Thursday, April 12, 2012

HP ProLiant N40L MicroServer gets SSD & BIOS Hack


BIOS Update

Updating the BIOS in this server is fairly straight forward and only requires a spare USB stick. Here are the steps:
1. Download the Systems ROMPaq Firmware Upgrade for HP ProLiant MicroServer (For USB Key-Media)
2. Download the Unlocked BIOS .bin file (Source)
3. Using the Systems ROMPaq utility create a bootable USB stick
4. Unrar the unlocked BIOS .bin file and overwrite the one on the USB stick (o41072911mod.bin file to o41072911.bin)
5. Install the USB stick in the MicroServer and ensure the current BIOS is set to boot from USB
6. Once the software has finished running it'll leave you at a DOS prompt, just pull out the USB stick and reboot the server
7. Enjoy all the options now available to you :)

SSD Installation

Not much to say here, except a few pictures. I used Windows 7 Ultimate to mirror my System & OS partition from HD to SSD. Once the mirroring process finished, I set the BIOS to boot from the SSD. Smooth sailing.