FreeNAS (ver 8) install failed, USB drive cap changed to 1 gb after sware on it!

[Deepak Agarwal]

Hi Guys


This is my first post on this forum.

I was trying to convert one of my old PC's to a NAS. Based on the PDF & video instructions on your website I burned the iso image on to a CD (version 8), then booted my PC from that CD and then installed the FreeNAS software on a 8 Gb usb drive. Up to this point, it succeeded.

It then asked me to remove the CD, leaving the usb drive in the system and rebooting the system. The BIOS was changed to booting sequence of CDROM, USB, HDD. I was expecting it to reboot from the USB drive. But it encountered an error and could not go further.

I then removed the usb drive and checked it on another PC. To my surprise, this drive came up as unformatted. It asked me if I wanted to format it - the capacity shown was 942 MB. What happened? The 8 Gb usb was reduced to a 1 Gb usb.

Thinking that perhaps my original usb drive was bad, I repeated the process with another 8 Gb usb - the same thing happened again! What's happening here? FreeNAS did not get installed and I lost 2 8 Gb usb drives in the bargain.

Can someone advise me as to how can I regain the original capacity of my USB drives? Also, how can I get it installed without having to install it on the existing hard disk drive on that PC?


Best regards


Deepak

 

[dlavigne]

What error do you get when you boot?

 

[cyberjock]

Windows will not allow you to use USB devices with more than 1 partition correctly. This is a limitation of Windows(linux and FreeBSD don't have this problem.. haha).

Anyway, it is normal for Windows to want to format the USB stick because Windows doesn't support the any file system except Windows file systems.

The 942MB is because the first partition is 942MB. If you go into the drive manager in Windows you can delete all partitions on your USB stick, then create a partition that is the full 8GB, format it with your favorite file system and your USB stick will have 8GB available again.

 

[Knowltey]

Yeah, I've had this issue before. If the installation fails after partitioning it, Windows will no longer recognize the majority of it. The program I use to fix the issue is Active@ KillDisk. Just download that and wipe the USB drive, Windows will recognize it's full capacity again.

Cyberjock's suggestion will probably also work, for some reason on my USB stick it still only shows up as the incorrect size even in the disk manager, so if you can't do it his way, KillDisk can probably get the job done for you.

 

[Deepak Agarwal]

Hi dlavigne


The error I get is this :-

..da0 ... Medium error asc:11,5 (L-EC, uncorrectable error)

Beyond this point, I am not able to shutdown, reboot or anything. I can go to shell - which I did and typed Exit - took me to the option selection page.

Tried to reboot from the USB after changing the boot sequence to USB, CDROM and HDD but it eventually booted from HDD. Obviously what was installed on the USB by the installation process is corrupted. Do I need to use the latest version or what? I chose the older version because I thought this PC of mine is old and perhaps may not support the newer features.

Any suggestions?



Everyone else, I was able to address the issue of USB capacity - I deleted all the partitions and reformatted it using EASEUS Partition Master.



Deepak

 

[cyberjock]

That medium error is usually a sign that the USB stick is bad. It's usually indicative or a read or write failure that was uncorrectable.

What brand and model is your USB stick? Is it a name brand?

 

[Deepak Agarwal]

That medium error is usually a sign that the USB stick is bad. It's usually indicative or a read or write failure that was uncorrectable.

What brand and model is your USB stick? Is it a name brand?

Its not one of those from China - Its Toshiba bought from a decent shop in Melbourne!


Deepak

 

[Knowltey]

Its not one of those from China - Its Toshiba bought from a decent shop in Melbourne!


Deepak

Do you have another USB stick lying around somewhere that you could perhaps try to see if that works better? Just to rule out your current USB stick as being the issue.

 

[Deepak Agarwal]

Do you have another USB stick lying around somewhere that you could perhaps try to see if that works better? Just to rule out your current USB stick as being the issue.

