount it on my fedora laptop and inspect the content. I don't have CD so USB is ht only option. Any suggestions ?

I also had several issues when starting with OMV on HP mS gen8.

What seems mandatory to me is: the booting USB stick with the installation software should have 4 GiB. I failed using an 2 GiB stick. And the booting stick should be attached to one of the USB-2.0 ports in the back.

An empty system stick (8 GiB or more) or SSD to be placed inside.

If you use a SSD as system, it works only in one of the data ports or with USB-Sata-Adapter inside. In this case, take care that the USB-Sata-Adapter works correctly, some don't pass the smart data properly, which can cause strange issues.

The internal port 5 (used for CD-Rom) normally is not suitable (bootable) for the systems disk. Special measures (USB starting stick with Grub) has to be taken to make port 5 working as system.

Hope that helps

Erik

I'm a bit confused. I've seen youtube videos showing that using sata port 5 on the mob does work with SSD. And it does work for me if I install OMV first on my laptop with the SSD and then transfer SSD to HP. I can boot a reboot it with out a problem. I seems to me that there some issues with boot sector on my USB stick since I can't even boot my laptop with it. I don't know enough about it but I can say that the USB does seems OK since I can browse it and see the files but can't boot off it. GParted does not show boot flag.

Firstly, an ISO file can be written on a stick to act like a CD-Rom-drive by means of a software like dd or unetbootin. For me it didn't work with smaller USB-stick so I used an 4 GiB-stick. But I can't make a rule out of it. So if it doesn't work in your case, try another stick or try another software.

Second question, where to place the system disk (whether it is a stick or a SSD) in an HP gen8 microserver. I read a lot in advance and there was commen understanding, that port 5 (internal sata for CD-Rom) is not working as bootable device. So I used the internal USB-plug and I am fine. But if you get your system on a SSD and this works on port 5, good for you.

Same story here! Altough I made the usb stick correctly (tested in a desktop machine, booted fine), the Microserver wouldn't boot.

I also tried the F11 (boot menu) and press 3 (USB boot) thingy, but no success. The key to the solution was siulman's post about waiting: I waited until the graphical boot screen, then inserted the usb stick, and then F11 and press '3'. And then, success and stuff.

It's quite confusing that there is an option for USB boot in the bios, and it simply doesn't work. But the software side has been the biggest con for every HP product for years, and this is no exception. But hey, the hardware was priced reasonably, and finally I got through their bugware!

Second question, where to place the system disk (whether it is a stick or a SSD) in an HP gen8 microserver. I read a lot in advance and there was commen understanding, that port 5 (internal sata for CD-Rom) is not working as bootable device. So I used the internal USB-plug and I am fine. But if you get your system on a SSD and this works on port 5, good for you.

Just for reference, Gen8 can run a SSD on the 5th bay as boot disk (mine runs exactly that way), with OMV2 (Wheezy) was just a matter of configuring GRUB in the correct way, OMV3 (Jessie) does it correctly without manual intervention.

Just for reference, Gen8 can run a SSD on the 5th bay as boot disk (mine runs exactly that way), with OMV2 (Wheezy) was just a matter of configuring GRUB in the correct way, OMV3 (Jessie) does it correctly without manual intervention.

Today after about a year that install got corrupt and would no longer boot. I've tried re-installing on a bunch of sandisk, kingston, ... and none worked. I tried the boot trick and other ports, but nothing worked.

Thanks a lot for your post. I also bought the G8 Microserver and there is pretty much zero information about CPU upgrades on this server (every blog just mentions its possible to upgrade but no one actually did it).

One thing that does require the Advanced ILO license is remotely mounting media or an ISO file from your computer. There is no DVD drive with the server, so with no ILO4 license the only way to mount media is to physically plug a USB flash (or USB DVD drive if you have one) into the server and boot off of it.

If I buy the 1220v3 CPU then I can apply the included passive cooling and heatsink on it or do I need to buy anything extra besides the CPU (new heatsink or passive cooling)?

Also, do I need any special equipment (silicone or anything) for this? I need it for the CPU change, right?

