SOLVED Installation fails - hangs on "root mount waiting for: GRAID"

[jeroenboonen]

I'm trying to install FreeNAS on a PC with 5 HD's, but during installation it hangs a few seconds on "root mount waiting for: GRAID" and then hangs forever with following messages :"...Read error (5), ... read errors total ada1[READ(offset=159999951360, length=2048)]"

The booting from the USB disk of 16GB didn't give any error until the problem I report here. The HD's are NOT configured by the BIOS a RAID and setup as AHCI.

I tried the USB stick in an other and older computer and there is working fine, meaning it displays the 'console setup'.

Before install I wiped all data from the HD's.

Any idea what could be the problem here?

 

[gpsguy]

Since the flash drive worked in another computer, your "server" hardware is definitely the problem.

You agreed to the forum rules - please provide detailed information about your build. Look at the link to the forum rules in red at the top of the page.

 

[jeroenboonen]

Hi gpsguy,

1) Exactly, that's why I mentioned that it is not the flash drive, but something in the "server" hardware. But I would not say that it is the hardware. All drives were accessable in the BIOS, Win7(which was installed just before I wiped all data) and Acronis Startup Disc recognised all discs. So my question still remains, what could be the problem is my case?
2) The FreeNAS version is "FreeNAS-9.3-STABLE-201505130355" - 64bit

What I was wondering is the following:
why during first install of FreeNAS, the installation tried to mount the discs in RAID, even FreeNAS was never configured? Could it be that the discs still contains some data of the previous hardware configured RAID? And that FreeNAS is 'thinking' that the discs are already in RAID by it?

If needed I can also post the hardware information later today (currently I'm not at the physical location).

Hope I can get it fixed.

Txs,

Jeroen

 

[gpsguy]

Yes, we really need to know your detailed hardware information. Just because it'll run Win 7 or can be recognized by Acronis doesn't mean it's suitable for FreeNAS.

If you have a hardware RAID controller, get rid of it now. ZFS on FreeNAS + hardware RAID is a recipe for disaster. Peruse the forum for folks who have already tried it and failed.

If you don't have enough onboard SATA connections, invest in a HBA. The IBM M1015, flashed to IT mode, is highly recommended. Cost on ebay is about $115, plus you'll need breakout cables for it.

 

[jeroenboonen]

Hi,

I will post the detailed hardware information tonight. I don't use any hardware RAID controllers. The motherboard itself supports 6 SATA connections.

Greetings,

Jeroen

 

[gpsguy]

Jeroen,

What did you mean by the bolded statement?

Could it be that the discs still contains some data of the previous hardware configured RAID? And that FreeNAS is 'thinking' that the discs are already in RAID by it?

How did you wipe the drives? One could use DBAN (www.dban.org) with the quick option to wipe the drives. It'll be slow, but thorough.

 

[jeroenboonen]

Hi,

First of all, thank you for helping me...

1) What I mean is that in my previous setup of the PC, running Win7, I was using the motherboard in RAID mode. I don't use the PC anymore and I want to set it up as a NAS.
2) I wiped all drives with Acronis (it took many hours to complete).

I will try again tonight with DBAN. Also I will try with brand new drives.

 

[gpsguy]

Since you are using your "old" PC, does it meet the minimum requirements for FreeNAS. For example, a recommendation of 1GB RAM for each 1TB of storage with 8GB being an absolute minimum. If you haven't read the doc's, you can download a PDF version of it, using a link in my signature.

 

[jeroenboonen]

After using DBAN, which erases all discs by putting all bytes to zero, the console setup is displayed correctly. So surely the previous raid controller or OS left something behind on the discs and the freeNAS installer didn't liked that...

Maybe an option in the installer would be nice to ignore any data on the discs...

 

[gpsguy]

Glad to hear that wiping the disks with DBAN resolved your problem.

FreeNAS' GUI includes some safety features to prevent users from accidentally making some dire mistakes. I believe this is an intended feature.


Sent from my phone

 

[jeroenboonen]

Maybe it can be added in the manual, that in case of a fresh install of freeNAS (not update), all the discs shall be wiped with zero's...