Free TrueNAS upgrade

[jcocovich]

I'm hoping this is just a procedural question that applies to all versions.

I recently had a power outage and as a result my Dell T30 tower server running FreeNAS would no longer boot to TrueNAS (no boot device found). So I resorted to reinstalling FreeNAS from the latest download.
TrueNAS-13.0-U3.1

I discovered that my configuration was lost. Have I lost ALL my data ~6TB on 4 HDD drives??? All inaccessible? WHAT A DISASTER!!!

 

[victort]

I'm hoping this is just a procedural question that applies to all versions.

I recently had a power outage and as a result my Dell T30 tower server running FreeNAS would no longer boot to TrueNAS (no boot device found). So I resorted to reinstalling FreeNAS from the latest download.
TrueNAS-13.0-U3.1

I discovered that my configuration was lost. Have I lost ALL my data ~6TB on 4 HDD drives??? All inaccessible? WHAT A DISASTER!!!

You should be able to import the pools again even after a fresh install from the storage menu.

 

[joeschmuck]

Unfortunately you rushed into a solution and you likely just caused yourself a lot of heartache.

Odds are that your BIOS just needed to be reconfigured to the proper boot drive.

But in your current situation, and to cause you the least amount of configuration work:
1) You installed TrueNAS 13 to your boot drive and we will assume it booted up fine.
2) Restore your configuration backup to the boot drive. Then reboot.
3) With some good luck, your system will be operational again.
4) DO NOT UPGRADE YOUR POOL !!!! Ignore it for a few months, or forever. If you upgrade the pool features then you will not be able to revert to the previous version of FreeNAS/TrueNAS.

Also, if you need more help, please follow the forum rules and post your system specs/configuration information.

 

[danb35]

I discovered that my configuration was lost. Have I lost ALL my data ~6TB on 4 HDD drives?

Why on earth would you assume this? What do you think is the point of keeping the boot device separate from your data?

No, there's no reason, based on what you've said, to conclude that your data is lost. The best thing to do, as @joeschmuck says, is upload a saved copy of your configuration database. If you don't have a saved copy of your configuration database, you should still be able to import the pool., you'll then need to create any users and shares.

 

[jcocovich]

Sorry.
I attempted to follow the setup instructions for pools, datasets, and Windows SMB shares. On the original FreeNAS I was not aware of "the point of keeping the boot device separate from your data" was important. I'm only a hobbyist and not a Network Storage Expert so I just followed instructions. I'm not sure what version it was.

My BIOS configuration was saved as a custom setup when I initially installed because it took some settings I'm unfamiliar with to boot up my Dell T30 Server hardware. After the power failure and my system would not boot to the hard drive I started playing with the BIOS. After setting BIOS to my custom settings and trying all other settings I could think of, I finally gave up not knowing what else to do. I could boot to Ubuntu and try to mount the drives but it didn't recognize the filesystem. I then resorted to downloading a new TrueNAS iso and installed from a USB drive.

I never made any backup of my configuration so I can't recover it. Besides, I keep my backups on the server drives. All I need to do is hope to find some method of looking into those drives and their ZFS filesystem. Import the Pool? I don't even know what that means.

 

[jcocovich]

OK. I just figgered it out. The pools already have my datasets or they were imported. I believe I'm alright now. No thanks to Pacific Gas & Electric.

 

[ChrisRJ]

[..] I just followed instructions. I'm not sure what version it was.

Where did you find those? Perhaps they can be enhanced with your experience.

My BIOS configuration was saved as a custom setup when I initially installed because it took some settings I'm unfamiliar with to boot up my Dell T30 Server hardware.

Just a wild guess: How is the backup battery for your BIOS settings (typically a CR2032)? Your description somewhat fits with BIOS settings being reset to default values, which usually means that this battery is empty.

 

[joeschmuck]

I haven't had to deal with PG&E in over 42 years and have no expectations of ever dealing with them again . Also, you should have a properly configured UPS that will properly shutdown your NAS upon power failure. We preach that here all the time.

 

[jcocovich]

Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions.

The battery certainly could be a possibility. My experience with that is with my Dell Inspiron only. When it's battery went dead it wouldn't boot to ANYTHING, not a USB drive, not a DVD drive, it was literally dead until I replaced the battery. Not sure where that BIOS battery is in my Dell T30 Server. It seems to boot from any device except the boot-pool.

My UPS is configured to shut down properly upon power failure. All my other equipment survived. The Dell T30 always has had problems when power is removed, even after an orderly shutdown.

