Freenas Boot USB Crashed, Need help on how to proceed

[Newton]

New guy here. New to IT so bear with me please. I have researched the problem and could not find someone with the same problem. I did come close to finding an answer, but not quite. I hope the title is not too vague, and my main question is listed at the bottom of this post if you want to skip to it first.

I currently have no clue what version I have installed. I installed the latest version available, 3-4 years ago, and have not touched it since. I did have a disk labeled 8.0, but after I put that on a thumb drive and logged in to the web GUI I have realized it was not the version I was using.

I was in the web GUI yesterday adding a user so I could link up a weather station we have to dump into a folder on one of the drives. I run a FTP server on the machine, along with using it as a standard online file server for local PC's.

After I did that, I then went to the file manager and added a file to one of the mounts. I have two separate drives on the machine. I meant to add a folder instead. So then I checked the box beside the file and clicked delete. Right after that I could no longer log into the server via the web GUI. It would come up and ask me for a username/password, but not let me proceed. I then went to the server itself and saw that it did not have the same screen it usually does. After seeing this I assumed it needed a reboot.

After that it would no longer boot up. It would come up;

Verifying DMI Pool Data
error 66 lba 399352
Invalid Format

FreeBSD/ i386 Boot
Default: 0:ad(0,a)/boot/kernel/kernel

Boot:
error 66 lba 448

So, I had a disk laying on top of the server labeled Freenas 8.0. I installed it to two different usb drives. One a 4Gb and one a 16Gb. Each time it came to where I remove the CD and reboot, it would reboot with different things depending on what I had the boot sequence set at.

With the boot sequence set at HD-CD-USB I would get

Verifying DMI Pool Data.........Update Success

Then it would do nothing but sit there.

With the boot sequence set at CD-USB-USB I would get

Verifying DMI Pool Data...............
Boot from CD

Then it would do nothing but sit there.

With the boot sequence set at USB-USB-USB I would get

Verifying DMI Pool Data..........

And again, nothing.

Sorry this is so long, not sure if this information is helpful or just making people mad. However, I have three servers that are exactly the same. SuperMicro's running a Pentium 4 2.8hz and 6Gb of RAM. So I tried the next server seeing how they just sit there being unused(long story).

So this next server I was able to install the disk 8.0 on a new 16Gb USB. It came up just fine and I was able to access the web GUI. I realized that it was not the version I had been using. So now I am not sure what the version was that I was running. I thought that maybe the machine itself was the cause of the problems, and I am not ruling it completely out, but I put the old USB back in and it would do the same thing as before. This USB I have not touched just in case there is a way to repair it because I am pretty sure that I do not have the configuration anywhere saved anywhere else.

My question. I would like to get the data on the old drives somehow. I do not mind if I loose the configuration at all. The data on them is the most important. I do have a backup of them, but it is rather old and there is new data on them I need recovered.

What would be the best way to get this data? Is there a secondary approach I can use while I get the server back up and running? I tried hooking one of the drives up through a USB converter which I have used to get files from other hard drives in the past when other PC's have crashed. My PC will recognize it, but never shows anything that would allow me to browse through it, if that makes any sense. Usually it will pull up files and folders I can see, of course, these were always windows based computers/drives.

I am at a loss at this point and am not sure where to proceed. At one point I had used the server(lets call it #2) as a secondary one and had Freenas running on it. So I thought I could play around with the hard drives on it, knowing that I had some data on them, to see if I could get 8.0 to import them. I am not able to do this at all. It see's the drives, and says it is importing them, but then I see nothing after that.

Would this happen if I was running a more current version than 8.0? In all honesty, I hope I have not lost anyone, but my main question is how I could go about getting the files off these hard drives.

Thanks for your patience and help.

My question is,

 

[Ericloewe]

You're using ZFS, I assume. The 9.2 branch requires 8GB of RAM for ZFS, so I recommend you install the last 8.x version to a new USB drive and boot. At the very least, your pool should be easily imported. Then you can sort out reconfiguring the system (if you're lucky, you may be able to retrieve the config file from the original boot drive with another computer.).