Certainly can try that - no worries there! I am also downloading the latest version of FreeNAS and will try with that as well

Shall let you know how it goes! What time is it where you are? Its 9.15 am here!


Deepak

 

[Deepak Agarwal]

Hi Guys


Here is the latest update.

Burnt the latest FreeNAS software on a CD, booted my PC from that CD and installed the software on another USB - installation was successful.

Changed the boot sequence to USB - FDD, USB - CDROM, Hard Disk but it booted from the Hard Disk! Doesn't seem to boot from USB. Is there something I need to do to ensure that the PC boots up from the USB apart from the change in the BIOS?


Best regards


Deepak

 

[gpsguy]

You probably need a BIOS option like USB-HDD

You mention an "old pc". How old is it and what are the detailed spec's on the hardware. Perhaps it's so old that it doesn't support booting FreeNAS from a flashdrive.

 

[Deepak Agarwal]

Hi Guys


Latest update

Have been able to boot from usb drive now - had to change the boot priority to usb apart from changing the boot sequence. That worked.

Now I can see my NAS from the browser on another PC. So far so good - we are getting there!

Now, I had this external HDD (2.0 TB) that was up to now connected to WDTV Live media steamer - that I have been using so far - that I need to hook up to this NAS drive.

I have disconnected it from the WDTVLive media streamer and connected it to the NAS drive through an USB port on it. I can see it in the 'View Disks' tabs as "da1".

see attached picture!

Do I now need to 'Add' or 'Import' volume so that it can now be used for media streaming with all content on an 'As Is' basis so that it is visible to all my devices on the network - mobiles/tablets/PC's/laptops. I do not want the content to cleared.


Thanks for getting me this far. Greatly appreciated.



Best regards


Deepak

 

[cyberjock]

You don't use the content "as-is". You must format it with ZFS or UFS which will destroy the current data.

But.. be warned that using USB is a recipe for disaster. So proceed at your own risk.

 

[Deepak Agarwal]

Hi Cyberjock


Point taken. Given that this is my first experiment with NAS, I am trying to find out how can I use my existing equipment to the extent that I can.

As I had indicated earlier in my post, I have a WDTV Live media player and a 2 tb WD external HDD - these 2 were connected together to provide a sort of network based source to access the media files for any computer on my home network. This works fine, no worries at all.

With this NAS that I seemingly have got working now, if I am not understanding you incorrectly, this is what I need to do :-

1. Buy a new internal HDD of the appropriate size
2. Physically install it inside my now NAS (old PC), given that USB connected systems are not reliable and are dangerous
3. Add volume from the NAS browser based interface
4. Load my content from my old external HDD on to this new internal HDD - now physically located inside the NAS box

Is that how its supposed to work?

What happens to my WDTV Live media player and a 2 tb WD external HDD? Do they now become redundant?

Also, could you please tell me how do I subsequently add/remove media files from this NAS box?


Best regards


Deepak

 

[gpsguy]

yes, to all 4 questions

What do you do with your old stuff. One thing you could use use your old drive for backup. Using FreeNAS can be dangerous - especially since you don't have any disk redundancy. Most folks here, have at least a mirrored set of drives in their system. Other's are using RAIDz with 1,2, or 3 parity disks. If a drive fails, they don't lose all their data.

 

[Deepak Agarwal]

Hi Guys

It seems to be working ok. However, I am not able to see this NAS drive on my DLNA certified Panasonic Viera TV or my other mobile devices like my Toshiba tablet and mobiles. What do I need to do? I am sure it does support DLNA.

Also, have been trying to install the MiniDLNA plugin but am having problems with it. Seems to install ok but am not able to start the service. Comes up with an error saying "Some error occurred". Any suggestions?



Best regards


Deepak

 

[gpsguy]

At this point, your boot issue is resolved, so it's best to start a new thread about your MiniDLNA issue.

Post your message in the plugins forum. At a minimum, include the version of FreeNAS you're using and whether it's 32 or 64 bit. How are your disks formatted - ZFS or UFS?