My entire lab is set up power save safe and this is the first time the server failed to reboot. I believe my hardware is suspect and I appreciate the help in recovery of the data. I have experience with PG&E so I thought I was prepared.

 

[joeschmuck]

My experience with that is with my Dell Inspiron only. When it's battery went dead it wouldn't boot to ANYTHING, not a USB drive, not a DVD drive, it was literally dead until I replaced the battery. Not sure where that BIOS battery is in my Dell T30 Server.

I think you are talking about the UPS battery. The BIOS battery maintains the computer BIOS configuration, one of those items is which drive to bootstrap from. As previously stated, it generally a small CR2032 button cell battery that is traditionally installed directly on the motherboard in a battery socket. I would recommend you locate that battery and replace it. They typically last at least 5 years, sometimes as much as 10 years. This battery also maintains the real time clock on your motherboard.

 

[Davvo]

If I'm not wrong a system should be able to boot without the CMOS battery.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

If I'm not wrong a system should be able to boot without the CMOS battery.

Should - yes. Always will - no. If the defaults of a clear CMOS configuration do not match your OS installation and method of booting, it will fail.

 

[Davvo]

Should - yes. Always will - no. If the defaults of a clear CMOS configuration do not match your OS installation and method of booting, it will fail.

You are right, I used improper wording. I meant Power On.

 

[jcocovich]

Seriously folks? I know what a CMOS battery is. You actually thought I was talking about an external battery? Thanks.

My unfamiliarity with how NAS systems work is practically nil and it was interpreted as me being a stupid old man.
I DID discover and LEARN something about the filesystem and configuration. Danby35 gave me the solution to merely import the pools(in my old man vernacular...hard disks) and I discovered all my data was already there in my datasets I created on all Pools(disks). A quick recreation of the SMB shares and I'm back in business with a little more knowledge gained and witnessed.

Thanks again for everyone's help and I apologize for not detailing the history and better description of my problem.

 

[Davvo]

Seriously folks? I know what a CMOS battery is.

Some people kinda don't, and we are kinda used to that.

 

[Ericloewe]

If I'm not wrong a system should be able to boot without the CMOS battery.

Should - yes. Always will - no. If the defaults of a clear CMOS configuration do not match your OS installation and method of booting, it will fail.

Additionally, a marginal battery can wreak absolute havoc. For several months, at one point, I figured my workstation was seriously messed up, it would sometimes not boot and I'd have to retry several times and deal with the system firmware complaining about failed boots... At one time, one of the DDR4 channels stopped working correctly. I even replaced the PSU at one point (see wild tangent below).

It was just a crap battery (and I do mean crap, it managed only some six years when most of them soldier on for a decade+) that was resulting in corrupted settings and general brokenness. Replacing it fixed all the issues at boot time and the memory has been rock solid since then.

Show : Wild tangent

So I tested the PSU, an original Corsair AX850/mildly rebadged Seasonic X-Series Gen1, and the fan didn't spin - turns out the fan, a San Ace model no less, had degraded and could not start at whatever low voltage the PSU was feeding it when cold, then later would turn on audibly when the PSU actually heated up. Since this correlated well with GPU-intensive workloads, I figured it was the GPU doing weird fan control things, not the PSU.
I wish I had a fancy programmable load to test it out, I bet it's still doing a good job. I might replace the fan with a new one and hack together a bench power supply, because it uses the old Seasonic Type 1 cables and I've since standardized on the Type 2 cables introduced around the time the KM3 X-Series was launched.

 

[joeschmuck]

Seriously folks? I know what a CMOS battery is. You actually thought I was talking about an external battery?

It was the verbiage you used because if you read the line below, what is the conclusion you come up with?

it was literally dead until I replaced the battery.

So I hope you don't take offense to me thinking otherwise. We deal with all sort of problems here and unfortunately (I do it too) we tend to type up a problem and while we understand what we are saying, unfortunately it doesn't get interpreted with the same meaning.

But we are all glad you were able to gain access to your data again, that was the main goal.

 

[rvassar]

I'm late to the party, but... Good to hear you recovered your data via import!

Per Dell's spec, the T30 takes a CR 2032 3.0v lithium coin cell. I recommend one of the Duracell CR2032's with the bitter coating. Please dispose of the old one carefully, they are a serious ingestion hazard to toddlers & small children.

 

[joeschmuck]

Duracell CR2032's with the bitter coating.

I bought some of these for work and one of my guys, who has kids, tasted it. He didn't like it and we all laughed. It's actually a smart idea since so many little kids end up with these tiny batteries inside them and damaging their intestines and stomach.