Unable to properly setup volume and windows CIFS share.

[CodFish]

Hi, I am new to FreeNAS so forgive my noobness. I am running an Atom dual core 64 bit system. Have one 1.5 TB hard drive (for now). I have installed version 8.3 using the iso file on a disc and installed it to a 4 gig USB thumbdrive. Everything seemed to install ok. My problem is that when I try to add the Volume, it doesn't seem to be completely correct and ultimately I can't find it on the network. I've been through the guide and it just isn't guiding me through this :(

Here are the details of what I see that seems wrong:
1. Volume status is unknown as shown on the storage-active volumes screen. When I click on the volume status button I get an error that says, "Sorry, an error occurred"
2. When i attempt to add a Shares-Windows (CIFS) I have to browse to a path. I would assume the path would see any drives/volumes i have setup but it is just blank. The only thing I can do is type in the path that is shown in the storage-active volumes screen but since it doesn't auto-populate it makes me think that my volume isn't setup correctly.

I have spent a few hours troubleshooting this and have gone through several other almost similar posts but couldn't find any exactly like mine.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[cyberjock]

I'd try downloading FreeNAS again. 8.3.1 is out so go grab the latest and greatest and reinstalling FreeNAS again. If it asks if you want to upgrade say no. The install CD may have been corrupt or your USB stick may be bad.

If you reinstall FreeNAS and continue to have very weird problems I'd try a different USB stick or a RAM test(memtest x86 works well.... let it run for at least 3 passes).

 

[CodFish]

I'd try downloading FreeNAS again. 8.3.1 is out so go grab the latest and greatest and reinstalling FreeNAS again. If it asks if you want to upgrade say no. The install CD may have been corrupt or your USB stick may be bad.

If you reinstall FreeNAS and continue to have very weird problems I'd try a different USB stick or a RAM test(memtest x86 works well.... let it run for at least 3 passes).

I mistakenly said that I installed 8.3 but it is actually 8.3.1. I will need to get another thumb drive and will try the memtest. I'll report back after trying out those items.

Another quick question, I plan on using my NAS mostly as a media server to serve my movie rips through my western digital boxes to my TV's. I also want to be able to transfer new rips from my windows PC to the media server. So the question is am I doing this right by adding the server drives as windows (CIFS)?

 

[gpsguy]

Just grabbing at straws, but was your 1.5Tb drive blank to start with?

I was hoping that someone would say, "idiot, you forgot to do this...."

BTW, your comment "Have one 1.5 TB hard drive (for now)" is worrisome. Do read the manual and Cyberjock's guide. See his signature for a hyperlink to it.

 

[CodFish]

Just grabbing at straws, but was your 1.5Tb drive blank to start with?

No, it was my understanding that you don't have to. Am I wrong? I'm just doing a single windows drive for now. I've read the official guide and it seems to say that I don't have to. I'm ok to wipe it and even after seeing your post I have tried to wipe it the GUI but although the routine comes back with no errors, each time I add the volume it shows 1.3TB used.

I'm not doing an UFS or ZFS volume, just a single drive.

BTW, your comment "Have one 1.5 TB hard drive (for now)" is worrisome. Do read the manual and Cyberjock's guide. See his signature for a hyperlink to it.

I have read the manual and Cyberjock's guide but I can't say that I understand it all, though I think I understand it ok. My understanding is that I may essentially have to remake the freenas if I add another drive (though it's unclear to me if that's only if using UFS/ZFS raid type configs). My intent of using just 1 drive is that I don't want to buy additional drive space until I know that I can get this server running. If I do need to start over after it works, just to add another windows drive, then I'm ok with with that because I'll have confidence I can make it work. BTW, my little server has a max of 2 drives due to the mini itx factor and 2 SATA drives max. It is sufficient for my needs for now and I won't be using any raid config, I have an alternate backup method. If this works well for me then in the future I may spend more on a bigger system.

 

[CodFish]

Here is some additional info, helpful or not:

When I add the single drive as a volume, the log states this:
Mar 24 16:30:37 freenas ntfsmount[32204]: Version 2.0.0 (libntfs 10:0:0)
Mar 24 16:30:37 freenas ntfsmount[32204]: Mounted /dev/ntfs/Movies (Read-Write, label "Movies", NTFS version 3.1)

When I try to change the owner to guest (which I believe isn't configured correctly, see #3 below), the log states this:
Mar 24 16:32:06 freenas notifier: setfacl: /mnt/Movies: acl_get_file() failed: Operation not supported

When I try to do a quick wipe of the drive, the log states this:
Mar 24 16:33:34 freenas manage.py: [storage.views:996] Could not check for disk wipe progress: [Errno 3] No such process
Mar 24 16:33:34 freenas notifier: gpart: Device busy
Mar 24 16:33:34 freenas notifier: gpart: geom 'ada0': File exists
Mar 24 16:33:34 freenas notifier: gpart: Device busy
Mar 24 16:33:34 freenas manage.py: [middleware.exceptions:38] [MiddlewareError: Failed to wipe ada0: dd: /dev/ada0: Operation not permitted ]
Mar 24 16:33:35 freenas manage.py: [storage.views:996] Could not check for disk wipe progress: [Errno 3] No such process

My understanding of what I need to accomplish at the end of the day is to:
1) setup freenas (done)
2) create a volume from my disk (errors???)
3) create a guest user that can log into freenas without password (I think I can't complete this because I can't set the home path because my volume isn't working)
4) make the guest the owner for the volume

 

[gpsguy]

Assuming you followed the directions in section 6.3.2 of the manual to import a NTFS volume, "please be sure you understand that importing NTFS disks in FreeNAS is only intended for copying the files FROM the source disk to a native FreeNAS formatted disk with ZFS or UFS, and NOT for sharing or regular use on FreeNAS." (from a quote by ProtoSD).

If you have a backup of the data, use the dd command to wipe the disk.

Here's the magic incantation for wiping the beginnning & end of your disk(s), replace ada3 with your disk/device:

Code:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ada3 bs=1m count=1

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ada3 bs=1m oseek=`diskinfo ada3 | awk '{print int($3 / (1024*1024)) - 4;}'`