Seriously, if your boot device goes crazy, the process to try first is always:

1. Install latest version (or whatever version is more appropriate in your case, here it's an 8.x) to a new USB drive.
2. Verify that pools are successfully imported
3. Restore config (Backups, Backups, Backups! *Please read this in Steve Ballmer's "Developers, Developers, Developers" voice - the dance is optional but recommended*)

 

[Newton]

If it helps, my background is only with windows based systems. I did all the previous setup using XP those many years ago and now am using 8.1, now I am having issues even creating a new ISO disk. I do have access to a XP machine if it helps. And, if need be, I could set up another machine with any open source OS if it would help.

Please excuse my ignorance on all the different lingo associated with all of this. I am pretty green.

 

[Newton]

Thanks for the direct response.

So, to put it into baby language, I download and put the last 8.x on a disk then install it to the server/USB drive. Then I take the two hardrives and plug them into the server, log on the web GUI, select storage tab, and import them? I have read where I should do an auto import?

The reason I ask is I tried auto import of those other two drives I was talking about and it did not seem to work. Of course, it was not with the latest version of 8.x.

I think I just need to sit back and take a deep breath with this all because I think I am overthinking it all, but its hard when you are the one in charge of all the info. I choose to use Freenas because I figured it would be the most secure way of keeping our important documents and such. And while I am convinced it is, maybe the security of it is keeping a greenhorn like me from being able to access it. Its all literally greek to me when it comes to opensource software as I was thrown into a windows based world from the get go and that is what everyone here(at my work) uses.

 

[Newton]

Ok, got 8.3.2 loaded. It took forever, but I finally got it up.

Now, the GUI is much different than what I am used to. I can work my way around eventually, but I am needing help with how to get to where I can see files and folders on the drives.

In the previous version I was using, there was a tab that you clicked on that said "File Manager". It would bring up another web page that would ask you to again log in. Then you could look at the different mounts and the files/folders inside of them.

Also, the other thing I am having problems with is mapping my windows computers to it. Not sure of the configuration, must be something out of whack I need to change. Guess I'll have to break out the user manual again lol. But if someone could give me a quick hint I would be much appreciated.

 

[Newton]

Well, I am gonna have to call it a day for now. But I am seeing that while it recognizes the drives attached, it has not mounted them yet. It will not give me anything to pick from an auto import, only lets me pick something with a regular import. Does this mean that the files on the disks are not compatible? It says it will clear all data from disk if I proceed. I am kind of at a loss.

 

[danb35]

Are you sure you were using FreeNAS before? I don't recall any time back to 0.7 that FreeNAS has had a web-based file manager.

 

[Ericloewe]

Are you sure you were using FreeNAS before? I don't recall any time back to 0.7 that FreeNAS has had a web-based file manager.

Did 0.7 have one? That would explain the vastly different interface.

 

[danb35]

I don't remember that even 0.7 had one, but it's been some years since I used 0.7.

 

[Newton]

Well, you guys hit on what I'm thinking is the deal here. It's been so long, and trouble free, that I bet I was running 7. In fact, I think that is why I have the 8.0 CD there and kind of remembering toying with it but resistant to change.

So I know that this is not the forum if indeed I was running it, which seems pretty much a sure thing, but would that explain why I cannot import the disks? Is there anyway to upgrade to the latest, or 8.x and recover the data? Or was it a completely different creature(.7) and I'm gonna need to go back to it and get the data off then upgrade?

It might make sense that my machine was having such a hard time getting going with the new OS. I don't remember having much trouble getting it up and running back then. They are rather old servers, but they do the job for such a small task they serve. I run them just as a secondary "back up" storage if you will and they receive very little traffic.

 

[Newton]

I might be able to pull up a screen shot of the last time I was on it. From my research this afternoon it looks a whole lot like the web GUI that is shown when nas4free pulls up, in the web searching I've been doing on the problem.

