SOLVED FreeNAS 9.10.2 install does not boot on HP Microserver

[Natalie Cooper]

Ok so I now seriously cant be bothered any more.. I just tried downloading the ISO and Win32Imager onto my husbands work laptop and used a Memory key that my daughter has just told me she had., So its a new downloaded image, new memory stick, made with Win32Imager .. EXACTLY THE SAME ISSUE.. Does not boot.. Just passed post and no signal on the screen. . Which means the way its been created is just not been seen as bootable by the server. Like I have said its been working before on this server and also seen many posts of people having it working on these servers, so I am at a complete loss now as to why it is not working .


These kinds of things really should not be hard, even for someone relatively inexperienced like me. Its so frikken frustrating, been spending 2 days on this, tried everything suggested and still nothing .. surely there has to be a simpler way of installing this. Maybe I can get it preinstalled on a hard drive or something and just follow the setup from there, Or can I make a hard drive bootable instead of a memory stick (I have loads of old drives here, I could always use one of them so I am not using a memory stick.. THERE HAS TO BE A WAY !!!! !:) LOL

Otherwise I honestly give up.

 

[Redcoat]

Ok so you saying I should not be using RUFUS (Because I have tried making it again with Win32Imager and STILL DOES NOT WORK. Just gets past POST and Screen says no signal. I just cant understand why this is so hard. Cant they make it just work like everything else. :) I never have issues with Making USB sticks from ISOs they work everytime but this one is just so difficult.

Even NAS4Free on the same (or similar code base) works just fine. But not this.

Yes, I double screwed up above - with Rufus I have used "DD image". But wblock's the authority on what to use here for best success for sure, so go with Win32DiskImager for the next round.

 

[Natalie Cooper]

Ok I will try again in the morning I am going to bed now. I have just tried DD mode on RUFUS and the results are the same thing. Is there anything different about the way this makes the Bootable USB that the server does not recognise, because that's what it seems like to me? Its like the server just not see it as a bootable media which is why it stops..

Should I be making the image on a Mac or Linux instead of windows?

 

[Redcoat]

I checked back on what I've done before - I used both the ISO and DD on Rufus with the same ISO files with no apparent difference according to my notes. I also used Win32Diskimager without issues. But none of these except a reinstall of Corral last week were with FreeNAS versions past 9.3 - since then all upgrades via the GUI.

I'm on the sidelines here - hopefully somebody will have some debug suggestions. Again, good luck.

 

[wblock]

@Natalie Cooper please go back and edit the first message in this new thread to identify the exact model of HP microserver you have. People with those machines would have skipped over the old thread because it was about a Dell. And FreeNAS 9.3. This is one reason we encourage people to start new threads rather than piggyback on old ones. So I have moved all of the later posts to this new thread.

It wouldn't hurt to repeat that information at the end of the thread also. Most important are the exact model of the HP computer and whether it uses UEFI. Possibly also the BIOS or UEFI version, too.

Sorry I did not do this earlier.

 

[Natalie Cooper]

@Natalie Cooper please go back and edit the first message in this new thread to identify the exact model of HP microserver you have. People with those machines would have skipped over the old thread because it was about a Dell. And FreeNAS 9.3. This is one reason we encourage people to start new threads rather than piggyback on old ones. So I have moved all of the later posts to this new thread.

It wouldn't hurt to repeat that information at the end of the thread also. Most important are the exact model of the HP computer and whether it uses UEFI. Possibly also the BIOS or UEFI version, too.

Sorry I did not do this earlier.

Thanks I have done that.. Just for clarity, for those who are looking at the thread from here its a HP MicroServer G7 N36L (with Bios update as at 2013). 16GB RAM 2TB hard drive . NO UEFI due to age so only just a normal BIOS.

As in threads above I have tried RUFUS and Win32Imager both WITHOUT success.. So would be useful if anyone has this server can tell me how to get it working .

Thanks xx

 

[miniwalks]

I'm not sure how this hasn't worked for you,
I have literally just built a N36L with Corral on it.
N36L, 16GB ECC, 5x2TB
2x 16GB USB

I downloaded the image from FreeNAS
Opened rufus 2.12 with 32GB stick for OS Installation
Built from ISO
ISO Mode
Turned on N36L -> BIOS
Adjusted boot order
Reboot
Installed in 1540seconds
Done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Natalie Cooper]

ITS WORKING !!!!! I am one happy girl. After all of this if you see in my posts above. I was using a HDMI/VGA Converter and beleive it or not, I think this is the problem.. It was not displaying the next (dos based screen). I plugged in a monitor directly into the server booted and BANG!!! it works. So moral of the story.. DO NOT USE A CONVERTER rather connect a monitor directly.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED.. And sorry for my frustration.. You guys are amazing, you made me one very happy LADY !!! xxx

 

[styno]

OMG ;-) Luckily you made that connection, I for one wouldn't have guessed...

 

[Natalie Cooper]

OMG ;-) Luckily you made that connection, I for one wouldn't have guessed...

Sometimes even us girls can figure stuff out. I am not just a pretty face #girlpower

 

[iDragon]

I.. think I've just had the same issue, expecting a VGA-HDMI converter to work for reinstalling an N54L, can access BIOS, and see POST screens, and indeed, the booting log, and console prompt for FreeNAS, but the actual bootloader itself seems to be a black screen?