System seems to freeze

[Mike Zahorik]

I'm new with FreeNAS, but i like the idea and want to make it work. I have a 64 bit AMD machine, with 2 single TB drives and am using a 4Gb thumb for the system. I downloaded the 64 bit version of FreeNAS and burnt a disk. I formated the Tb drives using Gparted using ext4. I set up my BIOS properly and booted the FreeNAS disk. There is a lot of splash, the the DOS like FreeNAS menu screen comes up. It times out and there is more splash. Then a character color graphic screen displays asking to install , quit etc. I select install, after a short time I am asked to choice which drive to install to, I pick the USB 4Gb. Then a line of text appears showning progress, but once the percentage gets to 20%, the updates stop. The DVD light is flashing showing activity, but after 20 minutes nothing changes. I have tried a couple of different USB drives and the same result. Could my DVD that I burnt be bad?

Thanks
Mike

 

[gpsguy]

You could also use this method to install FN on your thumb drive. Burning an IMG File

The drives shouldn't be pre-formatted, unless you we're trying to import existing data. You'll probably want to use either UFS or ZFS.

In addition to reading the manual, review Cyberjock's slideshow

 

[Mike Zahorik]

Well...... I tried the img burning and had not trouble getting the 'stuff' on the USB key through the terminal. But.... I can not figure out how to make my machine boot from the USB. I've been tramping around the net looking for and trying things all afternoon with no results. So, I decided to try an old IDE drive. This drive would accept the files from CDROM iso file and I know I can boot from the IDE drive. Well the boot works but nothing starts. In fact it just stops and goes back to boot. I take the IDE drive out and look at it. The program paritioned the drive into 4 drives, /sda1 942 Mb, /sda2 942 Mb, /sda3 1.5Mb and /sda4 20Mb. I can't recognize a file system on any of the drives. What kind of files should I be seeing in /sda1?

Thanks Mike

 

[Mike Zahorik]

I used a live Knoppix CD to look at the small drive and there are no files in any of the above drives that I said the program created. So the CD iso file only made the paritions and it didn't write any files.

 

[Mike Zahorik]

I've been reading some doc's and there is a suggestion that I "If it stalls during boot, check the SHA256 hash of your ISO against that listed in the Release Notes; if the hash does not match, re-download the file. If the hash is correct, try burning the CD again at a lower speed." How do i check the SHA256 hash of my ISO? I'm looking for the release notes to find what is listed.
Thanks Mike

 

[Mike Zahorik]

Figured it out! The sha256sum showed that I had an input/output error in the iso file on the disk. So I re burnt it at 1/2 speed. This time it loaded to the IDE but still no soap. So I tryed the USB and it loaded. and the program siad it was OK. But I still have to figure how to make this #$%^@#$&% thing boot from the USB. Maybe tomorrow.

 

[gpsguy]

Great detective work so far!

Are there any updates available for your BIOS?

What's the vendor/model number of your motherboard? Assuming you changed the setting to boot from USB did you remember to save the setting?

 

[Mike Zahorik]

well..... it's the week days and I've hit the road and am away from the machine. I have another line to try. From what i hear a usb key can be seen as a hard drive or a removable device depending on how it is formated. I think if the USB is formated in FAT32 then some BIOS will see it as a harddrive. If formated in NTFS then it is seen as a removable. I plan on investigating some more and then Friday when I come back, I'll try some other things. I beleive that this machine should be able to boot from the USB, without updating the bios. It was built in 2005. One question I still have is why didn't the system boot from the IDE drive? Was FreeNAS built so as not to recognized IDE? Or maybe I'm still having some trouble with the files. Well, I have to wait.
Thanks for the help Mike

 

[cyberjock]

Some hardware isn't compatible with FreeBSD/FreeNAS. Sometimes support improves with a BIOS update, which is why gpsguy(and the FAQ.. and the Manual.. and my guide) recommend you check for a BIOS update if you are having significant issues. I'd say that you fall into that category since you are having problems getting it to boot. The only other recommendation I'd make(assuming you feel confident it should be booting) is to disable all the hardware you can in the BIOS and see if that helps. There are some people that just have to resort to newer(more mainstream) hardware. You never listed your hardware so I can't even take a guess as to if I'd expect it to work.

 

[JaimieV]

From what i hear a usb key can be seen as a hard drive or a removable device depending on how it is formated. I think if the USB is formated in FAT32 then some BIOS will see it as a harddrive. If formated in NTFS then it is seen as a removable.

This is a red herring - that only applies to USB sticks viewed from within certain versions of Windows, it's irrelevant to booting a USB stick on bare metal.

I beleive that this machine should be able to boot from the USB, without updating the bios. It was built in 2005.

Touch and go with that date; many didn't work back then. When you get back, let us know what the board model is - and also check if there is a BIOS update for it, and apply it.

One question I still have is why didn't the system boot from the IDE drive? Was FreeNAS built so as not to recognized IDE?

It should work - but don't get hung up on it at this stage, as it's much better to get the USB boot working if you can.

When you get back on this, give us a full system rundown - makes and models, and the version of FreeNAS that you're attempting to install. On which note, you should be using 8.3.0-release/64bit, although it may be that the currently-unreleased-but-downloadable 8.3.1 will be officially released by the time you get back!

 

[Mike Zahorik]

Well.. I'm back. While sitting the hotel rooms during the evenings, I read all I could get on my mother board and the bios that I have. I figured out what I did wrong and the FreeNAS is working. The thumb drive I had has no volume name and when it is listed in the Bios list of harddrives it was there but I glossed right over it, becuase of the blank name. I also had the only boot device as a removable, which needed to be harddrive. Well. with the changes I made the system is up and running. Now I have to better understand how to configure it and start using it. Thanks for the help

Mike

 

[JaimieV]

Excellent! Thanks for reporting back, glad you're on to the next stage.