Amahi Forums

For what ever it is worth, i got a small Atom based (D510) system, which has been running WHS v1 but as i'm sticking 4 new drives in it i thought i'd upgrade to something that is hopefully less of a security risk. The problem i face is that the install seams to expect that your not really on a headless system, and requires a bit of user input during the install phase.

I read something about setting up on a different system, and transplanting the configured drive to the HP DataVaults, but that was based on fedora 14, and apparently doesn't work anymore with the new stuffs.
Is there a new workaround i just haven't been able to find? Or, is it like "Your screwed dude. Buy a VGA thingy for your headless server, and use it once, to install" ?
That won't happen, of course, if thats the case the system remains WHS v1, and i'll look in to something else for a Amahi system down the line.

Anyway, thought i'd ask. Thank you all for your time and effort.
B!

The installing HDA on HP Proliant Gen8 Microserver guidance in the wiki may be helpful.

Sadly, as far as i can tell, not in the least.
The Gen8 microserver is a "ordinary computer" with video out features. It uses the generic install instructions, only giving specifics for the hot-swap bays. This process requires "on screen" interaction, something i cant do.

The DataVault series systems are "true headless" systems. There isn't a video port on the thing. There is a cable someone cooked up, that you can connect to an internal header for VGA and PS2 capabilities, but that thing costs more then i gave for the whole system 2-3 years ago. (80 bucks for the thing, plus 24 for the shipping.) I cant justify that for a one time use item, if it cant be circumvented "the old way" like the first link i had above, i'm going to be stuck with Windows Home Server v1. It's behind a Smoothwall, so it should be reasonably safe, even if the OS isn't really up to date anymore, and pretty much only gets critical updates from Microsoft. It's not the first choice i'd make, but... What do you do, really. You got to work with what you got, somehow.
B!

Unfortunately if that guidance will not work, looks like you are stuck

The installing HDA on HP Mediasmart Server is some other guidance in the wiki. It is similar to the links you provided, so may not help.

It to refers to using an older version of the "base" OS. (Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS) From the reading i've done it doesn't seam the current version (14.04 LTS) is supported.I think i'll try it anyway, since all it will cost me is time, i've pretty much pulled everything of the NAS that is donating it's drives at this point, and the X310 is getting reinstalled with 4x2TB drives, one way or another. The old NAS is simply to slow nowdays (266MHz Sparc based thingy) so it has to be upgraded, and the X310 has proven to be quite stable, if even only using WHS v1.
If i fail, i'll simply stuff all the drives in, and use the regular , but odd method of loading WHS v1 on it, and all it will have cost me is time. Should be fine.

As i said at the start, thank you for your time and effort. Hopes are sort of diminishing, but i'm going to try it and see what i get.
I guess what i'm "really" trying to do is move a running setup from a system to another, in a way that doesn't require any input on the new host, which for obvious reasons might be a tall order. Cant say it's a shock, even if it's sad. It's not like i'll go raving of, shouting "How can you make a headless OS that assumes you got a screen for the install, are you fooking nuts?!?". Not only would it be rude, it's also stupid. I mean, i fully understand why one needs to give the install a few inputs. Disrespecting the developers doesn't really help anyone. So i'll just Feel slightly disappointed in that i cant run a recommended software on the thing, and try to move on. If i down the line find my self with the right hardware, then i might try it again at that point. So the developers should stay hard at work, getting the software even better for that day. ;- )

A small thank you goes out to anyone who read the thread, and spent a second thinking about if they knew of a solution.
Cheers.
B!

As i said at the start, thank you for your time and effort. Hopes are sort of diminishing, but i'm going to try it and see what i get. I guess what i'm "really" trying to do is move a running setup from a system to another, in a way that doesn't require any input on the new host, which for obvious reasons might be a tall order. Cant say it's a shock, even if it's sad. It's not like i'll go raving of, shouting "How can you make a headless OS that assumes you got a screen for the install, are you fooking nuts?!?". Not only would it be rude, it's also stupid. I mean, i fully understand why one needs to give the install a few inputs. Disrespecting the developers doesn't really help anyone. So i'll just Feel slightly disappointed in that i cant run a recommended software on the thing, and try to move on. If i down the line find my self with the right hardware, then i might try it again at that point. So the developers should stay hard at work, getting the software even better for that day. ;- )

We do our best to accommodate everyone and thanks for not complaining. Although we are used to it LOL

BTW, what most don't realize is that Amahi is FREE open source software. The only cost is for some applications or advanced support which is the primary source of revenue to fund the entire infrastructure for the home page, forums, wiki, and bug tracker along with some Amahi specific features. Our team is small, 3-4 folks who volunteer their spare time with zero compensation. We have one primary developer and the rest support apps and other tasks. Thought you might be interested to know.

I will say that it is rare to find any OS that can be installed without a monitor. Most require some type of keyboard input. Thanks for the feedback and hope you have success getting things set up.

We do our best to accommodate everyone and thanks for not complaining. Although we are used to it LOL

How can you complain when people donate their time and efforts... Hell, even if it was pay-ware, complaining on the forum seams daft, there would be the "paid consumer support" email, or something. No, you guys do a great job, and i have no complaints.

Thought you might be interested to know.

I already knew. ;- ) Well, i admit i had no idea about the size of the team, but the rest was well known.

I will say that it is rare to find any OS that can be installed without a monitor. Most require some type of keyboard input. Thanks for the feedback and hope you have success getting things set up.

Yeah. The X310 has it's own "pre-built" setup disc. You "install it" by pushing a button on the unit which pretty much turns it in to a tiny server with default settings. I suspect it's just a tiny FTP, but thats nothing but a guess. It lives somewhere other then on the harddrives. So, you run the install on a different PC, and it tells you to hook a network-cable straight to the X310, and push the button, and then your done. Now it's just a waiting game. It either works, or it doesn't. And in the end, if it did, you got a system drive thats set up for use.

And as the link above shows, there was a working workaround, but, sadly it died. I'm still in the progress of verifying the backup of the data from the drives i'm going to use, so i haven't tried the approach from the latest link, with the current ubuntu. When i do, i'll try and report back. And, as i said, if all else fails, i'll just have a spin at amahi on some other hardware, but that wont be a permanent system... I got a ML350 with dual E5450 & 32GB RAM, it will easily let me play around, but is way to noisy to keep up and running.

Anyway. Cheers.
B!

That is an interesting old machine you have there. Never heard of one until now.

Yea I can imagine the new system could be a bit noisy. Shoot if you had an old laptop that meets the requirements, you could use that as an HDA.

That's my intent when I buy a new laptop one day, use the old one as an HDA

Thanks again for the kind words. We appreciate the feedback of users.

Gonna mark this as closed.