runrun
Cadet
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2011
- Messages
- 2
I'm trying to boot my Freenas 8 beta4 system without a graphics card...
Firstly, I've been using freenas 7 for a long time on a system without a graphics card. It's been so long and so stable I can't remember the build number or configuration :)
From what I do remember - freenas7/freebsd had a limitation when booting without a graphics card, it required a serial port to be enabled.
I've built a new system with a new board now, and I'm stuck with my testing:
I've set my bios up as much as possible, basically just ignoring errors to continue booting.
With a graphics card - I'm booting off a usb flash stick, all default settings and freenas works great - picking up a dhcp address with no user intervention.
If I then power down and pull the card out, the system seems to boot fine but I get no network connection (the lights on my nic just flash occasionally, not lighting up like it does normally). Put the card back and in it boots perfectly again...
Before you start shouting that "your motherboard is hanging at the bios screen without a gfx card", while booting, the usb stick flashes away happily for the same amount of time as it does when a graphics card is plugged in. Also, once it's 'booted' if i push the power button on the machine, the usb stick flashes away again for 15secs or so and then powers down softly, the same as it does when the graphics card is in (not an instant-off, hard power off like you have in a non-OS like the bios).
Unfortunately I don't have a serial port on my new motherboard, so I can't test if it's the same problem as freenas 7. I was clutching at straws and tried a generic usb>serial adapter, but that doesn't seem to be recognised by freenas (unsurprisingly).
Is this fixable? It's hard for me to be 100% sure my system is booting properly without a network connection/screen - but it certainly looks like it is, and I assume is more of a software issue than a quirky bios.
p.s. The 'enable serial console' setting in freenas is very dangerous and I think should be labelled as such (as it was with freenas 7 I think?) - If you enable it on a machine that doesn't have a serial port, you can't boot.
Firstly, I've been using freenas 7 for a long time on a system without a graphics card. It's been so long and so stable I can't remember the build number or configuration :)
From what I do remember - freenas7/freebsd had a limitation when booting without a graphics card, it required a serial port to be enabled.
I've built a new system with a new board now, and I'm stuck with my testing:
I've set my bios up as much as possible, basically just ignoring errors to continue booting.
With a graphics card - I'm booting off a usb flash stick, all default settings and freenas works great - picking up a dhcp address with no user intervention.
If I then power down and pull the card out, the system seems to boot fine but I get no network connection (the lights on my nic just flash occasionally, not lighting up like it does normally). Put the card back and in it boots perfectly again...
Before you start shouting that "your motherboard is hanging at the bios screen without a gfx card", while booting, the usb stick flashes away happily for the same amount of time as it does when a graphics card is plugged in. Also, once it's 'booted' if i push the power button on the machine, the usb stick flashes away again for 15secs or so and then powers down softly, the same as it does when the graphics card is in (not an instant-off, hard power off like you have in a non-OS like the bios).
Unfortunately I don't have a serial port on my new motherboard, so I can't test if it's the same problem as freenas 7. I was clutching at straws and tried a generic usb>serial adapter, but that doesn't seem to be recognised by freenas (unsurprisingly).
Is this fixable? It's hard for me to be 100% sure my system is booting properly without a network connection/screen - but it certainly looks like it is, and I assume is more of a software issue than a quirky bios.
p.s. The 'enable serial console' setting in freenas is very dangerous and I think should be labelled as such (as it was with freenas 7 I think?) - If you enable it on a machine that doesn't have a serial port, you can't boot.
