FreeNAS Crashing?

[Chris230291]

Hello. I need some help please.

For the past few day (a few days after updating to .7) my server has been crashing.
When I try to get to the web GUI I am greeted with this...

An error occurred.
Sorry, the page you are looking for is currently unavailable.
Please try again later.

If you are the system administrator of this resource then you should check theerror log for details.

Faithfully yours, nginx.

Can anyone tell me why this is happening?
My server has been great for a few years now, but all of a sudden this is happening.
If I hard reset the server everything seems OK again. But then a day or two later it happens again.

Any input is appreciated.

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[Ericloewe]

Well, we really need more information.

"I'm having a problem" is not enough information. What's your hardware, for starters? What does the server console say? Can you connect via SSH?

 

[Chris230291]

Well, we really need more information.

"I'm having a problem" is not enough information. What's your hardware, for starters? What does the server console say? Can you connect via SSH?

Hello.

My system is...

Build FreeNAS-9.2.1.7-RELEASE-x64 (fdbe9a0)
Platform Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU S 860 @ 2.53GHz
Memory 16321MB

By console do you mean the writing that's displayed on the screen? If thats the case I will need to hook up a monitor next time it happens as my machine sits with no peripherals.

I never tried to connect to it via SSH, I just hard reset it. This is something I can try when it happens again.

Are there any logs that I can copy and paste here?

Thanks,
Chris.

 

[cyberjock]

We need more than what you gave. model numbers for motherboard, CPU, etc are useful.

My guess, since you are using a desktop CPU (which already puts you outside our recommended configuration) is that you are using Realtek NICs. If so, your first good bet is to buy an Intel NIC and drop that in your machine.

 

[Chris230291]

Fast reply! Thanks.

My motherboard is this one... http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3309#ov
My CPU is this one... http://ark.intel.com/products/41318/Intel-Core-i7-860S-Processor-8M-Cache-2_53-GHz
I have a network card installed, but I'm not sure what chip it uses. Its a salvaged D-Link one... I wished I could tell you more. I do have a spare Intel NIC but I don't have a spare slot to accommodate it.
I use a RocketRaid 2720sgl (in non RAID mode). I know it's not ideal but I bought it before I had heard of FreeNAS so I used it anyways.

The hardware isn't great. I just recycled my old PC.

I think I should reiterate though, this is something that has started happening recently after years of relatively problem free use.

Thanks,
Chris.

 

[Ericloewe]

If it's a random D-Link NIC, it'll probably have a Realtek controller.

Please hook up the monitor, as there may be some useful information printed to the console.

 

[Chris230291]

If it's a random D-Link NIC, it'll probably have a Realtek controller.

Please hook up the monitor, as there may be some useful information printed to the console.

OK I will do that tomorrow as it's late here. Will I see something even though it's running sweet, or will it only display something useful when it crashes?

Chris.

 

[gpsguy]

It might display something on the console screen, when it crashes. If so, you might want to snap a picture (cell phone, etc) and post it here, so we can see the details.

You mentioned that you've been running FreeNAS for several years and recently upgraded to ".7". What version were you running before - when it was stable?

 

[Chris230291]

It might display something on the console screen, when it crashes. If so, you might want to snap a picture (cell phone, etc) and post it here, so we can see the details.

You mentioned that you've been running FreeNAS for several years and recently upgraded to ".7". What version were you running before - when it was stable?

OK I will be sure to do that if it crashes again. I'm sure it will as it's done it 3 days in a row now.

Before I upgraded I was running 9.2.1.6. Now I am running 9.2.1.7. The only thing that has changed is I am now running another game server inside a Windows VM. But surely that could only effect the VM... Or at worst, the Virtual Box jail?

Chris.

 

[pschatz100]

So much time devoted to this issue!!

After an update, I had exactly the same problem with FreeNAS an old machine. For me, the update was either 9.2.1.3 or 9.2.1.5, I don't remember. Prior to that, my FreeNAS ran stable for two years. Simply put, FreeBSD does not support as wide a range of hardware as does Linux. In particular, support for non-Intel NIC's is spotty. The problem could be related to a thousand things and you might spend hours chasing it yet never find the cause. If you wish to maintain the old machine, invest in a supported Intel NIC. They are not expensive and your life will be much happier.

 

[Chris230291]

Ok so I haven't had a crash for a little while now. I think I'll just see how I get on for now.
If it does crash again I'll be sure to connect a monitor and check the console for errors.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Could virtual box be using more memory than he has? He said windows vm, which means at least 4GB of memory just for the vm.

 

[Chris230291]

Hello. I have 16GB of RAM installed and I have allocated 4 to the VM.

The server hasn't crashed since the 3 times I mentioned. Nothing has been changed. Strange.

Chris.