I am not a real HW guru, but this is worth trying ;-)

Hey Ben, thanks a million for the review and I will be buying as a result of your input :) I have a question about your above post where you mention the onboard graphics of the CPU. Are you sure the server even uses the Intel graphics? According to the specs, there is an ancient Matrox G200 GPU. Do you think its possible to make use of the onboard intel GPU via the VGA?

Prepare to be surprised. They are single 16GB modules and we have been selling them for almost 6 months now. We do try and stay ahead of the game, I guess that may be why our customers like us so much.

It seems many people find the gen8 too noisy for a home server. HP has a problem, not just with the micro server, but other models of gen8 as well. And of course, the iLO board is built into it. Some issues: a non HP card lacks temp sensors, so fans speed up.

Has anyone tried putting 32gb memory into this thing yet?

That is a selling point for me if possible.

I found some more 2x16gb ram that I think might work? ..also much much cheaper and its crucial, which i believe to be decent memory brand.

=CT2K16G3ERSLD41339

I really wish the G8 could handle what I do with the applications and activities i run on esxi 5.1 with only 16gb and I personally would use it for this as well as my SMB operations if it could handle 32gb.

Its interesting in that not only does average SMB look to be heading that way, but the era of 32gb home servers is slowly becoming a reality, and sooner or later I think the microserver bandwagon is going to hop on it. maybe next year =)

The MicroServer will be used for virtual lab environment using Hyper-V 2012 R2.

With the new Server 2012 R2 we can configure storage tiers that includes both SATA and SSD in order to get the maximum IO possible.

The new OS 2012 R2 is smart enough to move the hot data to the SSD and low data to the slower disk dynamically.

I need 100GB or 200GB as RAID1 for the OS and the other for Data Virtual Machines combined between SATA 6Gbps and SSD.

Any chance you measured or could check the hole spacing on the heatsink mounting holes? Standard 1155/1156 is 75mm between the holes in a square, if this is the same then it means any aftermarket heatsink should work :).

Yea, I guess so. There is only 200Mhz standard difference -> 3.3 vs 3.1.Having the 1230 leaves you with future HyperThreading ability if you need it though :)

In Denmark where I live the price is really not that much higher for the 1230 though and I tend to believe the 1220 are just lower quality 1230 so they have HT disabled (just my personal opinion mind)

If you asked me about turbo mode, I allready had that on. I just enabled HyperThreading as well now, so all 4 cores, turbo mode and hyperthreading is enabled now. Will see how it goes. Thermal sensor says about 40ish celcius with 4 cores and turbo mode.

Running Server 2012 Hyper-V with 4 guests (2 DCs and 2 Exchange), s CPU usage is periodic.

Oh yeah, M1015 can be flashed to many modes (google it), allowing passthrough of cards to VMs or accessing HDDs directly from OS without the extra RAID-layer. But these are not needed for normal operation with RAID1.

Is this side bracket sold anywhere? or are there any instructions/drawings of it? Is there room for both disks on the same side? And I guess that a seperate controller card is necessary to add these two disks, if a disk is installed in the ODD and the four diskspaces are used in the main part?

Using the inbuilt B20i for extra 2 HDDs is OK, but you must know that M1015 can handle 8 drives, it has 2 miniSAS brackets, so all you need to solve is where to put the extra HDDs. The cable can be hacked outside of the house.

Or you can get a more expensive RAID card that has externel miniSAS connector.

I have lm-sensors on linux watching the temperature of the 4 cores, running Prime95 and it is reporting around 65 degrees and yet the ilo is only reporting 40, exactly the same as it reported when I first powered the box up.

As a side note, I found that disabling VT-d on the cpu makes for a more stable run. At least mine stopped rebooting once in a while running Server 2012 R2 hyper-V.

Just have to wait for the bios update HP has published news about, but not made available, grr.

I gave HP a call, and funny enough, the first level supporter I talked with, confirmed the issue as he has had others several months ago, reporting the precise same issue. He mentioned that the issue currently is placed at third level support, meaning that the are handling the issue, trying to solve it. So the more people leaving a greeting with HP support, the more pressure will be put upon them. Hope it will be solved soon.

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