TrueNAS Scale in QNAP TS-563 - BIOS does not recognise NMVe disk

[idollar]

Dears,

1.- Background information

1.1 - Getting to the serial console - success

I am VERY tired of the QNAP software so I decided to move to trueNAS. Thanks a lot for all the effort in making it work !!!

My QNAPs (I have two) are the TS-563, without graphic card but a Serial port. The interface is a serial port with a jack connector. I made a cable for it as follows:

Some references follow:

pinout
console access

Unfortunately the BIOS was not redirected to the console so I could not use the serial cable to access it.
The solution was to connect temporarily a graphic card (AMD Radeon R5 340X 2GB DDR3 PCI Express 3.0 x16) to change the configuration.

Once this was done I could connect my cable, my USB-serial converter, and using first minicom in my debian machine and then screen ("screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200") could access the console !!!! Great

1.2 - Getting the New disks

I read in may places that the card " glotrends Dual M.2 Adapter für eine M.2 NVMe SSD und eine M.2 SATA SSD, unterstützt PCIe 4.0/3.0 Full Speed (PA12)" works with the QNAP so I got one.

Now comes the issue:

2.- My issue / question

I can boot the USB with the installation and install in the NMVe disk but the BIOS does not show me the option to boot from it !!!!

The options that I can think to solve it follow in preferred order:

1. Update the BIOS - BUT I CANNOT FIND ANY UPDATE
2. Use a USB stick with GRUB installed to boot from it and then redirect to the NMVe disk
3. Use a USB disk to book and run TrueNA

Questions are:

1. Does anyone knows a BIOS which I can use ?
2. What do you think about my options

Many thanks in advance !


I provide you with information of the motherboard of my QNAP which may be useful:

[admin@NAS2 ~]# dmidecode
# dmidecode 3.5
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.8 present.
24 structures occupying 1220 bytes.
Table at 0x000EC030.

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 24 bytes
BIOS Information
Vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
Version: E452AR18
Release Date: 05/16/2017
Address: 0xF0000
Runtime Size: 64 kB
ROM Size: 1 MB
Characteristics:
PCI is supported
BIOS is upgradeable
BIOS shadowing is allowed
Boot from CD is supported
Selectable boot is supported
BIOS ROM is socketed
EDD is supported
5.25"/1.2 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
3.5"/720 kB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h)
Serial services are supported (int 14h)
Printer services are supported (int 17h)
ACPI is supported
USB legacy is supported
BIOS boot specification is supported
Targeted content distribution is supported
UEFI is supported
BIOS Revision: 4.6

Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes
System Information
Manufacturer: iEi
Product Name: E452
Version: V1.00
Serial Number: To be filled by O.E.M.
UUID: 03000200-0400-0500-0006-000700080009
Wake-up Type: Power Switch
SKU Number: To be filled by O.E.M.
Family: To be filled by O.E.M.

Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes
Base Board Information
Manufacturer: iEi
Product Name: E452
Version: V1.00
Serial Number: To be filled by O.E.M.
Asset Tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
Features:
Board is a hosting board
Board is replaceable
Location In Chassis: To be filled by O.E.M.
Chassis Handle: 0x0003
Type: Motherboard
Contained Object Handles: 0

Handle 0x0003, DMI type 3, 25 bytes
Chassis Information
Manufacturer: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Type: Desktop
Lock: Not Present
Version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Serial Number: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Asset Tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Boot-up State: Safe
Power Supply State: Safe
Thermal State: Safe
Security Status: None
OEM Information: 0x00000000
Height: Unspecified
Number Of Power Cords: 1
Contained Elements: 1
<OUT OF SPEC> (0)
SKU Number: To be filled by O.E.M.

Handle 0x0004, DMI type 9, 17 bytes
System Slot Information
Designation: J6B2
Type: x16 PCI Express
Current Usage: In Use
Length: Long
ID: 0
Characteristics:
3.3 V is provided
Opening is shared
PME signal is supported
Bus Address: 0000:00:01.0

Handle 0x0005, DMI type 9, 17 bytes
System Slot Information
Designation: J6B1
Type: x1 PCI Express
Current Usage: In Use
Length: Short
ID: 1
Characteristics:
3.3 V is provided
Opening is shared
PME signal is supported
Bus Address: 0000:00:1c.3

Handle 0x0006, DMI type 9, 17 bytes
System Slot Information
Designation: J6D1
Type: x1 PCI Express
Current Usage: In Use
Length: Short
ID: 2
Characteristics:
3.3 V is provided
Opening is shared
PME signal is supported
Bus Address: 0000:00:1c.4

Handle 0x000D, DMI type 32, 20 bytes
System Boot Information
Status: No errors detected

Handle 0x000E, DMI type 41, 11 bytes
Onboard Device
Reference Designation: Onboard IGD
Type: Video
Status: Enabled
Type Instance: 1
Bus Address: 0000:00:02.0

Handle 0x000F, DMI type 41, 11 bytes
Onboard Device
Reference Designation: Onboard LAN
Type: Ethernet
Status: Enabled
Type Instance: 1
Bus Address: 0000:00:19.0

Handle 0x0010, DMI type 41, 11 bytes
Onboard Device
Reference Designation: Onboard 1394
Type: Other
Status: Enabled
Type Instance: 1
Bus Address: 0000:03:1c.2

