Running headless - aka no graphics card

[nival_d]

Hi all,

I am a new user to the TrueNAS/FreeNAS and setting up a node first time. My hardware configuration includes:
- e5-2630L COU (no graphics)
- el cheapo chinese x99 motherboard (no graphics and COM)
- 16G RAM
- 512g ssd storage
- TrueNAS Core 12.0 U4

For installation of the system I used a GTX1650 from my primary machine. Installation and all went perfect and the system runs well up until I hit the final step of my commisioning process - connecting the NAS nose to my home network with no GPU installed. My network doesn't see the node with no graphics card and the IP stack on the NAS is not operational.

My tests showed that when I take the GPU out the system doesn't boot normally, which would be perfectly expected for FreeBSD. Trying to solve the problem, i added

console="nullconsole"

to the /boot/loader.conf, and it had no effect - I still have graphical output with GPU installed no no network connectivity with GPU taken out.

I tried adding a variable 'console' with a value of 'nullconsole' to the systems/tunables section and it had no effect either.

Is there anything I am missing? Could anyone point me in the right direction? I do not want to put GPU in a system just for the sake of allowing it to boot.

 

[jgreco]

It is fairly normal for "el cheapo chinese" mainboards, or really any mainboard not designed for server use, to freak out at the lack of a video card and not be able to boot.

Buy a cheap video card for it and see if that fixes it. It does not need to be a "GPU".

 

[ThreeDee]

I picked up a Quadro 400 512mb gpu for my Chinese x79T setup for $8 shipped off of ebay when I was running it.

 

[phebert]

I would like to suggest an el cheapo USB to VGA Adapter. Amazon has one for $12, may be able to find DVI and cheaper ones too.
Edit: Not sure if it will work from POST though, never tried it.

 

[jgreco]

I would like to suggest an el cheapo USB to VGA Adapter. Amazon has one for $12, may be able to find DVI and cheaper ones too.
Edit: Not sure if it will work from POST though, never tried it.

HIGHLY unlikely to work, sorry. Nice if it would work, but the BIOS is typically responsible for setting up the environment on the PC, and the problem here is likely to be that it is freaking out at there not being an obvious output device during earliest initialization phases. This happens far before initialization for subsystems like USB in your typical BIOS.

 

[dak180]

I do not want to put GPU in a system just for the sake of allowing it to boot.

It is fairly normal for "el cheapo chinese" mainboards, or really any mainboard not designed for server use, to freak out at the lack of a video card and not be able to boot.

Buy a cheap video card for it and see if that fixes it. It does not need to be a "GPU".

In fact if you can find one, and your board supports it, something like the M2_VGA may be all you need.

 

[jgreco]

In fact if you can find one, and your board supports it, something like the M2_VGA may be all you need.

Oh my heavens, that's CRAZY. But yes.

 

[nival_d]

Hi all, I want to thank everyone fro your replies :)
the M2 VGA solution was the one I was exploring, but these are not available for a direct purchase yet:)
I ended up getting a $10 quadro on ebay and currently enjoying my TrueNAS :) It surely was a motherboard issue - shortly I will upgrade to a real server grade board with integrate IPMI :)

 

[jgreco]

That's awesome. Enjoy!