FreeNAS GUI frozen after login

[Juvx]

Hi all. I'm new to freeNAS and just built my system yesterday.

Define R5 case
550W 80 bronze Modular power supply
Intel Xeon E3-1246 V3 with stock cooler
16GB Corsair Vengence Pro (non ECC) (had 32GB but half doesn't work)
ASUS RoG Maximus VII Hero
2 x 1TB WD Black (that were part of an old RAID 1)
16GB Sandisk thumb drives.

Also have 5 x 4TB of WD Reds ready to be installed once I get it up and running.
OS: Running the latest stable version of 9.3 (or was)

Ran into so many issues that my head almost exploded. First my MB wouldn't boot with all my memory installed so i have to stick to 16GB instead of 32GB. I think 2 DIMMS are dead) Then ran into the USB 3.0 issue and freeNAS not liking it, then ran into a problem with the 2 HDDs i wanted to use being part of an old raid and FreeNAS not wanting to wipe them... I managed to overcome them. However, i'm stuck now and not sure what to do next.

FreeNAS was working. I added a user in the GUI and tried to create an array and wipe the 2x 1TB WD blacks. The GUI was working fine. But after a reboot, now It seems to be frozen after i login to it. It simply doesn't display anything but the FreeNAS logo up top and a few icons in the middle that dont work (like half of account icon). I've tried multiple reboots, Router reboots, different PCs and Macs, different browsers... to access the GUI and its the same result... it lets me log in to it but all I see is the logo and two icons in the middle. Not sure what to do next? Should i reinstall FreeNAS on a new thumb drive? Keep in mind there is no Data on it at all as its just brand new. Is there anything else I can do?

Also, Should i buy a new MB so I can use all 32GB (I know this is unrelated but should I?)

 

[BigDave]

You're trying to run FreeNAS with a desktop/gaming motherboard (ASUS RoG Maximus VII Hero). This is not
server grade hardware and is not going to work easily, if at all. Try reading the hardware recommendations thread.
You will have a much better time, if you start with proper hardware that is fully supported.

 

[Juvx]

I understand that its not a long term or optimal solution, but surely It should work? I had it laying around and it cost me like 300$ new so I was a shame not to put it to use. I've seen FreeNAS run on much worse old desktop hardware. Still I don't think that has anything to do with my current issue. GUI that's frozen.

 

[BigDave]

Ran into so many issues that my head almost exploded.

It's your head...
I'm just trying to help you keep it:)

 

[Juvx]

It's your head...
I'm just trying to help you keep it:)

Haha thanks. Yeah I agree with you. I plan on switching to a ECC compatible MB and ECC mem soon (32GB). But in the meantime, id really like to get it going if only for learning and testing purposes.

 

[BigDave]

But in the meantime, id really like to get it going if only for learning and testing purposes

Ok, understood.

• It might be a graphics/video thing in regards to the freezing.

If your board has on-board video, use it, and ditch the PCIe add-on card, FreeBSD
may not support it with a driver that works!

• It might also be a NON-INTEL NIC on that gaming board.

FreeNAS does not play well with Realtek NIC chips.

More than likely your UEFI/BIOS just needs some tweaking towards more generic settings.

Try going back to basic default values and turn off (disable) all the crap
that FreeNAS has no use for (sound, RAID chip sets, etc.)

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

It might also be a bad hard drive. Try running some SMART tests on those WD Blacks.

 

[Juvx]

It might also be a bad hard drive. Try running some SMART tests on those WD Blacks.

I didn't get that far... HDDs shouldn't matter yet in my situation.

 

[Juvx]

Ok, understood.

• It might be a graphics/video thing in regards to the freezing.

If your board has on-board video, use it, and ditch the PCIe add-on card, FreeBSD
may not support it with a driver that works!

• It might also be a NON-INTEL NIC on that gaming board.

FreeNAS does not play well with Realtek NIC chips.

More than likely your UEFI/BIOS just needs some tweaking towards more generic settings.

Try going back to basic default values and turn off (disable) all the crap
that FreeNAS has no use for (sound, RAID chip sets, etc.)

I figured freeNAS didn't like my Video Card (geforce gtx670) and I didn't want to have to use it due to power consumption... so I decided to go to Mircocenter and upgrade it and get ECC memory while i'm at it...

So I replaced the MB and Memory
with:
Supermicro X10SLL-F-O 1150 MB and
32GB of Crucial 1600 ECC memory (#CT2KIT102472BD160B)

Put everything back together... and ... Pressed the power button.... no boot... Motherboard LEDs indicate it's getting power but nothing happens when I press the power button.. No fans spinning, no MB beeping, nothing... I tried reseating CPU and Memory, Making sure the pins for the power button were on correctly and even tried to short the pins using a paper clip to see if maybe its the case... Still no Boot... I'm stuck at this point.

 

[pirateghost]

I figured freeNAS didn't like my Video Card (geforce gtx670) and I didn't want to have to use it due to power consumption... so I decided to go to Mircocenter and upgrade it and get ECC memory while i'm at it...

