doooglasss
Cadet
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2017
- Messages
- 1
TLDR: Installed FreeNAS on USB drive w/ UEFI startup option, put in WD Sentinel DX4000, hold recovery key and it boots to the FreeNAS USB. Got on the web interface, created storage volumes/datasets/NFS shares- works flawlessly. I cannot get the WD hardware to boot to the USB drive without holding the recovery button on the back of the NAS. To me this is probably not reliable storage with power outages, etc. I'm posting here hoping either someone has done this before or has experience directing a UEFI startup. This NAS unit is headless (no display output at all, no serial port that I know of). In the below links under references there are directions to modify an EFI startup file- I have tried this through bash nano, but no luck.
Longer details:
The parts: My job was tossing a Western Digital DX4000 with a power brick, but without disks so months ago I took it home. So the cost was $ free. I ordered a 16gb USB 3.0 SanDisk thumb drive and four 3TB HGST (I read off-brand WD drives?) from Amazon w/ 1 yr warranty for $60 each - not bad.
The plan: Install FreeNAS 11 on thumb drive and expand my currently filled Synology 4 bay storage system without adding the $300 price tag to buy the Synology enclosure.
My use: I run a home-use ESXi host (again, free server hardware) running 3x Ubuntu Server VMs for Plex, automated newsgroup downloaders and my unifi controller software. I mount NFS shares on startup to the two storage controllers- the rest is simple web interface configuration of where software should save and read files from.
Resources: This article gave me the inspiration to get this going: https://community.wd.com/t/howto-ar...4000-without-original-compatible-disks/204041 also this video https://youtu.be/F9HZYEpLgek
My install: I downloaded freeNAS, used Etcher to create a bootable USB drive on a second USB drive I had laying around. Stuck both source and destination thumb drives into my mac and booted to the EFI FreeNAS installer. Installed to the thumb drive as my destination. UEFI boot, No PW. Shutdown option at end of setup. Pulled the drives. Stuck the destination drive into the DX4000 and held the recovery button on the back of the unit. It probably took 10-15 minutes (I don't know, I went out), but when I was back there was a list in my DHCP table for FreeNAS and I got on the web interface and configured everything.
The issue: I am able to get the Sentinel to boot to the FreeNAS loaded USB stick, but I have to hold the recovery button. Sure I could shove something between the metal enclosure and recessed push button- this just seems like a poor choice for an IT guy who should be able to figure this out eventually. I back my data up, but I don't want to run an unreliable NAS either. Also in the recovery state if the power button is even tapped lightly the NAS goes off instantly. I have tried the EFI modification file directed in my resource post above and read the post he linked to with further information.
Any advice is appreciated! If not, then this is here as a resource for someone trying something similar one day.
Longer details:
The parts: My job was tossing a Western Digital DX4000 with a power brick, but without disks so months ago I took it home. So the cost was $ free. I ordered a 16gb USB 3.0 SanDisk thumb drive and four 3TB HGST (I read off-brand WD drives?) from Amazon w/ 1 yr warranty for $60 each - not bad.
The plan: Install FreeNAS 11 on thumb drive and expand my currently filled Synology 4 bay storage system without adding the $300 price tag to buy the Synology enclosure.
My use: I run a home-use ESXi host (again, free server hardware) running 3x Ubuntu Server VMs for Plex, automated newsgroup downloaders and my unifi controller software. I mount NFS shares on startup to the two storage controllers- the rest is simple web interface configuration of where software should save and read files from.
Resources: This article gave me the inspiration to get this going: https://community.wd.com/t/howto-ar...4000-without-original-compatible-disks/204041 also this video https://youtu.be/F9HZYEpLgek
My install: I downloaded freeNAS, used Etcher to create a bootable USB drive on a second USB drive I had laying around. Stuck both source and destination thumb drives into my mac and booted to the EFI FreeNAS installer. Installed to the thumb drive as my destination. UEFI boot, No PW. Shutdown option at end of setup. Pulled the drives. Stuck the destination drive into the DX4000 and held the recovery button on the back of the unit. It probably took 10-15 minutes (I don't know, I went out), but when I was back there was a list in my DHCP table for FreeNAS and I got on the web interface and configured everything.
The issue: I am able to get the Sentinel to boot to the FreeNAS loaded USB stick, but I have to hold the recovery button. Sure I could shove something between the metal enclosure and recessed push button- this just seems like a poor choice for an IT guy who should be able to figure this out eventually. I back my data up, but I don't want to run an unreliable NAS either. Also in the recovery state if the power button is even tapped lightly the NAS goes off instantly. I have tried the EFI modification file directed in my resource post above and read the post he linked to with further information.
Any advice is appreciated! If not, then this is here as a resource for someone trying something similar one day.