Handle 0x0011, DMI type 129, 8 bytes
OEM-specific Type
Header and Data:
81 08 11 00 01 01 02 01
Strings:
Intel_ASF
Intel ASF_001

Handle 0x0012, DMI type 16, 23 bytes
Physical Memory Array
Location: System Board Or Motherboard
Use: System Memory
Error Correction Type: None
Maximum Capacity: 16 GB
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Number Of Devices: 2

Handle 0x0013, DMI type 19, 31 bytes
Memory Array Mapped Address
Starting Address: 0x00000000000
Ending Address: 0x003FFFFFFFF
Range Size: 16 GB
Physical Array Handle: 0x0012
Partition Width: 255

Handle 0x0014, DMI type 17, 40 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x0012
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 8 GB
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM 0
Bank Locator: CHANNEL A
Type: DDR3
Type Detail: Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered)
Speed: 1600 MT/s
Manufacturer: Kingston
Serial Number: 61257148
Asset Tag: A1_AssetTagNum0
Part Number: KHX1600C9S3L/8G
Rank: 2
Configured Memory Speed: 1600 MT/s
Minimum Voltage: 1.35 V
Maximum Voltage: 1.5 V
Configured Voltage: 1.5 V

Handle 0x0015, DMI type 17, 40 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x0012
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 8 GB
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM 1
Bank Locator: CHANNEL A
Type: DDR3
Type Detail: Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered)
Speed: 1600 MT/s
Manufacturer: Kingston
Serial Number: 62257248
Asset Tag: A1_AssetTagNum1
Part Number: KHX1600C9S3L/8G
Rank: 2
Configured Memory Speed: 1600 MT/s
Minimum Voltage: 1.35 V
Maximum Voltage: 1.5 V
Configured Voltage: 1.5 V

Handle 0x0016, DMI type 20, 35 bytes
Memory Device Mapped Address
Starting Address: 0x00000000000
Ending Address: 0x001FFFFFFFF
Range Size: 8 GB
Physical Device Handle: 0x0014
Memory Array Mapped Address Handle: 0x0013
Partition Row Position: Unknown
Interleave Position: Unknown
Interleaved Data Depth: Unknown

Handle 0x0017, DMI type 20, 35 bytes
Memory Device Mapped Address
Starting Address: 0x00200000000
Ending Address: 0x003FFFFFFFF
Range Size: 8 GB
Physical Device Handle: 0x0015
Memory Array Mapped Address Handle: 0x0013
Partition Row Position: Unknown
Interleave Position: Unknown
Interleaved Data Depth: Unknown

Handle 0x0018, DMI type 7, 19 bytes
Cache Information
Socket Designation: L1 CACHE
Configuration: Enabled, Not Socketed, Level 1
Operational Mode: Write Back
Location: Internal
Installed Size: 256 kB
Maximum Size: 256 kB
Supported SRAM Types:
Pipeline Burst
Installed SRAM Type: Pipeline Burst
Speed: 1 ns
Error Correction Type: Multi-bit ECC
System Type: Unified
Associativity: 2-way Set-associative

Handle 0x0019, DMI type 7, 19 bytes
Cache Information
Socket Designation: L2 CACHE
Configuration: Enabled, Not Socketed, Level 2
Operational Mode: Write Back
Location: Internal
Installed Size: 2 MB
Maximum Size: 2 MB
Supported SRAM Types:
Pipeline Burst
Installed SRAM Type: Pipeline Burst
Speed: 1 ns
Error Correction Type: Multi-bit ECC
System Type: Unified
Associativity: 16-way Set-associative

Handle 0x001A, DMI type 4, 42 bytes
Processor Information
Socket Designation: P0
Type: Central Processor
Family: G-Series
Manufacturer: AuthenticAMD
ID: FF FB 8B 17 01 0F 73 00
Signature: Family 11, Model 15, Stepping 15
Flags:
FPU (Floating-point unit on-chip)
CX8 (CMPXCHG8 instruction supported)
APIC (On-chip APIC hardware supported)
SEP (Fast system call)
PAT (Page attribute table)
PSE-36 (36-bit page size extension)
DS (Debug store)
ACPI (ACPI supported)
Version: AMD GX-420MC SOC
Voltage: 1.3 V
External Clock: 100 MHz
Max Speed: 2000 MHz
Current Speed: 2000 MHz
Status: Populated, Enabled
Upgrade: None
L1 Cache Handle: 0x0018
L2 Cache Handle: 0x0019
L3 Cache Handle: Not Provided
Serial Number: Not Specified
Asset Tag: Not Specified
Part Number: Not Specified
Core Count: 4
Core Enabled: 4
Thread Count: 4
Characteristics:
64-bit capable

Handle 0x001B, DMI type 13, 22 bytes
BIOS Language Information
Language Description Format: Long
Installable Languages: 1
en|US|iso8859-1
Currently Installed Language: en|US|iso8859-1

Handle 0x001C, DMI type 129, 8 bytes
OEM-specific Type
Header and Data:
81 08 1C 00 01 01 02 01
Strings:
Intel_ASF
Intel_ASF_001

Handle 0x001D, DMI type 127, 4 bytes
End Of Table