Can't install from thumb drive

[jpkl1a873]

Have a Acer Aspire TC-885 pc that I have replaced the hard drives with 2 2tb Seagate's.
But I am attempting to use a 32gb sandisc thumb drive to install on.
I have the ISO burned to the thumb but when I boot the computer I can select the sandisc when I choose boot.
But nothing happens.
Screen goes blank and never changes.

Any help please... I really want to turn this into a file server for the family.

 

[Samuel Tai]

Did you disable Secure Boot in the BIOS?

 

[jpkl1a873]

Sorry I forgot to post that.
I followed directions from here-https://www.truenas.com/docs/core/gettingstarted/install/
"With the installer added to a device, you can now install TrueNAS onto the desired system. Insert the install media and reboot or boot the system. At the motherboard splash screen, use the hotkey (Pushed delete to get to bios) defined by your motherboard manufacturer to boot into the motherboard UEFI/BIOS.

Choose to boot in UEFI mode or legacy CSM/BIOS mode. When installing TrueNAS, make the matching choice for the installation. For Intel chipsets manufactured in 2020 or later, UEFI is likely the only option.

If your system supports SecureBoot, you will need to either disable it or set it to “Other OS” to be able to boot the install media.

Select the install device as the boot drive(Selected USB drive first), exit, and reboot the system. If the USB stick is not shown as a boot option, try a different USB slot. Which slots are available for boot differs by hardware."

I then save/exit and it reboots. Push f12 select Scandisc. and blank screen.
When I select UEFI I don't get the option to select anything other than windows.

 

[Samuel Tai]

This appears to be a common problem with Acers. From what I could gather from their forums, their BIOSs are stripped down to only allow boot from Windows on internal drives. You'll need to try another system.

 

[jpkl1a873]

ug. darn. Ok thanks I will see if I can hunt down a different tower.
Thanks
In your opinion would a Dell Premier with i7, 32gb tower. using same Hard drives above work?
With the thumb load in.

 

[Samuel Tai]

Dells usually work.

 

[danb35]

If the system isn't booting from the installer USB, that's certainly a problem, but it doesn't sound like you have a system boot device in this machine. When you burn the ISO to a USB stick, that's your installer. You need to have another device for the installed system to boot from, which is going to be separate from your data disks. That can be another USB stick, but it's better if it's a SSD.

 

[jpkl1a873]

If the system isn't booting from the installer USB, that's certainly a problem, but it doesn't sound like you have a system boot device in this machine. When you burn the ISO to a USB stick, that's your installer. You need to have another device for the installed system to boot from, which is going to be separate from your data disks. That can be another USB stick, but it's better if it's a SSD.

So. to confirm.
I mounted the ISO on the thumb drive from my laptop.
Then plugged it into the acer that has already 2 hard drives in it. 1 has windows installed already, the other is just a 2nd drive.
I plugged the thumb in the acer to attempt to install it on the acer.
Did I miss a step?
I am looking at getting a different pc.

 

[winnielinnie]

What do you mean about burning / mounting the ISO to your thumb drive? Did you use a tool that will take the TrueNAS installer image (.iso) and create a bootable USB from it? Or did you simply copy the .iso file to the thumb drive?

This Acer desktop, which is currently running Windows, only has one drive you're going to use for your data (as a single-drive vdev to create your ZFS pool?) Are you planning to dual-boot TrueNAS and Windows? Are you planning, rather, to use both drives as a mirror vdev for your data ZFS pool?

As @danb35 explained above, you need an additional drive (such as a small SSD) to serve as the OS/boot-pool, which is separate from any data pools.

 

[danb35]

I mounted the ISO on the thumb drive from my laptop.

"Mounted the ISO on the thumb drive" doesn't make any sense. If you wrote the ISO to the thumb drive, which is what you should have done according to the docs:

Install

Provides installation instructions for TrueNAS CORE.

www.truenas.com

...that was the right thing to do. If not, refer back to the docs.

Then plugged it into the acer that has already 2 hard drives in it. 1 has windows installed already, the other is just a 2nd drive.

What do you intend to do with those two hard drives?

Did I miss a step?

Yes, you missed a device onto which to install TrueNAS. Once again, consult the docs.

 

[jpkl1a873]

"Mounted the ISO on the thumb drive" doesn't make any sense. If you wrote the ISO to the thumb drive, which is what you should have done according to the docs:

Install

Provides installation instructions for TrueNAS CORE.

www.truenas.com

...that was the right thing to do. If not, refer back to the docs.

What do you intend to do with those two hard drives?

Yes, you missed a device onto which to install TrueNAS. Once again, consult the docs.

Ok sorry. Yes I used ISO to USB to write the ISO to the thumb drive.
But in my stupidity I am/was hoping to use the thumb as the drive for the actual program.
That way I can use the 2 2tb hard drives as storage.

So for me to do that I would then need 2 thumbs? or am I not able to install Truenas on a thumb? I might be able to get another drive into the case to install on.

 

[danb35]

I would then need 2 thumbs?

As I've now said twice:

You need to have another device for the installed system to boot from, which is going to be separate from your data disks. That can be another USB stick, but it's better if it's a SSD.