Sorry, I once again have to burst your bubble.

The folks at mswhs.com found HP’s white paper on the new HP MediaSmart servers. I’ll quote the most depressing line: “Note that the “Restore System from Backup” feature of Time Machine is not implemented.”

What that means is, while you can restore individual files that were accidentally deleted… you cannot recover a Mac from a catastrophic failure (won’t boot, lost, stolen, damaged, defective, etc).

And, while the white paper doesn’t say why… I know why, and I’ll tell you. See, what HP did to enable Time Machine to work with Windows Home Server (WHS), was to patch the way WHS handles SMB stores. Then, on the Mac, they tweak a few settings to override Apple’s backup restrictions. This allows the Mac to see SMB file shares (like, WHS file shares), and then HP’s intermediary on the Mac mounts the special patched SMB file share mount.

And, if you’re running Mac OS X 10.5.5 or later, that works great. The problem is, the Mac OS X install/restore disc is not using 10.5.5. It’s usually at 10.5.0. Worse, HP can’t patch the install disc to “see” the Windows Home Server anyways.

There is a workaround, what HP would have to do is slipstream their patches onto the Mac OS X disc. That’s really complicated, and well, they’d have to hire someone… like me… to write a utility that would let someone insert a Mac OS X install/restore disc, and then a blank DVD, and create a custom restore disc that would work with Windows Home Server.

Will I do it? Sorry, I don’t have time. But, if HP wants to hire MechaWorks to do the consulting on it… I’m sure something can be arranged…

Another workaround that I’ve come up with would be to copy the Time Machine store to a Mac-formatted hard drive, once you need to do a full system restore. That would allow the restore disc to see it. I’m surprised HP doesn’t document this solution as being a supported workaround… it certainly would save a lot of users frustration when they realize they can’t do a full system restore (and then HP tells them it isn’t possible, when it in fact is).

The new line of MediaSmart ex485 & ex487 “Encore” servers offer a few features that are new. Now, MediaSmart servers have always had additional enhancements like built-in virus scanning and media encoding… but these new features aren’t merely trivial.

First, full support for Mac OS X Time Machine. It will be interesting to see how HP added that, considering the bugs I’ve seen with backing up to Windows shares. Next, iTunes server support. I do not know if this means they have a custom environment for iTunes to run in, or if it’s a shoehorned client running iTunes Sharing. And, PacketVideo’s encoder has been upgraded with DLNA, and Xbox 360 support.

Still, I have some reservations. HP’s Media Collector software is nice if you just like to turn on a vacuum cleaner and have it suck all the media off of all the hard drives in your house, and dump it on an un-backed-up Home Server. And, we’ll have to see if the Apple-targeted additions actually work.

But, there is one big problem, it’s still not a full-profile server. No video out, limited expandability. What I’d like to see, is HP offer up the software overlay that the MediaSmart uses. Bundle the Mac Time Machine and iTunes serving drivers, as well as DLNA support… and sell it for $50 or $60. While this might undercut some MediaSmart sales, it could also be attractive to a bunch of existing Home Server owners, who aren’t likely to upgrade any time soon.

And, if HP doesn’t… rest assured… hackers will do it for them.

But, most importantly: Will HP do the right thing and offer their existing MediaSmart owners an upgrade path?

Update: HP has said that existing MediaSmart servers will get Mac support, as well as Amazon S3 backup support. No word on the advanced streaming options as of yet.

Last Wednesday, I was doing some regressive bug testing for Microsoft on a Windows Home Server (WHS) bug. When I flipped the power switch on my power supply, the power supply exploded… literally. While the smoke was clearing, I shut off power to my server room, and let things clear out.

Fast forward to today. I decided to let the server just sit, I needed a new power supply, didn’t have time, and figured that between Black Friday and Cyber Monday there would be at least one power supply deal. Taking a page from my own reporting on CheapenGadget.com, I ordered the Thermaltake 430W dual fan power supply (now $39.99 from Amazon). After all, this was a home server, and cool winds prevail over quietness in that environment.

Long story short, the new power supply didn’t fix things. My fears were confirmed when my motherboard would do nothing but beep to me. Four years for a PC is a lifetime in my world, and so my Celeron D-powered WHS box was officially dead. Thankfully, I had a backup plan: my Dell Inspiron 530n. I took the hard drives out of the old system, plugged them into my Inspiron, and inserted the Windows Home Server install disc.