So I replaced the MB and Memory
with:
Supermicro X10SLL-F-O 1150 MB and
32GB of Crucial 1600 ECC memory (#CT2KIT102472BD160B)

Put everything back together... and ... Pressed the power button.... no boot... Motherboard LEDs indicate it's getting power but nothing happens when I press the power button.. No fans spinning, no MB beeping, nothing... I tried reseating CPU and Memory, Making sure the pins for the power button were on correctly and even tried to short the pins using a paper clip to see if maybe its the case... Still no Boot... I'm stuck at this point.

I have found this is usually a memory error. Take out all but one stick of RAM and test each one

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

HDDs shouldn't matter yet in my situation.

I have had a bad hard drive prevent POST. The best bet would be if you can test them in a different machine, or boot from a linux live CD or DVD.

 

[Juvx]

I have had a bad hard drive prevent POST. The best bet would be if you can test them in a different machine, or boot from a linux live CD or DVD.

I disconnected all the HDDs and same result

 

[Juvx]

I have found this is usually a memory error. Take out all but one stick of RAM and test each one

Tried that as well :(
Its not that it wont post, it wont even start the fans or hdds (when they were attached)

 

[pirateghost]

Tried that as well :(
Its not that it wont post, it wont even start the fans or hdds (when they were attached)

Bad memory won't allow it to post in a lot of situations

 

[Juvx]

I've decided to just return the MB and Mem back to microcenter.
Just bought a ASRock C226 WS ATX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 from newegg and a new batch of
Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3/DDR3L-1600MT/s (PC3-12800) DR x8 ECC UDIMM

Switching the memory Mostly to save money. I noticed they were 90$ cheaper (for the 32GB total) on amazon than microcenter.
I went with that asrock MB because the supermicro is very annoying other than it not booting, it only has a VGA connector and no DVI or HDMI or DP. ..... that's very disappointing for 2015... I know its a server MB but come on...

 

[Juvx]

Bad memory won't allow it to post in a lot of situations

I know, i did one stick at a time. no luck. even tried some non EEC mem i had laying around.

 

[pirateghost]

I've decided to just return the MB and Mem back to microcenter.
Just bought a ASRock C226 WS ATX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 from newegg and a new batch of
Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3/DDR3L-1600MT/s (PC3-12800) DR x8 ECC UDIMM

Switching the memory Mostly to save money. I noticed they were 90$ cheaper (for the 32GB total) on amazon than microcenter.
I went with that asrock MB because the supermicro is very annoying other than it not booting, it only has a VGA connector and no DVI or HDMI or DP. ..... that's very disappointing for 2015... I know its a server MB but come on...

You don't need video output with ipmi on board

 

[Juvx]

You don't need video output with ipmi on board

I agree somewhat but it would still be nice to have a HDMI or DVI connection... it cant possibly cost that much. Also, a LED that displays error codes would be nice as well... All modern boards should have those 2 features. Server or not.

 

[BigDave]

I agree somewhat but it would still be nice to have a HDMI or DVI connection... it cant possibly cost that much. Also, a LED that displays error codes would be nice as well... All modern boards should have those 2 features. Server or not.

Glad to see your trying server grade stuff.
Sorry you had trouble with the board from MC.
I agree that an error LCD onboard can be helpful.

Here comes some advice, if you know this stuff, just ignore me, but you need to consider these things before building a machine for file storage.

Sound chipsets consume power and will never be used in Freenas.

VGA is just fine for viewing text and thats all FreeNAS produces via the motherboard interface (no kidding)
I've not had a monitor hooked up to my FreeNAS since the second day it went on-line.
Chipsets that provide high resolutions (DVI/HDMI/DP) consume excess power.

Notice that all server boards are very "spartan" when it comes to rear panel ports. Usually Serial/Com, VGA, LAN and a few USB
ports and that's all you should need or want for a storage appliance.

IPMI is a simple way to control your server in a "headless" configuration, no monitor,keyboard or mouse is needed because
everything is done from a client machine through the network interface or through a browser. Having a server without IPMI is
kinda like trying to restore an old car without a garage to work in. The cost of IPMI is FAR outweighed by the benefits.

When building any computer, I always test and burn in (all the hardware) on a non conductive surface. I only mount
the hardware in the case when I sure it's all in working order.

 

[Juvx]

Just an update, I removed the MB from the case and only connected one stick or RAM and the PSU. Manage to get it to power up the fans and boot... however after hooking up the monitor to the VGA still no post.

The Asrock server MB should arrive today. I have a suspicion that the 32GB of ECC ram i bought is not compatible with the supermicro MB for some reason..

I have another question regarding 120GB SSD i have. Would it benefit my system to implement it in ZIL or L2ARC or is it a total waste? If yes what's my best option for a home network. Ill mostly use this as a file server for lightroom and for storing videos after editing. also for PLEX transcoding.