USB becomes corrupted after reboot

[blkbx]

I've just started trying to set up a system with FreeNAS and I keep running into a problem where the USB stick that it boots off of often becomes corrupted after a reboot. Sometimes the error is a corrupt database image, other times users disappear. Reflashing the drive and doing a config restore brings it all back. It doesn't seem to corrupt on every reboot, but I'd say more often than not it does. I've tried two different sticks from two different brands and it happens to both of them and I'm trying to track down the cause.

The system I have for testing is:
AMD Athlon II X2 240
MSI 880GMS-E41 (FX) AM3+ motherboard
4GB RAM

and just to start out, a 4TB Seagate drive (where the system store is) and two 2TB drives in a mirror, all ZFS.

I know the 4GB RAM is low for ZFS, and I have more RAM coming in the mail, so my question is: is it possible that the low RAM is causing the corruption (has anyone else found this to be the case?), or should I consider other possibilities?

 

[cyberjock]

It's very possible your RAM is to blame. It's also very possible there's something else going on. Unfortunately my recommendationd for you is to wait until you get the new RAM and see what is going on. Also do a RAM test on your box. memtest.org for 3 passes(which may take a few hours) is usually sufficient to validate your RAM.

I will say I don't think I've heard of someone complain about low RAM directly corrupting their database. But low RAM causes all sorts of random problems as process terminate improperly, so anything is possible.

That board has plenty going against it.. it's AMD, it has Realtek LAN, it doesn't appear to support ECC RAM, etc. Overall not the best choice for a FreeNAS box.

 

[blkbx]

Unfortunately, the behavior remains despite the additional RAM.

When you point out that AMD is a strike against the board, is that from poor experience with FreeNAS and AMD? Do you think flaws in their hardware could be contributing to the corruption I'm experiencing?

 

[cyberjock]

AMD has special problems with many OSes, most everything that isn't Windows. As for the hardware contributing, I can't say for 100% certainty, but this forum has seen some truly bizarre things happen with AMD that just go away when they switch to Intel. It's quite sad too because AMD used to be a very good contender for servers that needed lots of RAM and cost was a major concern. But since they laid off around 1/2 of their open source developers 2 summers ago it's been a downhill adventure for AMD. Lots of people voiced concerns over the choice to lay off developers for the one field that AMD was good in. Others thought this was a sign that the executives were deliberately trying to destroy the company.