No Boot after Update

[Bryan Kloos]

Hey All,

System Configuration:

FreeNAS-9.10-STABLE-201606270534 (dd17351)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-4160 CPU @ 3.60GHz
Gigabyte ga-z87n WIFI
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GXM
3 WD Red 3TB NAS Desktop Hard Disk Drive - Intellipower SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD30EFRX

I built the machine to play around and familiarize myself with freenas, and to serve up music and photos on the various PCs in my house.

I was notified of some updates, which I tried to run.

The machine will no not boot up.

I get the following error

no such device: c33c6eef20e39cd
Entering rescue mode...
grub rescue>

Any ideas how I should proceed with a fix?
I'm very new to this and very basic.

I appreciate all your help.

Bryan

 

[dlavigne]

It's possible that the USB stick died. Try installing 9.10.1 on another stick and let us know if that boots OK.

 

[Bryan Kloos]

Thanks. I'll give a new usb drive a try.

If that is in fact the problem will I be able to recover the data in the pool? I guess we can figure that out once I get it to boot. I'll report back in anfew days once i get the drive.

 

[dlavigne]

This is why the OS is kept separate from your storage disks.

 

[gpsguy]

You might also want to watch this thread, where others have run into the same issue with the upgrade

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/freenas-9-10-1-upgrade-problem.45153/#post-304679

 

[Bryan Kloos]

Just to be sure I'm doing this correctly...
I download freenas 9.10.1 and write it to a new usb.
I then swap this usb for the old one on the server and boot it up as before?
Do I then install or upgrade?

Thanks!

 

[Bryan Kloos]

OK, so this is where I am at...

1. Downloaded 9.10.1
2. Wrote the image to a new 16gb scandisk cruiser (usb 1)
3. removed old USB and replaced with blank new scandisk cruiser 16gb (usb 2)
4. inserted the usb 1 and installed to the new usb 2
5. selected install/upgrade
6. was asked to remove installation usb (usb 1)
7. rebooted

During reboot I get a brief GNU Grub beta2 screen with freenas (default), then the screen goes blank.

I'm hoping I didn't sink my ship.

All help is appreciated.

Bryan

 

[Nick2253]

When the screen goes blank, does the computer shut off, or does it keep running? If it keeps running, do you get anything after waiting a while (5-10min)?

I recall reading about a console issue with the new update, where people had to make a change to the GRUB boot line in order to see the console on their screen. However, FreeNAS was booting up successfully in the background. Can you check your DHCP leases to see if the FreeNAS server is getting a lease? If it gets an IP, you could try connecting to it via the web GUI.

 

[Bryan Kloos]

When the screen goes blank, the machine continues to run. I've shut it off after about 3-4 min.
I will try giving it 10 min to fully boot this evening and try to check the DHCP lease. When trying to access the GUI with the old IP, it did not come up, but assuming it uses a different IP that would make sense...
I'll report back tonight assuming no one else has any other recommendations.
Thanks,
Bryan

 

[Bryan Kloos]

Tried letting the system boot for 20 min with no change.
I also cant find and IP when I do an IP scan for the server, so no way to access the GUI.
I'll try reinstalling/upgrading again and see what happens....

any other help is appreciated.

 

[Bryan Kloos]

no luck with a new/repeat install, same symptoms.

out of curiosity, which version of freenas should I be installing? I'm trying to get 9.10.1 to run.

Waiting for help.

 

[Nick2253]

Try it with 9.10.

I'm wondering if you're running in to problems with your hardware. It's not what I would call "recommended" for a FreeNAS server.

 

[Bryan Kloos]

Can you point me to 9.10 for a reinstall.

Agreed on the hardware. This is a test system. Trying to learn with what I have and then build a formal system once I'm familiar with the software.

 

[Nick2253]

http://download.freenas.org/9.10/RELEASE/x64/

 

[Bryan Kloos]

installing 9.10 now.

Seems to have worked, and I am now at console setup, have an IP, and can access the GUI.

So, the million dollar question. How do I restore or revert back to my old settings/data?

 

[Bryan Kloos]

I'm back up and running. I needed to add the CIFS share to access the volume. All data is intact.
Thanks for the help.

Going forward (other than hardware), what steps should I take to avoid this in the future?

Mirror the boot drive?
More periodic snapshots?

Basically, from a lamepersons perspective, how should I have things configured such that I have maximum access to data in the event of a similar event in the future?

Again, I'm very new to this...

Thanks,

Bryan

 

[Nick2253]

Basically, from a lamepersons perspective, how should I have things configured such that I have maximum access to data in the event of a similar event in the future?

This is kind of a loaded question, because there's a lot you could do, but probably wouldn't want to, given the time/cost/etc.

For a typical home user, there's two major things to improve reliability: use SSDs for your boot device and mirror your boot device. I would say that having a single SSD is probably more reliable than having mirrored USB drives, though mirrored SSDs is obviously best.

Something else you should be doing is daily/periodic backups of your config. There's a thread by @cyberjock with a backup script, which is super useful. Then, no matter what you use for a boot device, you should simulate a device failure: install FreeNAS from scratch, import your pool, retrieve your config file, import it, and check that everything works. Keeping a spare boot device on hand will help in the event that you experience a boot device failure.