Yes, I know, the Inspiron 530n is typically considered overkill in the Home Server environment. However, I’d like to change convention wisdom on that. See, GPU folding can now be accomplished with a $50 video card. And, if you’re going to have a PC running 24/7/365, it’s better for the planet to donate what that system is doing when it is idle.

Donating idle computer resources to research is a lot more “green” than falsely-titled “green” PCs (which often cut back on performance dramatically, in order to save pennies on your power bill each year… literally). Put your power to good use, and keep that in mind when buying your (next) Home Server.

WHS includes an option for a Server Reinstallation. This process wipes out the system partition (where Windows and Program Files reside), but retains system backups and the file storage matrix. Server Reinstallation was a breeze, no errors at all.

(Well, a breeze in terms of the walls of Windows… I had to run chkdsk more than a couple of times to fix post-install file system errors).

From left to right: Dell Inspiron 530n, Power Mac G4, and (dead) Celeron D Home Server

Next, I immediately installed drivers and ran Windows Update to get to WHS Power Pack 1. I wanted to make sure that was one of the first things to be applied, since my WHS database, storage matrix, and files were all made by PP1… and I had no idea how the original WHS would handle them.

Then, after running Microsoft Update and AutoPatcher until there was nothing left to update, I ran the WHS Console… and held my breath. The result was neither great nor bad at the same time. WHS identified my files, my drives, and my PC backups. But, the backup service was offline.

The problem stemmed from the fact that one of my hard drives was Parallel ATA (PATA), and the Inspiron 530n only has Serial ATA (SATA) ports. I attempted to remove the drive from the storage matrix. That was the one bug that I ran into with the whole process. Normally, the Remove Drive feature is supposed to give you a manifest of what files and backups would be lost when you remove a hard drive. It couldn’t give me a list. Worse, it said that a “file conflict” prevented removing the drive!

So, rather than press the issue, I dug up a USB 2.0 enclosure for 3.5-inch PATA hard drives. I plugged it in, and held my breath, hoping that WHS would recognize the drive, even though it was now a USB 2.0 drive. USB 2.0 hard drives carry a different device identifier, so this wasn’t a sure thing. Thankfully, WHS looked past that, and properly identified the drive as my old 250 GB PATA. My guess is the WHS team at Microsoft smartly placed database serial numbers on each drive, ensuring that if a drive changed types (like, from PATA to USB), the drive wouldn’t require reformatting.

A quick system reboot had my the backup service running again. But, that wasn’t the end of trouble. The WHS services were still crashing in an infinite loop (I’d click to send the error report off, and the service would re-launch… only to crash again). I’ve seen this in the past, but never since updating to Power Pack 1. Worse, the Backups still weren’t showing up.

Chkdsk couldn’t find anything wrong with the DATA matrix of drives (where the backups and files are stored). Next, I ran Windows Home Server’s repair backup database wizard… that finally fixed the backup problem.

Or, not. It fixed things on the WHS-side of my system, but when I attempted to mount a backup… you know, make sure the backups actually were still there… nope. WHS Console insisted that the blasted backup service still wasn’t running.

That took a few hours to solve. Basically, WHS did not recompile the user accounts. The only way to do that, is to re-run the WHS Console installer (the connector software that you put onto PCs). Of course, there’s no documentation from Microsoft saying you have to do that. I guess they assume that you’ll either wipe the home server in frustration, or pull out hair from your head until you guess to try that.

Either way, after re-running the WHS Console installer on one PC, WHS began working properly on every PC, complete with system backups and restore ability.

Debriefing, Suggestions, Conclusions

First, Microsoft, please fix the Server Reinstallation bug I just mentioned. I know you’re going to read this, and this is a bug that is just too obvious for me even to write up. Anyone that has done a full WHS reinstall must run into this… Yes, I know some of you will cry out that since I ran into the problem, it’s my job to file the report… I will at some point.

Now, on to some more constructive, product-wide lessons learned.

WHS Console should automatically offer to run chkdsk and Repair the Backup Database if backups aren’t available… even if the backup service is running. Most people don’t know how to solve Backup Database/Service problems, and likely will just wait for the backups to start reporting that they haven’t been done in 7, 10, 15, 30… days.

