HP ProLiant MicroServer N36L Knowledge Base: Installation of Windows 8.1 x64

BIOS update

In order to install Windows 8.1, a BIOS update is needed because Windows 8.1 may stop responding while booting the operating system.

BIOS File

The needed version of BIOS is 2013.10.01 (A)(15 Nov 2013).
The releated link is http://h20564.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?swItemId=MTX_57720d956df94dfcbaa0e28256&swEnvOid=4168&#tab1 . last updated 30Sep2016
The file name of the System ROMPaq Firmware Upgrade for HP ProLiant MicroServer (For USB Key-Media) is SP64420.exe
MD5 Checksum value: 2d8f7cfbe609ccd55f2d12c1f8d5c8a7.

Steps of Installation

The steps of installation is

Prepare a formatted USB Key media.
Save the SoftPaq to a directory on a PC system running Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows Server 2008, or Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
Open the directory and execute the downloaded SoftPaq file by double click the SP64420.exe file.
Follow the installation wizard to complete the SoftPaq installation process. At the end of a successful installation of the SoftPaq, a start.htm web page will automatically appear to select a method for restoring and/or upgrading the firmware on the system.
Or change to the installed directory of the SoftPaq, for example, "C:\SWSetup\SP64420", and execute HPQUSB.exe in either "C:\SWSetup\SP64420\Flat Files" or "C:\SWSetup\SP64420\USB Key" directory to create the USB Key.
Insert the formated USB Key into the USB Key port of the PC system before execute HPQUSB.exe
After the USB Key is created, remove the USB Key from the PC system.
Insert this USB Key into the USB Key port of the HP ProLiant MicroServer system to be updated and power the system on to boot to the USB Key.
DO NOT power down the HP ProLiant MicroServer while flashing the BIOS update untill seeing the C: prompt on the screen.
Reboot is required after installation for updates to take effect and hardware stability to be maintained.

Installation of Windows 8.1 x64

The Windows 8.1 x64 can then be installed as usual.

Details of Device Manager

All common physical devices of the HP N36L can be identified by Windows 8.1.

The details of the installed devices are:

Software Devices

Software Devices are also installed by Windows 8.1 automatically when needed.

The Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator device is installed as a software device.

Install Chipset Driver

The chipset used in HP ProLiant MicroServer N36L is AMD 785E/SB820.

Feature of AMD 785E/SB820 Chipset

The features of AMD 785E/SB820 are

The integrated ATI Radeon™ HD 4200 graphics with ATI AvivoTM HD technology provides excellent graphics performance for most embedded applications. If additional graphics performance is necessary, ATI Hybrid CrossFireXTM technology2 can be leveraged to not only upgrade graphics performance but combine the performance of both the integrated ATI Radeon graphics and a discrete ATI Radeon graphics processor to substantially boost graphics performance.
Supports DirectX® 10.1 and HDMI 1.3
Supports 16-bit up/down HyperTransport (HT) 3.0 interface up to 4.4 GT/s
Supports AMD AM3 and S1g3-socket CPUs, including the AMD Phenom II and Caspian-series processors
Supports ATI HyperMemory™*
Supports an optional dedicated local frame buffer (side-port) of up to 128MB through a 16-bit interface
Supports PCIe Gen2 (version 2.0)
A dual-port, x16 graphics interface
4 OHCI and 3 EHCI host controllers to support 14 USB 2.0 ports and 2 dedicated USB 1.1 ports
Supports six Third generation SATA ports (backward compatible with Second and First generation devices)
Supports 4 PCI 2.3 bus master devices
Supports six general purpose lanes

Link of AMD 785E/SB820 Chipset Driver

The related link for the AMD 785E | SB8X0 Chipset is http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/embedded/legacy?os=Windows%207%20-%20644 . Although the chipset driver is named for Windows 7, the chipset driver can be executed on Windows 8.1 to . last updated 30Sep2016

The file name is https://www2.ati.com/drivers/embedded/8.961-120405a-137848C-EDG_Direct.zip last updated 30Sep2016

AMD 785E/SB820 Chipset Driver Installation

Extract the file, 8.961-120405a-137848C-EDG_Direct.zip in a folder and double click the file "setup.exe" to start the installation and click button "Next" to continue.

click "Install" button to continue.

