HP Microserver Gen8 - USB (now working) & Built-in BCM Ethernet non functioning

[yarshure]

You can't install/run macOS or any OS from SATA 5 on the HP Microserver. The OS has to be on SATA 1, left hand caddy bay. The other three caddy bays can contain high density HD's, I have one Microserver with 3 x 2TB Western Digital Green HD's and the other with 3 x 3TB WD Red HD's.

I recently installed Mojave 10.14.4 on one of my two Gen8 Microserver's and it was very glitchy, kept locking up when trying to repair permissions and rebuild the kernel cache with Kext Utility or in Terminal. So tried High Sierra, had the same issues. Installed Sierra and everything working as expected. All installations were run with the same CLOVER folder I attached above!

Thank you share you experience on gen8 micro server
Read all the thread,I success setup my server.
0 booting ,I have old MBP2015, I create install partion /EFI on SSD, used about 10G, other used for install real system, Install very smooth, no USB disk not found issue.
1 dGPU GTX 1070, I use pcie 1x to pcie16x cable and socket ,installI got stage work, after install webdriver work fine.
2 also usb WiFi module work, 11n speed low, todo add usb Ethernet dangle.
3 todo buy a AMD dGPU

 

[Edhawk]

Update on my usage and recent reconfiguration of my HP Microserver 'macOS servers':

I have been able to set up my two HP Microservers with an SSD attached to the SATA 5 port, running macOS Sierra 10.12.6. They could be updated to macOS High Sierra 10.13.6, but I want to use the Apple Server App on both systems and the last decent version of the Server App was released for macOS Sierra.

I have installed a USB drive to the internal USB port and boot Clover from this USB instead of the SSD. Clover has been installed in Legacy Mode, in the ESP so the Microserver boots correctly from the USB. The OS on each SSD is set as the default boot drive in the Clover config.plist.

This has allowed me to populate each of the four main SATA ports 1-4 with larger HD's. These four SATA ports are accessible via the front loading caddy's. I have populated both Servers with a pair of 3TB Red WD & pair of 2TB Green WD hard drives. The 3TB drives are connected to ports 1 & 2, these ports run at SATA III speed. The pair of 2TB drives are connected to ports 3 & 4, these ports run at SATA II speed.

Still having issues with the Built-in Broadcom Ethernet, so stuck using a USB-Ethernet adapter.

 

[neo.e92]

Update on my usage and recent reconfiguration of my HP Microserver 'macOS servers':

I have been able to set up my two HP Microservers with an SSD attached to the SATA 5 port, running macOS Sierra 10.12.6. They could be updated to macOS High Sierra 10.13.6, but I want to use the Apple Server App on both systems and the last decent version of the Server App was released for macOS Sierra.

I have installed a USB drive to the internal USB port and boot Clover from this USB instead of the SSD. Clover has been installed in Legacy Mode, in the ESP so the Microserver boots correctly from the USB. The OS on each SSD is set as the default boot drive in the Clover config.plist.

This has allowed me to populate each of the four main SATA ports 1-4 with larger HD's. These four SATA ports are accessible via the front loading caddy's. I have populated both Servers with a pair of 3TB Red WD & pair of 2TB Green WD hard drives. The 3TB drives are connected to ports 1 & 2, these ports run at SATA III speed. The pair of 2TB drives are connected to ports 3 & 4, these ports run at SATA II speed.

Still having issues with the Built-in Broadcom Ethernet, so stuck using a USB-Ethernet adapter.

@Edhawk

Hi.

I understand it's been awhile since this thread/build has been last updated, though I just want to ask a couple of questions since I just received a pair of this microserver with the Xeon E3-1270 V2 cpu's.
I've already set-up one of the two as an Xpenology server (bare-metal) and I wonder if I can set-up the other as an MacOS server which I believe is compatible up to Mojave.

My questions are as follows:
1. Have you tried OpenCore on this server? I'm asking mainly because I used to use Clover on all off my installs, but recently found OpenCore as easier (after the steep learning curve) specially during the troubleshooting and upgrading portions.
2. Can you link me to a rundown of what's currently working and and what's not.
3. Can you link me to your latest kexts/ drivers/EFI's.

ADD-ON: These generation of microserver's seems to keep their value. Prices never seem to go down that much over the years.

I guess that's it for now; I hope you don't mind me asking the questions.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Edhawk]

Not a problem I'm happy to share my experience with these HP Microserver hack's.

Both servers are still running macOS with Clover (Clover_r5119). I tried OC 0.63 and more recently again with 0.6.6 but couldn't get the test system to boot running OC.

