Upgrading Hardware but system wont boot up on old hardware.

[bertomuggs]

Hi all,
I currently have a TrueNAS Core build in an old computer but I can’t get it to boot. I’m going to be upgrading the motherboard, PSU, CPU & Memory. How can I do this since I can’t make a backup of the config settings? I’m not going to be upgrading the HDD’s or the SSD yet.

TROUBLESHOOTING THAT I’VE TRIED SO FAR:
I’m not even getting the bios to boot up but the HDD’s, fans, etc power up. I’ve tried different monitors and different VGA cables. I’ve changed the CMOS battery on the motherboard. I’ve reseated the RAM. I’ve unplugged every cable including the power supply and held the power button down for 20 seconds. Nothing gets it to boot up. I was still curious if it was a display issue so I checked my router and it is not connected to the network. Basically NOTHING shows up on the monitor.

CURRENT BUILD:
Motherboard: Dell E93839 KA0121
PSU: AcBel HBA008-ZA1GT 350W
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500
Memory: 16GB (4 x 4GB Micron 1600Mhz PC3-12800U 1.5v)
OS Storage: Inland Professional 120GB SATA SSD
Data Storage: 5 x 8TB Toshiba Performance X300 7200RPM SATA HDD
SATA Controller: Ubit PCIe x 1 to 4 Port SATA III 6Gbps.

PLANNED UPGRADES:
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix B-660i Gaming Wifi
PSU: Corsair SF600, 600W, SFX, 80+ Platinum Certified, Fully Modular
CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K
Memory: 64GB (2 x 32GB Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 4800MT
SATA Controller: ORICO M.2 PCIe M Key to 6 x SATA 6Gbps adapter card

 

[bertomuggs]

Bump

 

[Samuel Tai]

You'd be better off asking in a Dell forum, instead of here, if the board itself doesn't boot. In all likelihood, either your CPU is too new or your RAM is too fast for the Dell BIOS.

 

[Redcoat]

If all your data drives and SSD are good, your new box should fire up OK if you select the OS drive as the boot device. I'm uncertain about the SATA card with TrueNAS.

In the event that you do need to reload the OS drive with the old or a new version, you can get the old config file from your pool drives - it's backed up daily there at 03h15. There are several posts here that will guide you. e.g. https://www.truenas.com/community/threads/cant-find-automatic-config-backups.98095/#post-676732

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Personally having dealt with this issue on a bunch of systems, I unplug everything, then put 1 stick of RAM in, check the power caps around the CPU, check (and smell) for burnt mainboard parts, connect the power supply, keyboard, and monitor, do the DELL reset (linked below), set a small camera on a tripod that films the diagnostic lights, plug it in, and fire it up. Sometimes it fires, sometimes not, but the diagnostic lights tell a lot of the story.

Often it's the RAM, someone touched the gold contact areas with their fingers during install and the oils from their skin have created issues over time. Sometimes it's the CPU power supply caps. I've had a CPU overheat due to bad airflow and dried-up thermal compound--if the CPU compound is bad look at all the heatsinks if you can and if it's worth your time. I've also seen peripherals cause odd things to happen which is why I leave them disconnected.

If the mainboard is dead I'm suspicious the power supply has issues, though so far while other people have had them die mine have all been good. The startup pins can be jumpered with a resistor, an old sacrificial hard drive used as a load (don't run power supplies without a load), and a DMM to check voltages.

Beyond that I replace the mainboard and power supply as old stock is cheap (so is eBay), that usually solves the issue, then I figure out which of the original parts was bad. Sometimes they magically decide to work and keep working for years, but more often if they do work it'll only be for a few weeks and then something different goes wrong; I suspect it has to do with thermal stress, but that's more investigating than the boards are worth. (If it's an original IBM PC or DEC Alpha that would be different, but that's not what we're dealing with.)

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