FreeNAS 11.3-U4.1 iso to Legacy BIOS

pulkit.agrawal

Dabbler
Joined
Sep 6, 2020
Messages
12
Hello Team,

Continuing on my previous thread here https://www.ixsystems.com/community/threads/freenas-11-4-installation-issues.87312/

I am trying to install FreeNAS on HP Compaq 8100 Elite SFF (going by the search here, they are nasty machines to boot from USB or CD). I have updated the BIOS to the latest version v1.13 (previously running 1.02). Still cannot boot from either USB or CD.

The only possible reason, I can think of is the ISO has been burnt using UEFI; however my BIOS is Legacy and there is no option for UEFI boot.

Can anyone please share ideas on how can I burn FreeNAS 11.3-U4.1 iso in such a way that it boots in legacy BIOS systems?

Thanks in advance. All suggestions are welcome and much appreciated.
 

Samuel Tai

Never underestimate your own stupidity
Moderator
Joined
Apr 24, 2020
Messages
5,398
The ISO supports both BIOS and UEFI boot. What's more likely going on is the new FreeBSD BTX bootloader in 11.3 doesn't support the BIOS quirks of your system. Try booting the 11.1 ISO, which still uses GRUB.

Also, you'll likely need to disable Secure Boot in the 8100's BIOS.
 
Last edited:

pulkit.agrawal

Dabbler
Joined
Sep 6, 2020
Messages
12
Hi Samuel,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. This issue has now been fixed. I now have a working FreeNAS System. Took me 6 Days to get it up, now its time to play. Here are my findings:
  1. In case of issues booting via USB; what I did was, first updated the BIOS to the latest version available. Second, I disabled the USB Boot in the BIOS and loaded the pre-installed Win 7 OS from HDD. Third, I re-enabled USB Boot, and disabled booting HDD, CD & Network Control. Reboot and bingo
  2. When installing the software, patience is the key. During the install process, I thought the process hung at multiple points, but leaving it to do its task did the trick for me.
  3. Even after a successful install, connecting to the web UI took like 30 mins for me the first time, but came good.
Everything is working like a breeze now. Next step is to pump up the system to get more RAM & some storage.
 
Top