My TrueNAS device is not detected by my router or PC

[groucho]

Hello! Both my PC and my NAS device are connected to the same gateway (router+modem). My PC runs Windows 11 and the NAS runs TrueNAS. I used to be able to access the NAS device easily from my PC. It used to appear as a drive on my PC system. Now there is an X on the TrueNAS device in This PC, and the NAS does not show up on the Gateway UI either. Any assistance you may be able to provide will be very deeply appreciated. I apologize if I have overlooked any previously posted solution, but the only similar issue I could find was related to a virtual TrueNAS “scale” which is a term I do not know. Many thanks in advance.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Plug a display into the TrueNAS box and read the IP the TrueNAS box is on (unless you secured the box it will display the IP).

If you cannot reach the TrueNAS box set your laptop to a Static IP and plug it right into the back of the TrueNAS box. Check the link lights are lit and you should be good to get into the NAS.

 

[groucho]

Thanks! I have a desktop PC, which seems to have a Static internal IP address, but I am not sure. Can you please tell me how to verify that this is so? The PC has two displays, a primary one (DP) and a secondary one (HDMI). When I unplug the HDMI cable from my PC and plug it into the TrueNAS box the following message is displayed at the top of the secondary display: This is a TrueNAS data disk an can not boot system. System halted. Can you please tell me how to proceed so as to get the NAS to boot itself, and what you mean by “plug it right into the back of the TrueNAS box”? Thanks again!

 

[Redcoat]

It would appear that the boot device on your NAS has proably failed. I suggest that you leave the HDMI cable plugged in to your NAS, turn off the power to it, turn it back on and see the result of a cold boot process - it it's the same as you see now, then it confirms that either your boot device has failed or its selection as boot device in the NAS box BIOS has somehow changed.
Betting on the former, what is your current boot device, do you have another available, and have you saved your config file. Next steps depend on your answers to these questions and what you see as a result of the cold boot of your box.

 

[groucho]

Thanks! You were right, of course, the TrueNAS boot configuration had changed and the NAS was trying to boot from an unbootable data disk. I have now set the correct boot configuration in the TrueNAS BIOS and it does boot but, after many lines have run rapidly through the display, I am presented with a set of 11 options: 1) Configure Network Interfaces. 2) Configure Link Aggregation. 3) Configure VLAN Interface. 4) Configure Default Route. 5) Configure Static Routes. 6) Configure DNS. 7) Reset Root Password. 8) Reset Configuration to Default. 9) Shell. 10) Reboot .11) Shut Down. If I select 7 and try to type a new password, the TrueNAS does not show any keystrokes. If I reconnect the HDMI cable to the PC I can see TRUENAS under Network. When I click on it, a Windows Security dialog box opens and demands my Root password. When I enter my Root password, it says The username or password is incorrect. I do not know whether I have a Config file saved, nor where to look for one. Can you please tell me how to proceed? Thanks again and kind regards.

 

[danb35]

the TrueNAS does not show any keystrokes.

That is normal when you set a password. But why are you trying to reset the root password? Nothing of what you've posted gives any indication that this is a problem.

When I click on it, a Windows Security dialog box opens and demands my Root password.

No, it doesn't; it needs the password (and username) for a (non-root) user with rights on that share. Root isn't allowed to log in to SMB shares.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Thanks! You were right, of course, the TrueNAS boot configuration had changed and the NAS was trying to boot from an unbootable data disk. I have now set the correct boot configuration in the TrueNAS BIOS and it does boot but, after many lines have run rapidly through the display, I am presented with a set of 11 options: 1) Configure Network Interfaces. 2) Configure Link Aggregation. 3) Configure VLAN Interface. 4) Configure Default Route. 5) Configure Static Routes. 6) Configure DNS. 7) Reset Root Password. 8) Reset Configuration to Default. 9) Shell. 10) Reboot .11) Shut Down. If I select 7 and try to type a new password, the TrueNAS does not show any keystrokes. If I reconnect the HDMI cable to the PC I can see TRUENAS under Network. When I click on it, a Windows Security dialog box opens and demands my Root password. When I enter my Root password, it says The username or password is incorrect. I do not know whether I have a Config file saved, nor where to look for one. Can you please tell me how to proceed? Thanks again and kind regards.

That's the default TrueNAS menu, so all good there. It is concerning your BIOS settings changed, that sounds like you might be running some type of RAID adapter. That should be investigated.

From your desktop you should be able to log into the TrueNAS Graphical User Interface at the IP address shown above the menu that you described above by using the root account and password.

Your Windows shares should be accessible via whatever user account you created in TrueNAS for accessing the shares. Since you previously connected and mapped a drive the X you described should be gone from the mapped drive and your share should work again.

 

[groucho]

That is normal when you set a password. But why are you trying to reset the root password? Nothing of what you've posted gives any indication that this is a problem.

No, it doesn't; it needs the password (and username) for a (non-root) user with rights on that share. Root isn't allowed to log in to SMB shares.

I can access my TrueNAS adiminstration UI in A Windows browser. How can I set the user name and password for the non-root NAS user? PLEASE send me step-by-step instructions. I’m a PC geek but a TrueNAS nerd. Thanks!

 

[groucho]

That's the default TrueNAS menu, so all good there. It is concerning your BIOS settings changed, that sounds like you might be running some type of RAID adapter. That should be investigated.

From your desktop you should be able to log into the TrueNAS Graphical User Interface at the IP address shown above the menu that you described above by using the root account and password.

Your Windows shares should be accessible via whatever user account you created in TrueNAS for accessing the shares. Since you previously connected and mapped a drive the X you described should be gone from the mapped drive and your share should work again.

You are rught, and I can log into the graphucal unterface, but how to I proceed to the “Windows shares”? The Windows Secuirty will not let me access the NAS without a user name and password. PLEASE send me step-by-step instructions. I’m a PC geek but a TrueNAS nerd. Thanks!

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Just use the same credentials as you did before. You wrote that the NAS was already mounted as a drive on your PC so you must have created a user in the past, already.

If you need to start over for any reason, here's the tutorial:

Setting Up Users and Groups

Describes how to set up users and groups in TrueNAS CORE.

www.truenas.com

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

You are rught, and I can log into the graphucal unterface, but how to I proceed to the “Windows shares”? The Windows Secuirty will not let me access the NAS without a user name and password. PLEASE send me step-by-step instructions. I’m a PC geek but a TrueNAS nerd. Thanks!

I'll do you one better, here are all the step-by-step instructions:

 

[groucho]

If the power to the NAS is turned off, the BIOS forgets the correct boot order and the TrueNAS cannot boot, as it tries to boot from a data disk rather than for the operating system boot disk. This is when it is not detected by the PC. Is there any way to make sure that the BIOS retains the correct boot order and that TrueNAS boots from the system boot disk even if you turn off the power altogether? Could it be that the motherboard battery that retains the CMOS or the BIOS configuration needs to be replaced? Thanks.

 

[danb35]

Could it be that the motherboard battery that retains the CMOS or the BIOS configuration needs to be replaced?

Sure could. Seems likely, even.