Install FreeNAS 9.10 To Non-ZFS USB?

[surfrock66]

I have a pretty old motherboard and CPU laying around, and I want to turn this into a spare FreeNAS rig to keep at my dad's house for redundancy. I don't wanna buy a new MB/CPU combo since all my funds are going to drives (6x3TB for ~12TB usable, I do video editing/production).

System is all running, boots to the installer on a 4GB USB. Install works fine, installs to 32GB USB stick. Remove that USB, system reboots. And...hangs. Remove the 32GB USB, system posts, obv with no OS so goes nowhere.

I think this motherboard is too old to boot off the ZFS partition on the USB drive. It's a Biostar N68S v6.1 motherboard with an AMD Sempron 130 2.6Ghz CPU and 4GB Ram.

Motherboard: http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=499
CPU:
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Sempron 130 - SDX130HBK12GM.html
The Bundle I bought in 2011: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._-Branding-_-na-_-na&AID=10440554&PID=4897915

The installer doesn't have a lot of options...is suspect the USB will boot if it's running off something like FAT32 instead of ZFS. Is there a way to try that out?

 

[SweetAndLow]

Have you read the hardware requirements? You need more RAM for this system to work.

 

[Mirfster]

Motherboard: http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=499

Run (don't walk) away from that system... It is not a good platform for FreeNas at all.

CPU: Doesn't support ECC RAM...

Per the MB Datasheet:

MEMORY (*** I don't see any mention of ECC RAM Support)

• Support Dual Channel DDR2 400/533/667/800/1066(supported by CPU model) MHz
• 2 x DDR2 DIMM Memory Slot
• Max. Supports up to 8GB Memory
  • That is just the minimal recommended amount and not even ECC...

LAN

• Realtek RTL8201CL - 10/100 PHY
  • Realtek is NOT good at all and top it off with it being just 10/100? Nope, nope, nope...

Any bets on if it has a Marvell controller as well?

I want to turn this into a spare FreeNAS rig to keep at my dad's house for redundancy.

Using this system even for redundancy is flirting with disaster. What happens when you actually need it?

 

[pirateghost]

Use it as a doorstop

 

[surfrock66]

Well crap. For some reason I thought 4GB was a minimum.

 

[Ericloewe]

The installer doesn't have a lot of options...is suspect the USB will boot if it's running off something like FAT32 instead of ZFS. Is there a way to try that out?

FreeNAs 9.3 and newer only boot from ZFS. It's an integral part of the OS' features.

 

[DrKK]

Well just hold up a second.

First of all, homeboy is just making a backup server, I believe. A spare. That he's going to keep at his dad's house. If I'm not misunderstanding that, then I don't think Nazi obedience to the hardware specs is necessary.

Second of all, no one denies this is a bad system to run FreeNAS on. But that being said, I believe it should boot/startup.

I would like to understand why he can't even boot.

 

[Mirfster]

I would like to understand why he can't even boot.

Then this is all yours. I would rather spend my time on someone who actually adheres to suggested configurations,

 

[Ericloewe]

Well just hold up a second.

First of all, homeboy is just making a backup server, I believe. A spare. That he's going to keep at his dad's house. If I'm not misunderstanding that, then I don't think Nazi obedience to the hardware specs is necessary.

Second of all, no one denies this is a bad system to run FreeNAS on. But that being said, I believe it should boot/startup.

I would like to understand why he can't even boot.

My guess is buggy support for GPT booting.

 

[DrKK]

Then this is all yours. I would rather spend my time on someone who actually adheres to suggested configurations,

It's not a matter of helping the user with the unacceptable configuration, sir, so much as it is a matter of helping ourselves and our intellectual legitimacy. His system is sub-par and below our specs, but, to me at least, it still seems it ought to run the software. It does not. Why not? People expect us to know the answers to these things. @Ericloewe suggests that it's generally buginess vis-a-vis GPT booting. That was worth knowing, I think.

 

[pirateghost]

It's not a matter of helping the user with the unacceptable configuration, sir, so much as it is a matter of helping ourselves and our intellectual legitimacy. His system is sub-par and below our specs, but, to me at least, it still seems it ought to run the software. It does not. Why not? People expect us to know the answers to these things. @Ericloewe suggests that it's generally buginess vis-a-vis GPT booting. That was worth knowing, I think.

A. It's a AMD

B. It's half the minimum RAM.

There really doesn't need to be any more info than that. It's a sempron, which means it probably won't boot from gpt, since it is like 10 years old.

Why should ANYONE expect it to work at all?

 

[DrKK]

A. It's a AMD

B. It's half the minimum RAM.

There really doesn't need to be any more info than that. It's a sempron, which means it probably won't boot from gpt, since it is like 10 years old.

Why should ANYONE expect it to work at all?

This information is simply not correct sir. AMD has several Semprons that are fairly recent. In fact, if I read the poster's block correctly, he has a "Sargas", which, if I'm not mistake, is a 2010-2011 era chip, so, while not present generation, it is recent enough--we have several people running FreeNAS (9.3 series, anyway) on platforms from that era.

Fine. fine fine. My only point is that it's intellectually dishonest to not give a shit why it doesn't work in some sense. But, you guys are certainly correct in your points that the user's configuration is well below the minimum we publish anywhere to expect help from the community.

 

[pirateghost]

It's not "intellectually dishonest" when we already know it will not work reliably for FreeNAS. It's just a fact. I'm going to put all my money on that cheap ass board having realtek NIC too.

 

[DrKK]

It's not "intellectually dishonest" when we already know it will not work reliably for FreeNAS. It's just a fact. I'm going to put all my money on that cheap ass board having realtek NIC too.

Oh, it's a foregone conclusion that it won't reliably/efficiently work (which is why it's below our recommended configuration). I just expected it to boot, at least. And yes, of course it has a Realtek NIC. I'd bet a ball on that. Almost certainly an 10/100 NIC too, like the whatever it is...RT8201 or whatever they used to have in the day.

 

[Mirfster]

Then this is all yours. I would rather spend my time on someone who actually adheres to suggested configurations,

@DrKK Sorry for making this comment. In hindsight, there was no need to state this and "stir the pot".

 

[DrKK]

@DrKK Sorry for making this comment. In hindsight, there was no need to state this and "stir the pot".

I, myself, have been known to stir pots. No problem at all. I still think it was a useful discussion.

 

[maglin]

I think the OP was scarred away or figured it out or doesn't care to reply his fix.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cyberjock]

With 1/2 the RAM, problems are going to come up. The middleware does stuff that needs RAM, and when that RAM isn't available, processes start getting terminated.

So even as a backup system with no shares and no other use, you *still* shouldn't be using a system with less than 8GB of RAM. As I've said many, many times... there is no scenario that exists where using less than 8GB of RAM is going to be acceptable.