 

[Newton]

Also, what caught my eye researching was the whole i386 thing that was showing when the server crashed. It seems to be associated with .7 right? Like I said, I am just a simple end user of the product and have no idea of its workings. Just that I really liked it and fit our needs to a T.

 

[danb35]

If you were running FreeNAS 0.7, that project became NAS4Free, and the folks on their forums (http://www.nas4free.org/) might be better able to help you. I think what's going on, though, is a matter of disk format. The "auto-import" function will import a ZFS pool, which I doubt you have. If your disks are formatted with UFS, as they probably are, you can import them for temporary use, but FreeNAS doesn't seem to support importing them permanently.

 

[Newton]

I wouldn't mind importing them for temporary use. But cannot seem to get that to work either. I would say its an issue with the disks, but that secondary server I had completely offline does the same thing when I try to import its disks. It had nothing wrong with it, I just had removed the USB drive and had it powered down, but I did have it all up and running along side the primary server for a while.

I'll check out the other forum. But I would gladly take any more opinions on this if anyone has some to give.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Newton]

Well, guess they are a lot slower at getting around to helping people. I cannot seem to get a response back to join the forum. I am having all kinds of troubles trying to put a darn .img on a thumb drive. Is there some secret to this that I do not know about?

I'm at my wits end. I've got to get this data off and am completely stuck. I keep killing thumb drives trying to write the iso to them. After doing that the thumb drive only shows 456 or so Mb when its a 16Gb drive. Weird.

Sorry to vent here. Had to let it out.

 

[Newton]

Can someone help from here. Still yet have to get anyone there. I know this is all free help, and I know people have jobs during the day, and I am not trying to sound pushy here - I am just hoping that someone can at least point me in a direction to where I can get the files from the hard drives. I will worry about getting the server up and running another time.

Would making a opensource OS box, and installing the hardrives in it as secondary units work?

 

[Ericloewe]

Well, guess they are a lot slower at getting around to helping people. I cannot seem to get a response back to join the forum. I am having all kinds of troubles trying to put a darn .img on a thumb drive. Is there some secret to this that I do not know about?

I'm at my wits end. I've got to get this data off and am completely stuck. I keep killing thumb drives trying to write the iso to them. After doing that the thumb drive only shows 456 or so Mb when its a 16Gb drive. Weird.

Sorry to vent here. Had to let it out.

A tool like USB Image tool should be able to "fix" those drives. It should also be able to properly load them with the image file (which I believe must be extracted from the ISO).

 

[Newton]

Update, have not got too far, but things look promising.

I downloaded and burned the earliest nas4free I could find. Had a HECK of a time trying to get it on USB, and still cannot as of yet, but was able to run live CD.

I was able to import, then mount the two drives from the standby server I had. I was able to use the web GUI file manager and it showed the files I had created years ago, so I am going to assume that I will be able to import and mount the two drives that I need to collect the data from. So now I am positive I was running one of the earliest versions before it was changed over to what it is today. I have only toyed around a little, but I believe I saw that the file structure was UFS.

One issue I have is relearning how to set it up so that I can access map a windows computer to the drive. I know I have to enable CIFS/SMB, but after I did that I was still not able to look at it via windows.

But, at least I know I am on the right track. Thanks again for the help/listening ears.

 

[danb35]

You need to enable CIFS and create at least one CIFS share.

 

[Newton]

Ok, so I'm a complete idiot. In my panic mode I completely missed the ability for the FreeNAS 8.3.2 to do the same thing. So I plugged in the USB I created of it yesterday, and imported the disks again. Wouldn't you know, it worked. Of course, all my configuration is gone, but at least its booting from the USB unlike the nas4free was.

I am still going to have to get in and configure the shares etc., but for now I can access them via the guest pass and get the data off (drag and drop) into a separate external hard drive.

What a mess. I guess sometimes you just have to step back, take a breath, and think about what's going on. I am resistant to change, and I need to work on that first and foremost.