Black Screen after reboot - Freenas can't boot from usb

zimon

Contributor
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Messages
117
My setup is a HP Proliant Microserver where my boot pool consist of two mirrored usb drives.
I had to restart it and now it does not boot anymore without any error - just a black screen with a blinking cursor.

My server normally runs 24/7 and whenever a boot device has too many error I replace it with a new one.
This happened several times. At the beginning there was also an old SATA drive part of this pool which was replaced (long time ago)

In the past I had a similar issue and the fix was that I just changed the boot device in BIOS from one usb to another. This doesn't work anymore.

I have a copy of my config file saved but I really don't want to install everything again because there will definitely problems.

I have the feeling that there is some issue with booting freenas from a mirrored boot device. If I recall it correctly the times where my 'fix' worked was always when the 'original' boot device was still part of the boot pool. This is not the case anymore.


I really appreciate any help.
 

Samuel Tai

Never underestimate your own stupidity
Moderator
Joined
Apr 24, 2020
Messages
5,399
Sounds like both your thumb drives have failed. Now would be a good time to switch to more reliable media, like a USB-to-M.2 adapter and a small M.2 SSD. Just reinstall to the new media, and upload your config. You won't need to reinstall anything else.
 

zimon

Contributor
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Messages
117
thanks for the advice, I like the idea with the usb to m2 adapter (however they are quite big).
Nevertheless, I am aware that usb flash drives are not very reliable but I actually don't think that both have failed at the same time. Is there a way to test if they can be booted from somehow?

The reason why I am afraid for reinstalling the system and uploading the config is that my after I backed up the last config, I exchanged the boot pool drives with different ones. Will this still work?
 

Samuel Tai

Never underestimate your own stupidity
Moderator
Joined
Apr 24, 2020
Messages
5,399
The makeup of the boot pool isn't part of the config. You'll be able to restore your config to new boot disks. You can try booting another system with your current USB drives if you think they can be salvaged. However, I think you should still go with USB-to-M.2 route: the media are much, much faster, and far, far more reliable. When I was running my server on thumb drives, I'd have to replace them every 6 months to a year. With a USB-to-M.2, I've been running solid for 2 years now, and system upgrades are over very quickly.
 

zimon

Contributor
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Messages
117
thanks again, are there any recommendations regarding m2 ssd and maybe even usb to m2 adapter?
As far as I understand the r/w rate is quite high when using them as boot devices on freenas.
 

Samuel Tai

Never underestimate your own stupidity
Moderator
Joined
Apr 24, 2020
Messages
5,399
Any M.2 SSD and USB adapter will do. As for R/W rate, this is my boot disk:

1634911625548.png


There's almost no usage over the last 5 months. The read spikes are the weekly update checks. The write spikes are when I login to the GUI.
 
Top