Supermicro SuperDOM boot drive not recognized as destination media during install

[gubbl]

Hi,

I'm kind of lost after days of searching this and other forums about how to set up TrueNAS with a low-profile SATA SSD boot drive on my microserver setup.

relevant parts of my setup:
HP Proliant Gen8 with a b120i RAID controller (I know, not the ideal one)
4x4TB WD Red Plus
32GB Supermicro SuperDOM in the SATA ODD bay

After reading various posts about boot media, I purchased a low-profile 32GB SuperDOM SSD to use it in the blue SATA-ODD bay as the boot drive, as that was recommended more highly than installing on USB/SD due to proper TRIM etc. The SSD came with a small 2-pin power connector, which seems to be optional depending on whether the SATA port is powered or not, according to Supermicro's installation instructions. I did not connect the power cable since I did not find a suitable port for the power connector on the mainboard.

Doesn't matter if I put the b120i in AHCI or RAID mode, the SSD does not show up as destination media during the truenas install. In fact, it's also nowhere to be seen in the BIOS or Intelligent Provisioning. Is this SSD just incompatible with my setup? Or does it require the extra power connector and I am missing a power connector on the mainboard?

As I'm writing this I realize that this may not have anything to do with TrueNAS at all and may be a pure hardware problem, but I guess people from this community would still be the most likely ones to have run into that issue before. Let me know if I should move this somewhere else (or feel free to just do so).


Thanks for your patience already, I'm really kind of lost right now and seem to be going in circles trying to find relevant forum posts.
gubbl

 

[HoneyBadger]

You'll need to connect that power cable somehow. Might be able to tap the SATA power socket, otherwise you'll need to run longer wires. Confirm the expected voltage first.

 

[jenksdrummer]

Yeah, those DOM's generally plug into a yellow sata port; implying they are "powered"; or, you need to power it using the little cable and an appropriate port on the board that it plugs into; SM boards have them; but they also generally have a pair of DOM ports too.

You might be able to contact SM for a cable that will convert either a standard SATA power or a molex 4-pin to that end. Maybe.

Thing is, does that DOM even show up in BIOS?

 

[helios_x]

I have a HP Proliant Microserver Gen8 B120I.
Newer versions of FreeNas work porly with SD or USB nowdays.
You can folow this guide to Chainload Grub to boot hdd5 (SATA-ODD)
Did just that 14 days ago:
*Take a coppy of curent config and save it.
*Ripp out all 4 hdd, leave the Dom connected an powerd.
*Install FreeNas to the Dom.
*Follow this guide, i did it on a SD card:

How to make a bootable USB with GRUB2 and ISO

Put ISO files into your USB stick and boot from it!

yous.be

* Then insert this in grub.cfg

main grub.cfg

set timeout=0
set default=0
menuentry "FreeNAS" --class freebsd --class bsd --class os{ insmod bsd insmod zfs insmod chain insmod part_gpt echo Chainloading hd5 ... set root=(hd5) chainloader +1 }

work with a smoll SSD on 5th sata port
If you just have 2 data disc then it's hd3

* In with the SD in the slot on the MB (grub chainloader).
*Put the data discs back start the server.
*Get your saved oldconfig in, replace it and Reboot.
The requirement is bios-boot, boot order c: usb as first boot.

 

[survive]

Hi gubbl,

Check these guys out:

Disk on Module Cables,

We provide Industrial Flash Storage such as Disk on Module Cables, , Industrial Storage,

www.memorydepot.com

I think you want the "CBL_MOLEX" part.

They also make a cable that goes from the Supermicro X9 motherboard DOM power plug to SATA-DOM, cables are $2.00 each.

-Will

 

[gubbl]

Thx everyone!
Though not the most professional solution, I was able to connect the dom with power by McGyvering its power cable into a sata power connector that I found lying around, so it shows up now. Thx again! :)
(I have a separate issue now related to usb booting, but I'll ask that in a separate thread, since it's really unrelated).

 

[gubbl]

This is the new thread about the booting problem, by the way:

Cannot boot installed TrueNAS via GRUB USB on Proliant

tl;dr: my grub usb won't boot my proliant My setup - Gen8 Proliant (with b120i) with 4x4TB HDD + 32GB SSD in ODD Bay + GRUB USB It's a well known tricky situation to install TrueNAS/FreeNAS on an HP Proliant Gen8 with a b120i raid card (in the usual 4xHDD for data + 1xSSD for boot config). It...

www.ixsystems.com

AFAIC, this thread here can be closed.