Howto install on ProLiant G8 from USB?

[eltato]

I've been searching google and forums all night it feels.

I'm new to this HP Proliant G8 server, I have downloaded TrueNAS v13 as an ISO

I have burnt this ISO to a USB key using both `dd` on Linux and balenaEtcher on Mac. It doesn't seem to matter which USB slot I plug the drive into, I CANNOT get this server to detect and install from it.

I have switched the SATA controller to AHCI mode, and I read that the USB needed to be formatted with ISOLINUX.

I am not sure what else to try. All I want to do is install an OS on here, and I'm stuck. I'll be honest, Ive installed all manner of OS via different methods, but this is my first server with built in RAID type tech. So could be punching above my grade a bit.

Anyone got any advice or links whatsoever? I'm not computer illiterate, but I don't tend to dabble in the BIOS of a PC much, apart from changing boot orders, and simple things like that.

Many thanks, in advance people...

eltato (about to hit the hard stuff in desperation)

 

[eltato]

Okay update time.

This is clearly an issue with the way I've burned TrueNAS to the USB stick, as (out of desperation) I downloaded the latest version of Ubuntu 20.04 and plopped that onto the same USB stick and it booted into the installer just fine.

So... what am I missing here. It must be this ISOLINUX thing, but I can't work out how to use the syslinux app to create a fully compatible bootable USB. I followed the instructions, but they possibly a bit high level for me.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

The easiest way to do this is use Rufus--very straightforward and fast. Because of HP's BIOS you may one get one shot at burning the USB stick if the stick is larger than the BIOS likes (due to how data is distributed on a USB stick), so 16GB sticks and under should work fine. If it looks like the flash memory of the boot stick is corrupted try reformatting the stick with a file system and see if you can write to it; if you can it's HP's BIOS choking, not the stick. (details)

Another option, though more complicated, is to use Ventoy, which allows you to boot Ventoy, at which point the graphical screen comes up allowing you to boot any of the ISOs on the flash drive. (This means you burn the flash drive just once with Ventoy, then dump raw ISO images on the drive at any later point in time, Ventoy automatically finds them and adds them to the boot menu.) Regarding this, a few notes of caution:

1. Use the Ventoy Advanced option when creating the boot configuration to keep the drive at 30GB or less to avoid HP BIOS issues. (or don't, your mileage may vary)
2. Run sha256sum.exe (or another checker) and verify the ISO made it to the flash drive correctly. If the HP BIOS does corrupt the load you don't want it corrupting the USB stick and then not knowing if it was the initial write or the boot that corrupted it. (test everything so you know you're working with a "proven" system every step of the way)
3. Load the ISO into RAM. When TruNAS boots it presents the TruNAS bootloader menu, one option is to load the ISO into RAM; I suggest doing that to avoid issues accessing the USB stick.

Assuming you hit F8 and

1. set the RAID controller to remove all drives from all arrays and
2. turned off read and write caching and
3. act as a "dumb" Host Buss Adapter that just passes the drives through

you should be okay.

Probably.

---
Side note: One thing I noticed is installers (or the people who come after them and "upgrade" the server) don't always put the RAM in the right slots--you may wish to check that out first.

Hope this helps,
Hedge