Won't Hold IP Address - Gateway: 0.0.0.0

[Don Ferraguto]

I'm at my wits end. This is my 4th FreeNAS build. All of the others are working fine as far as booting up and getting the same IP address every time.

But this 4th build, even though it has very similar hardware to another fault-free build, just WON'T hold its IP address of 192.168.1.x.

At boot up, the console readout shows DHCPOFFER, DHCPREQUEST and DHCPDISCOVER going through a dozen lines of hostmasks, ports and intervals, but none catches. Then I get the error message about dhcpclient failed to start. There's also a readout showing "dhclient already running? (pid=xxx)" right before the 0.0.0.0 gateway is assigned and the host.conf file generated.

I have to manually reset, then delete the DHCP configuration at the console menu for the IP address to finally get assigned correctly. Then, I am able to mount my volumes in Mac OS X and go into the admin side via my Web browser. I've tried a variety of entries in the Network configuration area, but none of them sticks. Sometimes, the yellow alert light flashes and the message says that it can't bind to the 192.168.1.x IP address.

The IP address doesn't hold on either a warm or cold reboot. And it's really inconvenient to keep a monitor, keyboard and mouse hooked up to this box.

I was running FreeNAS 8.3.1 so I upgraded via the GUI to 9.1.1. The upgrade went fine, but made no difference as far as this networking issue.

Am I missing something or does anyone have a recommendation? The NIC is realtek, but as I said, I have another identical board on another FreeNAS build and have had no issues with it.

Thanks in advance

 

[cyberjock]

I'd take a look at your DHCP server. maybe you've run out of IPs for the range of IPs it has, hence your problem.

 

[Don Ferraguto]

DHCP server? My FreeNAS setup is a modest, home-based one on a very modest home network. I use a good router with a theoretical limit of many, many more IPs that I've currently got assigned, and a 15-port ethernet switch that's barely half used. Can you be more specific cyberjock? Thx.

 

[pirateghost]

DHCP server? My FreeNAS setup is a modest, home-based one on a very modest home network. I use a good router with a theoretical limit of many, many more IPs that I've currently got assigned, and a 15-port ethernet switch that's barely half used. Can you be more specific cyberjock? Thx.

This can also be caused by a failing nic or a bad cable.

 

[Don Ferraguto]

no change after replacing an ethernet cable. as far as the NIC, it's a brand new board, identical to a previous one i built that is running perfectly.

at boot up, i still get the several lines of DHCPDISCOVER at differing intervals and ports, but that readout always ends with "No DHCPOFFERS received." Followed by "No working leases in persistent database."

Once it finally settles down at http://0.0.0.0/, I have to manually select 1) to Configure the Network Interface. Once I do that, then I have to reset it (it still gives me http://0.0.0.0/, then after that, I have to delete the Network Interface. Once I do that, it restarts the network and routing and finally gives me the proper 192.168.1.x/ address. Once I have that address, everything's peachy keen. Everything checks out as far as all the NAS routine diagnostics and I've already dumped 8TB over the network onto this NAS without a hitch. So I'm skeptical that it's a NIC-oriented problem..

But as soon as I restart or reboot, I lose my IP address and I have to go through the whole rigamarole again.

Still looking for answers or tips. TIA.

 

[cyberjock]

My advice is go Intel. Realteks aren't real good. And plenty of people have had random weird issues that went away just by dropping in an Intel. I realize you might have built another system with the exact same board, but quite often manufacturers will use several different realtek NIC chips over a particular model. Realtek is a master and discontinuing model "a" and offering model "b" as a replacement, which manufacturers just start buying and using.

As for digging further into your DHCP server, that's beyond the scope of this forum. Depending on what your DHCP server is it could be a checkbox to enable/disable the server, or it could be feature packed. Untimately, having a properly configured DHCP server is not something we discuss here. All that I can say for certain is that the OS appears to believe that no IP address lease was given to it.

 

[gpsguy]

Why are you using DHCP in the first place? Just assign it a static IP address.

 

[Don Ferraguto]

well, this saga keeps getting stranger. i bought an Intel NIC and installed it. Disabled the Realtek NIC in my BIOS.

During bootup, I was able to see the IP address assigned amidst the fast-scrolling text. However, I NO LONGER get a web GUI URL at the bottom of the console menu as before -- not 0.0.0.0, not the 192.168.1.xx that I saw in the scrolling text, not anything.

The NAS Volume shows in my Mac OS X sidebar immediately (unlike before when it would only show up after I manually reset the Network). So I can connect to it through the Finder by typing in the 192.168.1.xx address that I saw at bootup.

HOWEVER, the Admin Web Page for the new 192.168.1.xx address can't be found. I've tried resetting the Network Interface again, but still, on boot up at the Console menu, no Web GUI URL shows up. Again, I CAN bring up the ZFS Volume through my "Connect to server" command in the Mac Finder, but the Web URL is not working. Any suggestions?

 

[cyberjock]

Sounds like you need to do some one-on-one troubleshooting. Don't forget that it could be that FreeNAS' installation that went bad. Could also be bad RAM causing random non-descript problems.

 

[Jacob Evans]

This is a fairly old thread, but I am experiencing the same issue. Was this ever solved? I have tried different cables and a fresh install, but still nothing.

Thank You

 

[Don Ferraguto]

kind of incredible but no, it was never fully resolved. i was able to get an ip address to stick; however, the address doesn't work with the webGUI. it's been so long that i don't quite remember how it all panned out. it must've worked for a short time via the webGUI, since I was able to set up the ZFS system and create my volumes, and set up the user/group and AFP share. but the browser simply doesn't connect to the admin page. the only way i can access my volumes is through the Mac OS' finder. the server address (192.168.1.xx) shows up there and the credentials are accepted. i can view files and move them in/out of the server, but since I can't get on to the web interface to do administrative tasks (like safely shut the freaking unit down, or perform routine maintenance tasks), i feel like i'm on borrowed time and that the other shoe is going to drop.

relevant note: on a more recent build, i had problems getting 9.1 to work, so I installed 8.3.1. that worked like a charm. i'm thinking that, on this troublesome build where i can't get on via the WebGUI, i might just go reinstall the NAS software to v.8.3.1 and re-import my volume; see if that works.

so my suggestion is to scrap the latest version (nothing in the 9-series); and go back to one of the 8-series builds. see if, by trying that, you're able to get an IP address assigned and sticking. good luck, J.

 

[Jacob Evans]

I appreciate the help, but I tried that and apparently the driver for my NIC was added in 9-series ASUS H87I-PLUS, but apparently someone is already had trouble with that board: http://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/is-asus-h87i-plus-motherboard-working.15335/

I am not sure how to proceed. I guess I better start a new thread, because I found the FreeBSD drivers and the 9-series installs the NIC. But there must be a larger or smaller issue at hand.

Thank you for you help and any additional feedback would be helpful.

 

[Roy]

I am having the same issue. Once the install was complete and I was on the console screen, 0.0.0.0 was displayed for the ip address. I assume that this is a problem with the NIC card correct? The system used to have windows 7 on it and it worked fine.

Thanks

 

[gpsguy]

Roy, you should have started your own thread and gave us your hardware details, as requested in the forum rules (in red above). More than likely you have an incompatible NIC - just because it ran Windoze, doesn't mean it'll work with FreeNAS. An Intel Pro/1000 CT NIC costs about $30 USD and will likely solve that problem. But, since we don't know anything about your hardware, you may have other issues too.