In addition, I’d also suggest to Microsoft that when a Server Reinstallation takes place… Microsoft auto-launch a Server Reinstallation Wizard. This would be a task presented to the user that walks through connecting any missing hard drives, runs chkdsk (yes, again for good measure) on all the drives, and evaluates all WHS databases for errors. It would also be a good time to let users batch reinstall missing add-ins and other settings that may need to be reset. This would also be a great time to check and make sure that the user accounts were rebuilt, as I noted above.

As to my personal setup, all of the above only took a few hours… five or six at the most (well, aside from the hair-pulling user profile issue). I now have a much more powerful Home Server, ready for pulling double duty as a server, and a dedicated GPU folding station. All that I have left to do is reinstall a few programs and add-ins, restore web services, and swap that USB 2.0 hard drive for an eSATA hard drive. Microsoft did a great okay job with Windows Home Server in terms of recovery, it even somewhat rebounded from its own errors when I told it to.

What happens, is that after installing the latest ForceWare drivers, Windows Home Server doesn’t allow users to log in via the Console and Remote Desktop. Yes, a graphics card update that winds up locking users out of their Home Server.

I’ve confirmed this with another user’s WHS box, but regression is still coming in. I do not know if it is isolated to PCI/AGP/PCIe, or not. My system has a GeForce 6200 PCI card.

Note that you can still physically log into the home server (by plugging in a display, keyboard, and mouse), but reverting the update doesn’t appear to fix the issue. The only resolution we’ve found so far, is to do a dreaded Server Reinstall.

For some reason my Intel 865 integrated graphics is starting to seem like old faithful…

Live Mesh will be a big help for solving one of the inconsistencies in the Windows Home Server offering. As I’ve noted in the past, Live Mesh users are able to remotely access any modern version of Windows. However, Windows Home Server can only grant remote access to professional versions of Windows.

Hopefully, Microsoft will implement this in a transparent manner. Meaning, the Home Server Connector will simply install Live Mesh, and assist with creating your personal Mesh network. Finally, logging onto the Windows Home Server webpage (your Home Server’s webpage) will list all your computers, and re-route you to the Mesh Remote Desktop system.

My big concern at this point is in ease of use. Setting up Live Mesh is easy… for me. But, it may be confusing for the basic users that Microsoft is hoping to win over.

So, here are the specifics: Go get it, now. Do not wait, do not let your computers backup another night without this update. I don’t know if it’s on Windows Update yet, but you can download it and install via Remote Desktop Connection.

Not only does it fix the data corruption issue (although Outlook PST and Quicken files aren’t supported)… but it does plenty more. Windows Vista x64 systems are now supported, and you now have an easy wizard for backing up files stored on the Home Server (to an external hard drive).

If you have an HP Windows Home Server, run the HP Update application after applying Power Pack 1. There are updates to the HP integration and anti-virus software that are meant to match the changes in PP1.

There’s just one step you need to do after installing, and that’s updating your connector software on each PC. The original version of Windows Home Server didn’t take into account that the connector software may need to be updated down the road, so you have to update it manually. Just go into the Software folder of your Home Server after updating, and copy the Connector Software Installer folder to your PC’s desktop.

After updating the Connector software, you won’t have to do that again. With Power Pack 1, the Connector software on each PC checks with the Home Server, and can update itself once you reinstall.

With Windows Home Server, you can log into your Home Server URL, and access all the Remote Desktop computers on your home network. Great. Problem is, any XP Home, or Vista Home systems… don’t have Remote Desktop, so they can’t be remotely accessed.

But, for some reason, Live Mesh scoffs at this restriction. With Live Mesh, you can Remote Desktop to XP Home and Vista Home systems. Microsoft finally realized that the lack of consumer Remote Desktop access was hurting them.

So why, oh why, does Windows Home Server not commit to adding this functionality? Power Pack 1 is in beta, but the lockout on Remote Desktop with consumer Windows is still there.

And no Microsoft, this should not be a selling point for the next version of Windows Home Server. The WHS team has taken pride in claiming that this was a first-gen product that doesn’t immediately scream flawed (except for that data corruption bug, oops). Let’s get WHS back on track, before the world tunes it out completely.