FreeNAS 9.11 Boots OK then GUI reports error

[ProjectMorris]

Hi , First time posting for help.

I am running FreeNAS-9.1.1 Release x64 (a752d35)
On
AMD Turion II Neo N54L Dual Processor with 2Gb Memory

I have two 350Gb Drives and 2two 3Tb Toshiba drives installed

The problem I am experiencing is that the web interface initially works fine and allows me to import volumes I have made previously. Then all of a sudden after about 2-5 minutes after booting it stops working reporting "sorry an error has occurred" and then the web interface finally stops altogether with a 404 Error. The system is ping'able, the console interface is working and the device can be shut down or restarted from the console.

I've tried booting with all the disks out, but the same.

See the images I have uploaded, notice the navigation bar on the left is empty.

Not sure what else I can provide.

I'm wondering if I have the right image?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[cyberjock]

Are you using ZFS?

 

[ProjectMorris]

Yes I am

 

[cyberjock]

Well, your problem is almost certainly related to insufficient RAM. You need 8GB minimum for the system to be stable. Upgrade to 8GB and see if the issue persists.

I will warn you that using less can cause unrecoverable loss of data. That's why we've put the warnings like we did in the manual.

RAM

The best way to get the most out of your FreeNAS® system is to install as much RAM as possible. If your RAM is limited, consider using UFS until you can afford better hardware. FreeNAS® with ZFS typically requires a minimum of 8 GB of RAM in order to provide good performance and stability. The more RAM, the better the performance, and the FreeNAS® Forums provide anecdotal evidence from users on how much performance is gained by adding more RAM. For systems with large disk capacity (greater than 8 TB), a general rule of thumb is 1 GB of RAM for every 1 TB of storage. This post describes how RAM is used by ZFS.

If you plan to use your server for home use, you can often ignore the thumbrule of 1 GB of RAM for every 1 TB of storage. If performance is inadequate you should consider adding more RAM as a first remedy. The sweet spot for most users in home/small business is 16GB of RAM.

It is possible to use ZFS on systems with less than 8 GB of RAM. However, FreeNAS® as distributed is configured to be suitable for systems meeting the sizing recommendations above. If you wish to use ZFS on a smaller memory system, some tuning will be necessary, and performance will be (likely substantially) reduced. ZFS will automatically disable pre-fetching (caching) on systems where it is not able to use at least 4 GB of memory just for ZFS cache and data structures. This post describes many of the relevant tunables.

If your system supports it and your budget allows for it, install ECC RAM.

If you plan to use ZFS deduplication, a general rule of thumb is 5 GB RAM per TB of storage to be deduplicated. Note that there is no upper limit to how much RAM you may need for deduplication. If you do not have enough RAM you may not be able to mount your pool on bootup. In this case, the only solution is to install more RAM or restore from backup. Very few users will find deduplication provides space savings over using compression.

If you use Active Directory with FreeNAS®, add an additional 2 GB of RAM for winbind's internal cache above and beyond all other RAM requirements.

If you are installing FreeNAS® on a headless system, disable the shared memory settings for the video card in the BIOS.

If you only plan to use UFS you may be able to get by with as little as 2GB of RAM.

If you don't have at least 8GB of RAM with ZFS or 2GB of RAM with UFS, you should consider getting more powerful hardware before using FreeNAS® to store your data otherwise data loss may result.

WARNING: To ensure consistency for ZFS' checksumming and parity calculations, ECC RAM is required with ZFS. Using non-ECC RAM can cause unrecoverable damage to a zpool resulting in a loss of all data in the pool.

 

[ProjectMorris]

CyberJocky thanks I'm a noob to FreeNAS but not to IT Admin so I am playing with it before committing any data, Breaking mirrors seeing how long they take to recreate , what to do with broken systems etc importing volumes etc.

I have lost data in the past and the thought of it still makes me shiver, but not in the future I intend to be aware of what to do and what my options are before a bit of data is committed.

I'll convert and get back to you.

Many thanks..

 

[cyberjock]

Ok.

 

[ProjectMorris]

Spoke too soon, even with all the disks popped the same thing happens...

 

[cyberjock]

Maybe your FreeNAS install is bad. Are you using a name brand USB stick that is at least 4GB?

You could also try installing FreeNAS to another USB stick and uploading your config file.

 

[Dusan]

Also check /var/log/messages for any signs of trouble (use the console interface).

 

[ProjectMorris]

Dusan, CyberJocky...Found it I think...As per somewhat usual its user error....Thinking I was being a right smarty pants, I thought for the purpose of playing I'd put the FreeNAS IP address high in the range at 192.168.1.250, away from everything else in the house.....WRONG!.....I must have thought exactly the same thing when I configured the Western Digital TV box I've got..and yes it was the same address, which is probably why the FreeNAS interface worked for a short while then gave up. Durrrr....beginners error...face palm....glad I found it and I will take on the advice you have given. Dusan thanks for the steer on the log files, CyberJocky thanks for the steer on the memory. Allegedly the HP Microserver I have can only host 8Gb, but I've heard it can take 16Gb so I might just go for that... Again thank you both for your help, very much appreciated.

 

[gpsguy]

Yes you can put 16Gb of ECC RAM in it. That's what I put in my N54L and it boots to 16Gb every time.


Sent from my phone

 

[ProjectMorris]

GPSGUY where are you in the world? What type of memory is it, where did you get it?

 

[gpsguy]

I'm in the US.

Look at fefele's recent thread about FreeNAS on HP Microserver. In a message last Friday I listed my Kingston memory model/information.

Can't type very well on my phone.


Sent from my phone

 

[gpsguy]

Here's what I bought in April from newegg.com (US).

Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
ECC Unbuffered Server Memory Model KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G