Can't install SCALE on a USB drive

[compata]

I've done quite a bit of searching but the terms get confused and I can't narrow down to my problem. So here it is...
I have an HP microserver gen8 with four SCSI drives. It also has seven USB ports, two on the front, four on the rear, and one internal. I have SCALE burned to a USB drive and can boot it from any of the USB ports. I have put another USB drive on the internal port, intending this to be the boot device. But when I launch the installer, it starts by asking where to install. If the SCSI drives are attached, they are the only choices offered. If I remove the SCSI drives, the installer says, no disks available. It doesn't matter which USB port I use for the intended boot disk -- I've tried all six available (obviously I can't use the port where the installer itself is). If I drop to a shell, the intended drive is shown as sdf when the SCSI drives are attached or sdb when they aren't, with the installer itself on sde or sda. So the stick is recognized, just not by the installer.
I'm trying with SCALE 22.12.1. Is there any solution other than creating a boot disk using a different machine? (I've tried that also, using a laptop, but it has its two ports too close together to concurrently attach both sticks. There are other boxes I could use but I'm reluctant to shut them down unless it's the only solution.)
I do understand the caution about booting from a USB drive. I'll deal with that issue another time.

 

[sretalla]

I have some possibly bad news for you...

SOLVED - USB boot on MicroServer Gen8?

I just picked up a used HPE Proliant Microserver Gen8 to use as a second TrueNAS server at my parents' home--Time Capsule replacement for them, replication target for me. Seems like a nice little piece of kit, compact, has remote management, four drive bays, and reasonably economical for a...

www.truenas.com

You may be able to get it to work with an SSD to USB adapter of some sort.

There are a LOT of threads already having gone through this if you search for "HP microserver gen8 boot" in the forum, so I suppose the linked one will cover it best.

 

[compata]

To me, this doesn't seem to be a gen8 issue, more likely a SCALE installer issue. Since the intended install drive is recognized by the underlying OS, as shown by dropping to a shell, I can see no good reason that the installer won't see and use it.

 

[compata]

I was able to create a boot USB stick using another machine. The gen8 is happy to boot from it using the internal USB port. Nearly all of the initial boot setup seems to be complete but I've been waiting on "A start job is running for TrueNAS Update" for the last half hour! There is activity according to the Ethernet port lights but the switch says that port has not obtained an address.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

@compata :

I documented my experiences with HP USB on these forums, so using Search will pull those up.

In short, and take this for what you will, there's a strong chance this isn't going to go well. You're most likely best following the guides that advise using some sort of SSD.

My system build (available by clicking the blue box below) documents me currently using (3) 2.5" spinners, though I've just gotten in (3) Intel SSDs. When I first started down this path I didn't understand the SSD advice, but with time, listening, and learning I now understand why that is. The guys here aren't snobs, they really do want this to go well for you with minimal cost, time, and hassle.

If you do stick to using a USB boot device you may wish to read a good amount of the USB boot device threads so you know what you're in for and can hopefully avoid a lot of the situations others found themselves in. Buuut, there's also trial by fire, and that's completely acceptable also. Many of us have been there, so we understand....