SOLVED More help needed, stuck bootup

[JohnnyDangerX2]

I just had a problem resolved where I couldnt find files on my FreeNAS system after a network change. That was all fixed. I had Plex on the system, but it stopped working at some point during my previous issue. Well, I got my files and tried to reinstall the Plex plugin, but FreeNAS froze up and wouldnt respond. I could no longer sign into FreeNAS. I did a hard shut off (held down the power button) and connected to system to a monitor. When it boot up, it was in a loop. My machine keeps saying something about link state changed. I restart to see what would happen and it did the same thing. I took a picture of whats going on and would like to see if someone can tell me what I need to do to fix this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[pirateghost]

A. Get rid of the realtek NIC.

B. Get an Intel NIC

C. Plug cable in and reconfigure the IP address.

 

[JohnnyDangerX2]

A. Get rid of the realtek NIC.

B. Get an Intel NIC

C. Plug cable in and reconfigure the IP address.

Had a feeling that was going to be a suggestion. Im checking online now to see how quick I can get one. Thanks

 

[pirateghost]

In the meantime, check your cable.

 

[JohnnyDangerX2]

In the meantime, check your cable.

I tried that with no luck. So I actually got freenas to stop with the constant timeout and the link state changing and am able to get to the console on the machine itself, but I cant login to FreeNas from a networked computer. Trying to figure that out now.

 

[JohnnyDangerX2]

I went to order an Intel NIC but couldnt remember what the motherboard supports. I open up the case and I only have one PCI slot and its for a graphic card. My motherboard is a mini-itx. Is there any other solution anyone can think of for my problem that doesnt have me buying a new NIC? I would rather not have to get a new video card if I can avoid it. Thanks in advance.

 

[pirateghost]

The motherboard doesn't have built in graphics? Are you sure it isn't pci-express?

 

[joeschmuck]

My two cents...

How long did your FreeNAS work fine for? Did you recently upgrade FreeNAS?

Troubleshooting Hardware:
1. Did you change the Ethernet cable as suggested?
2. Did you move anything in your network, AT ALL? Network switch?
3. If you do not have a static IP address for FreeNAS, set it as static.
4. If your main computer doesn't have a static IP address, set it also.
5. Connect both FreeNAS and your main computer together with a single Ethernet cable, no switch, router, or anything. The goal here is to see if you can eliminate the link Up/Down crap. If this works to solve it, reconnect your system like normal, keep the static IPs for now, see if all works again. If this didn't help you you still have the Up/Down issues then go troubleshoot FreeNAS below.


Troubleshooting FreeNAS:
1. Backup your config file.
2. If you are using a USB Flash Drive for the boot device, get a new one.
3. Clean Install FreeNAS, do not upgrade or install config file.
4. Do you still have the NIC issues?
5. If yes then roll back to FreeNAS U2 version and try again.

 

[joeschmuck]

His MB has built in graphics and that is a PCIe slot ver 2.0.

You can purchase a good NIC card if needed but first I suggest you take the time to read my posting. If your first answer is that you have never got this to work for longer than 1 day, well you should have purchased recommended hardware. Not saying you can't fix it but you need to take a breath and figure out what you need to do. If the system was running for 2 weeks without issue, that is a completely different story.

I can speak form personal experience that a RealTek NIC can let you down if you are transferring a lot of information, however I never had it cause a system failure, only slow transfers.

 

[JohnnyDangerX2]

The motherboard doesn't have built in graphics? Are you sure it isn't pci-express?

It definitely has built in graphics. I dont have a video card on there now. Ive attached a pic of the motherboard I have. It only has one PCI Express slot for a video card.

My two cents...

How long did your FreeNAS work fine for? Did you recently upgrade FreeNAS?

Troubleshooting Hardware:
1. Did you change the Ethernet cable as suggested?
2. Did you move anything in your network, AT ALL? Network switch?
3. If you do not have a static IP address for FreeNAS, set it as static.
4. If your main computer doesn't have a static IP address, set it also.
5. Connect both FreeNAS and your main computer together with a single Ethernet cable, no switch, router, or anything. The goal here is to see if you can eliminate the link Up/Down crap. If this works to solve it, reconnect your system like normal, keep the static IPs for now, see if all works again. If this didn't help you you still have the Up/Down issues then go troubleshoot FreeNAS below.


Troubleshooting FreeNAS:
1. Backup your config file.
2. If you are using a USB Flash Drive for the boot device, get a new one.
3. Clean Install FreeNAS, do not upgrade or install config file.
4. Do you still have the NIC issues?
5. If yes then roll back to FreeNAS U2 version and try again.

FreeNAS was working fine for the last 2 1/2 months. And I upgraded FreeNAS a few weeks ago, but it was still working until this past Monday. The only thing that recently changed was the router. I had an Asus AC1900 that died. I replaced it with a Netgear Nighthawk X6 AC3200. Thats when the problem started. I did replace the ethernet cable, but that did not help. I have the FreeNAS Machine going directly into my router and not a switch, although I do have switches connected to the router. Im going to try to set setup my main PC with a static IP and do the same with my FreeNAS machine to see what happens.

 

[joeschmuck]

Sounds like you identified the issue, your new router. I'd just connect the FreeNAS Ethernet cable to a different port on your router first, if that doesn't help then use a switch and place that in between the two, that should fix your issue.

You can troubleshoot it more once everything is working.

 

[JohnnyDangerX2]

I just did a fresh install of FreeNAS. I connected the ethernet cable to a new port on the router and that actually fixed the problem. Everything is working perfectly now. I appreciate all the suggestions you have all provided. FreeNAS is super new to me and with each problem I learn of new solutions. This will help me when I start diving in to use more features of the OS.