FreeNAS 11.3-U5 Does Not Install to USB Drive

[wraith]

Hi,

I've been attempting to install new copy of 11.3-U5 to replace a USB drive that has failed. However I cannot get the installation process to install the OS on a new USB.

After selecting the USB drive to install to, all I get repeatedly is:

ugen6.2: <PixArt Dell MS116 USB Optical Mouse> at usbus6
ugen6.2: <PixArt Dell MS116 USB Optical Mouse> at usbus6 (disconnected)

Removing the usb mouse simply results in the installation progress stopping after selecting the drive and OK. I've double checked that the SHA hash is correct and the burn to the DVD verified.

I've chosen 11.3-U5 as I'm not yet confident with the stability of 12.0.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or troubleshooting. At the moment, I'm unable to access my server via shares or webgui!

 

[Samuel Tai]

Did you use a USB3 port for both the installer and the destination USB boot drive? A known work-around is to make sure both are on USB2 ports, and to only use USB2 ports to burn the install media.

 

[wraith]

Hi @Samuel Tai

Thanks for responding.

The installer is a DVD I burnt from the ISO file. I've tried to:
[*] Install onto USB from a USB port on front of machine;
[*] Install onto USB from a USB port on rear of the machine;
[*] Plug the mouse into a USB port on the front

All to no avail. I did not have this issue installing 11.1 from a DVD drive. From my perspective it appears to be an issue that has crept into later versions.

Should I raise a bug report?

 

[Samuel Tai]

11.2 and higher switched to the FreeBSD BTX bootloader from GRUB on clean installs. BTX unfortunately is compatible with a much smaller set of hardware than GRUB. That said, your hardware should be compatible with BTX. Worst case, try installing the last release of 11.1, and then upgrading in place, once you've achieved a successful installation.

 

[wraith]

I considered that but could only download 11.3 from the download page. Are there archives somewhere for legacy versions of FreeNAS?

 

[Samuel Tai]

https://download.freenas.org/ has all the releases.

 

[wraith]

Thanks! Will give it a go and let you know!

 

[Alecmascot]

everything before "that which should not be named" is at

http://archive.freenas.org/

 

[wraith]

I tried installing 11.1-RELEASE and still get the disconnected/connected messages.

Previously, when performing this function, I had a wireless mouse and did not get these messages. The issue seems to be the mouse connected directly to the usb rather than via a wireless adapter into the usb.

The installation appeared to progress but with this constant message interfering with the on screen reporting. I had to cancel installation; It was taking ages and will need to try again this weekend.

Is this an installation bug and recognizing this mouse? Will need to see if I have a spare, different mouse to try.

 

[Alecmascot]

I never use a mouse. Use TAB, SPACE and ENTER to navigate and input.

 

[wraith]

I never use a mouse. Use TAB, SPACE and ENTER to navigate and input.

Hi @Alecmascot
The issue isn't using the mouse to navigate, simply that the mouse is connected.