Fresh install - Won't boot from USB

[Passenger]

Machine: HP Z200 Workstation
CPU: Intel Core i5
Memory: 8GB RAM
NIC: Intel 82578DM Gigabit Network
Boot device: Microcenter 16GB USB Stick (re-branded SanDisk module)
Storage device: 500GB Seagate HDD (plan to add 2x WD Red 4TB if things work)

I'm trying to evaluate FreeNAS for home use. My plan was to run it on my old work PC (specs above) which appear to satisfy the minimum requirements for the most part. I have the latest 9.10.2 installer (checksum verified) burned to a DVD and am trying to install the OS onto the above USB stick.

I'm able to boot the DVD and go through the install without issue, but when I remove the install media and reboot off of the USB drive, I'm getting "Non-System disk or disk error". I have boot order set to boot from DVD-ROM -> USB -> HDD -> Network

I've tried a plethora of things:

- Installer image burned to a CD
- Use another USB drive -- a SanDisk 32GB thumbdrive
- Reformatted the storage device HDD (previously had dual-boot Windows Server 2012/Windows 10 installation)
- Disconnected the HDD altogether
- Used another USB port

Prior to my most recent attempt (which involved cleaning the disk to remove the previous Windows OSs), I was getting through the install, but when booting off of the USB drive, I would get a blank screen with no text and just a blinking cursor.

Anyone know what I could try here?

 

[MrToddsFriends]

Installation Troubleshooting in the FreeNAS User Guide has a few hints.

 

[Passenger]

Believe me, I wouldn't be asking for help if I hadn't already read through the doco and scoured the net.

- There is no BIOS option referring to "USB emulation"; I've tried a SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB, and while I cannot ascertain whether or not it is definitively UDMA-compliant, it appears to be the 32GB version of the same drive you're using, so I gotta believe that's not the issue
- There are no options referencing "EFI with BIOS emulation" or "boot using legacy BIOS mode"
- The system does not hang with any error messages
- There are no options referencing a "1394 Controller"
- The system does not hang at a mountroot> prompt
- I have wiped the drives prior to each attempt using Active@ KillDisk

So nothing helps there. On boot, literally this is all that I see:

https://flic.kr/p/Qbkudp

 

[Passenger]

Screenshots of (pretty much) every screen in my BIOS:

https://flic.kr/s/aHskQoWwpZ

 

[sef]

In general, "Non-System disk or disk error" means that the machine is trying to boot off a data disk. Alternately, it could mean you selected EFI booting and the system needs BIOS.

 

[Passenger]

I'm no longer getting "Non-System disk or disk error", the machine now boots to a blank screen and blinking cursor (see https://flic.kr/p/Qbkudp). I selected "Boot via BIOS" during install.

 

[gpsguy]

It looks like your HP Z200 is an old machine, possibly 6+ years old.

If you do a forum search on HP Z200, you'll find two threads with the same problem. It doesn't appear that anyone was able to resolve their problem, or if they did, they didn't report it in the thread.

One user mentioned that they had been running FreeNAS 9.2.0 and it broke when upgrading to 9.3. You might try installing FreeNAS 9.2.1.9 - http://download.freenas.org/ and see if that works for you.

Sure, you don't get the latest features, but it might be good enough for the hardware you have.

 

[Passenger]

DOH! Not what I was hoping to hear. Well, I guess I'll either try 9.2 or try to pick up some new hardware. Thanks for looking into it for me; very much appreciated!

 

[p0081lee]

Did you ever have any luck with the HP Z200? This is the same system I have and I not not able to install. I get the "Non-system" disk message.

 

[ITGuy1024]

I get the same thing on a non HP system. My "workaround" is when I have to reboot the system go in to the bios and manually select the usb drive, hit enter and it boots right up.

 

[PysicsJunky]

Hi people,

I had the same issue with an older machine: HP Compaq DC7900 Convertable Minitower, 8Gb RAM DDR 2, 64 bit etc...
The problem was that it was running BIOS/ROM v1.16. With the .bin file on a USB from HP I managed to get the USB boot working. I was only able to boot from an HDD with the Freenas iso and not from a USB.1 I did need a small USB I had laying around to let it recognize the files on my drive (64Mb) Yeah I know. From the stone age, but glad I did not throw it away now.
After the flashing, it started right up from the USB.

I hope this helps others.