FreeNAS 9.1 Boot Failure if USB 3.0 xHCI Enabled

[LarryG]

I've just build a system consisting of an ASUS Z87 based motherboard (Z87I-Deluxe) and attempted to set it up as a FreeNAS system using the newly released 9.1 software. I find that the system will not complete the boot process from the USB stick I'm using if the motherboard BIOS setting for "USB Configuration / Intel xHCI Mode" is enabled. The start up proceeds normally until the following messages appear

Trying to mount from /dev/ufs/FreeNASs1a [ro] .....
failed with error 19

So it appears that the start up process works normally and the USB stick is found and read normally but later on in the process the FreeNAS software does a Linux type mount of the USB stick and that fails. Of course, I work around this problem by disabling xHCI mode in the BIOS.

This occurs whether I'm using a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 stick. Also occurs on both USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 motherboard ports.

I'm curious if this is a FreeNAS problem or a problem related to the ASUS motherboard BIOS. Also, whether using USB 2.0 for the system device results in less performance than if USB 3.0 is used.

 

[rhdinah]

I've experienced the identical problem. Thanks for the xHCI pointer - hopefully this will solve my problem. Interestingly enough with this enabled or smart-enabled ... it sometimes works ... and sometimes doesn't. I have an ASUS H871-PLUS board. The problem clearly is not a FreeNAS issue, but a FreeBSD issue and probably should be an open bug on their platform. It certainly is a show stopper as you need to be physically present with monitor and keyboard attached to reboot the NAS server. Thanks again for the pointer!

I've tried to use PC-BSD on my Lenovo T-41 notebook before, but they too are crippled by inherited FreeBSD problems as well. I've logged a few ... but have gotten nowhere with them.

p.s. I've loaded the latest BIOS software on my board.

 

[Alvinator]

Ditto here, 9.2 Release on USB using USB3 on a Sabertooth 990fx (AMD), I guess I'll just have to boot on slow USB2 for now :/

Edit: Bios version 1604 (the latest)

 

[warri]

USB 3 has been disabled by default in FreeNAS 9.2.0 because the support in FreeBSD 9.x is just not stable yet.
See this ticket for more details.

 

[Alvinator]

Ah, coolcool, its no big deal it doesn't make anything but reboots and config saving faster so I can wait :) Just figured I'd add to the head count

 

[cyberjock]

Actually, based on my testing with a USB2 versus USB3 versus a high speed SSD, you save at most, about 5 seconds of bootup time. So no, not really booting any faster. ;)