Select radio button "custom" and click button"Next" to continue.

Click button "Yes" to create the specified folder

System analyze begins automatically

Select components to install

Click button "Accept" to continue

Components Installation begins automatcially

A "Finished" window pops out when installation completed and click button "Finish" to continue.

Click button "Yes" to reboot the system.

Details of Device Manager

The details of device manager after the installation of the AMD 785E/SB820 Chipset Driver excluding the AMD SATA AHCI Driver are

Embedde Graphic Chip Driver Installation

The embedded graphic chip driver driver can be installed manually by updating the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter displayed in the Device Manager.

Open the "Device Manager" window and expand the "Display adapters" to show the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter. Double click the "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" to open the "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter Properties" window.

Click tab item "Driver"

Click button "Update Driver" to update the driver software for the device.

Click "Browse my computer for driver software" to locate the driver software manually

Enter the searching location, the extracted files of 8.961-120405a-137848C-EDG_Direct.zip which contains the driver software and click button "Next" to continue.

Update driver software will install automatically when compatible driver software is detected

The updated driver software successfully window will be displayed after the completion of installation. Click button "Close" to return to the properties window.

The updated compatible "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 Series Properties" window will replaced the "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter Properties" window. Click button "Close" to return to the "Device Manager"

The "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" under Display adapters is updated to "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 Series.

Update Integrated Graphic Chip Driver

The integrated graphic chip driver can be updated manually to the most latest version.

Link of Latest Integrated Graphic Driver

The related link for the latest integrated graphic drivers is http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop/legacy?product=legacy2&os=Windows%208%20-%2064 which can be used to update some drivers for Windows 8.1 x64. last updated 30Sep2016

The file name is https://www2.ati.com/drivers/legacy/13-1-legacy_vista_win7_win8_64_dd_ccc.exe last updated 30Sep2016

Latest Integrated Graphic Update

Extract the file, 13-1-legacy_vista_win7_win8_64_dd_ccc.exe to a folder for driver updating.

The driver software of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 Series is undated to a later version.

Update AMD Chipset Drivers

Latest AMD chipset drivers can be installed automatically.

Link of Latest AMD Chipset Drivers

The related link for the latest AMD Chipset Drivers is http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop/legacy?product=legacy4&os=Windows%208.1%20-%2064 which can be used to update some drivers for Windows 8.1 x64. last updated 30Sep2016

The file name is https://www2.ati.com/drivers/amd-catalyst-15.7.1-sb-sata-ahci-win10-win8.1-win7.exe last updated 30Sep2016

Latest AMD Chipset Drivers Installation

The latest AMD Chipset Drivers can be installed by executing the file, amd-catalyst-15.7.1-sb-sata-ahci-win10-win8.1-win7.exe. Drivers to be installed are

Details of Device Manager

The details of device manager after the installation of the latest AMD Chipset Driver are

Update Network Driver

The embedded network controller is the HP NC107i integrated PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Server Adapter. The detail of Boardcom ethernet controller device can be obtained from the Network adapters of Device Manager.

The Part Number of the Broadcom Ethernet Controller Device

In order to determining the driver for Broadcom ethernet controller device, the following step can be done.

Open the "Device Manager" and expand the details of "Network adapters"
Right click on "Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet" to open the context menu
Click "propeties" to open the "Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Properties" Window
Click the "Details" tab to open the property details of the Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet.
Click the drop-down list of property and high light the "Hardware IDs"
click "Hardware IDs" to display the value
The vendor id should be "VEN_14E4" and write down the device id, that is "DEV_165B", where 165B is the device id to represent the BCM5723 chip of a NetXtreme Server model.
Click button "OK" to close the property window.