Yes to running Mojave on these servers, with a Metal compatible Discrete GPU. I am currently using a pair of Nvidia Quadro K600, both systems work just fine.

You need to be watchful of the CPU temps with your Ivy Bridge E3-1270 v2 CPU's, as they have a much higher TDP (69W) requirement compared the E3-1265L and E3-1265L v2 (45W) I am using in mine. The original CPU's had a max TDP of 35W, which is about half the max TDP of your CPU's.

I'l provide a full update and a copy of a CLOVER folder tomorrow (Monday) evening.

 

[neo.e92]

Not a problem I'm happy to share my experience with these HP Microserver hack's.

Both servers are still running macOS with Clover (Clover_r5119). I tried OC 0.63 and more recently again with 0.6.6 but couldn't get the test system to boot running OC.

Yes to running Mojave on these servers, with a Metal compatible Discrete GPU. I am currently using a pair of Nvidia Quadro K600, both systems work just fine.

You need to be watchful of the CPU temps with your Ivy Bridge E3-1270 v2 CPU's, as they have a much higher TDP (69W) requirement compared the E3-1265L and E3-1265L v2 (45W) I am using in mine. The original CPU's had a max TDP of 35W, which is about half the max TDP of your CPU's.

I'l provide a full update and a copy of a CLOVER folder tomorrow (Monday) evening.

Thank you very much for that quick reply. Really appreciate it.

Yup, I was aware about the TDP coz our company tech who set these up for me before I acquired them told me about it. The same company that used to own the units previously asked him to 3d print a shroud that makes the fan more efficient for the cpu and about a 30 of these units were runing 4-5 years straight with this said cpu + the shroud with apparently no problem. Anyway, that's that.

I also just went over your whole thread; kinda got the impression that you really liked playing with these servers. Got the same experience too so far, specially on the one with Xpenology with 32tb total of HDD. If I'm able to set the other one up as MacOS server (using your guide), it would be awesome.

Anyway, thanks again. Will definitely be monitoring your thread for updates.

 

[Edhawk]

I have attached a copy of my working CLOVER EFI & legacy boot setup for the HP Microserver Gen8. I have regenerated a SMBIOS Serial Number etc. so it is not the one from one of my systems. I have checked the SN is not being used by a real Mac, so it will work with Messages, iCloud, App Store etc.

The CLOVER folder/installer was created using Clover_r5119.

To have macOS running on a HP MicroServer Gen8 I would recommend you do the following:

1. Format a spare USB pen Drive (USB2 is fine and any size over 500MB) as GUID & HFS+, as if you were creating a USB installer.
2. Copy the contents of the Microserver Clover folder attached below, to the EFI Partition on the USB pen drive.
3. Install the USB pen drive to the internal USB port, adjacent to the main power connector on the HP motherboard.

You are now all set to boot macOS Sierra, High Sierra or Mojave, it may run Catalina. I haven't bothered to see if it will work in Catalina as I see no benefit to updating the system to Catalina.

• I found the easiest way to set up the HP Microserver Gen8 to run macOS Mojave was to Clone a copy of a Clean install to a spare SSD.
• By this I mean run a new installation on another machine/system, but don't add any kexts, apps or change any settings after the clean installation has finished.
• Then Clone this Clean installation to a spare SSD. Use the Cloned installation on the SSD in the Microserver, along with the CLOVER USB created using the instructions above and the folder attached below.

This is what I did for my two Mojave installs. Then run any necessary updates, setup your iCloud account, so you have all the Apple Services available on the Microserver.

Connecting the SSD:

• Connect the SSD to the internal Port 5 SATA port, using a 30cm+ long SATA cable.
• For Power to the SSD either split one of the 4-pin molex power connectors serving the main SAS ports (1-4), these are located below the DVD ROM tray.
• Alternatively use a floppy to SATA power connector from the existing power cable in the DVD ROM space.

I found I never used the slim DVD RW unit I had installed in the DVD slot, so removing it and installing a 5th drive made more sense.

Headless connection:
I use a DisplayPort dummy device for my Microserver hack's. This allows me to have a much better Screen Sharing experience, as the Microserver's screen is displayed.



Screen sharing image (1920x1080) on one of my Dell U2515H screens (2560x1440)

Ethernet:
I use a USB to Ethernet port connection, as I still have not been able to get the built-in ethernet ports to work. The USB to ethernet adapter works just fine for File Sharing, Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner backups on my local network.

Images:
I have attached a number of photos, taken of the Microservers external and internal images.

I have also attached a few screenshots, showing some of the System Information reports, a Hackintool screenshot showing the Peripherals tab and a couple of System Preferences screenshots.

If you have any questions regarding any of the files or images don't hesitate to ask.

Best of luck.