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I have an old HP DL 380 G5 server I got from work on which I have installed ESXi 6.0. I have a few different guest OSs running on it and am using it for testing several applications. I have increased the RAM on the server to 32 GB and it has been working reasonably well.

I am now thinking about upgrading the firmware(Raid controller, ILO, BIOs etc) on the server now and it seems the latest HP service pack doesn't support this specific model. I am not sure but I can't seem to get it to work.

I have tried the following: http://h17007.www1.hpe.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/products/service_pack/spp/index.aspx

I am looking for something that would work either from ESXi or an ISO from which I can boot and upgrade.

Any suggestions?

Update: I know the hardware is not supported any more, I just wanted to know if any updates are available from the past which I can still install to fix known issues. The firmware on this server was never updated, even when it was in production, so I want to give it a shot and see what happens. That's the whole point of having an old server to play around with!

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  • It's not just "the latest HP service pack doesn't support this specific model" - it's HPE as a whole, it's end-of-support, you're out of luck.
    – Chopper3
    Jul 31, 2016 at 19:12
  • You're monkeying around with it, doing some testing and whatnot. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
    – joeqwerty
    Jul 31, 2016 at 19:23
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    It isn't on the list because it is retired. h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/retired/index.aspx . Eight year old servers don't get much love around here.
    – Greg Askew
    Jul 31, 2016 at 20:25

2 Answers 2

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The firmware for that server is located on HP's website.

Here's where to get it.

Don't assume that a system this old has any recent firmware updates.

Here's your BIOS download.

Here's your ILO download.

Here's your RAID controller download.

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  • Since booting Service Pack for ProLiant to update failed, I had installed Windows 2012 on the server. I tried the firmware update tools on it but don't think 2012 is supported. I even tried Service Pack for ProLiant from 2010 but it just doesn't boot up completely to do the firmware check and update. Will try setting up Windows 2008 in a couple of days and post the result. If that won't work, I would give up as I have already spent too much time on this. :(
    – Debianuser
    Aug 3, 2016 at 17:46
  • You're making this hard on yourself. All you should be concerned about are the system BIOS, the RAID controller and the ILO. You can run the Windows 2008R2 updates on your 2012 server installation. Remember, this server went end-of-life before Windows 2012 existed. See my edit above.
    – ewwhite
    Aug 3, 2016 at 17:50
  • So the firmware update tools that I downloaded from the link you have posted did NOT work on Windows 2012, they didn't even run. I didn't try to figure it out, and just installed Windows 2008 on which they worked as expected, upgrading all my firmware.
    – Debianuser
    Aug 5, 2016 at 8:37
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It would make sense to not make firmware changes unless it is absolutely required, for example you are hitting a boot time bug or incorrect fan operation or cpu is being throttled. Or in extreme cases if there is a known vulnerability against the firmware version. Botched firmware update can render the machine unusable and you will unnecessarily lose its functional benefit.

Keep in mind, this is no ncix or newegg or something similar from where you can source a replacement part as you could for a consumer desktop/laptop :)

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    In HP-land, firmware is king. You really should attempt to keep current.
    – ewwhite
    Jul 31, 2016 at 23:01
  • There is the E-bay, from where you can buy any replacement part
    – andreikashin
    Oct 11, 2020 at 19:29

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