I REALLY appreciate your help! I love these machines, but have always been limited on what I can do with 'em. Lack of knowledge and HP's insistence on a license hasn't helped any...
Yes HP locking information on the older G7 products is a bummer. However ever so often a public link becomes available.
I was able to download the HPE SPP G7.1 2018.iso (SPP for the DL580 G7) from this site
https://www.teimouri.net/review-hpe-service-pack-proliant-2018-03-0-hpe-spp/#.W9TKv2cpUS8 earlier this year when they reviewed the HPE Service Pack For ProLiant 2018.03.0 (HPE SPP). The download link has now been removed but it was in plain site for quite a while.
Here are some additional links for the HP DL580 G7:
https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/home/productHome?sp4ts.oid=4142793From the above link you can obtain:
HP ProLiant DL580 G7 Server User Guide
HP ProLiant DL580 G7 Server Maintenance and Service Guide
HP ProLiant DL580 G7 Server - Configuring System Board
HP ProLiant DL580 G7 Server - LED Indicators
etc