HP Gen8 Microserver Boot Issues

[AndyW]

Hi eveyone
I am trying to install scale on a gen8 microserver. The installation of Truenas Scale appears to install sucessfully however I am unable to make the system boot once the system reboots after installation.
I can successfully install Core on the same harware and this boots without any issues, however scale will not for whatever reason.
Could someone please advise if they have successfully got scale working on Scale and how they acheived this.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Kris Moore]

We'll need more details. Where does it hang at bootup? Guessing its something with init'ing disks, but can't tell without screenshots or other data.

 

[AndyW]

We'll need more details. Where does it hang at bootup? Guessing its something with init'ing disks, but can't tell without screenshots or other data.

Hi Kris
Thanks for you reply.
The microserver complains about "non-system disk or disk error"
The interesing thing is if I install "core" first I am then able to install "scale" on the provisor I don't format the USB HDD (upgrade). This then gives me the option to select "scale" on boot and it runs through migration process. I would prefer to install scale without going through the migration process.

 

[AndyW]

 

[jgreco]

Yeah, so, you need to do what it's suggesting, which is to go into the ROM-Based Setup Utility and tell it what the correct boot disk is.

 

[AndyW]

Yeah, so, you need to do what it's suggesting, which is to go into the ROM-Based Setup Utility and tell it what the correct boot disk is.

Hi jgreco
Thanks for your reply.
The correct boot drive has been selected within the ROM-Based utility.
If there was an issue with the settings would I be able to boot from "core" installation?

 

[jgreco]

If there was an issue with the settings would I be able to boot from "core" installation?

It's hard to say. Because BSD and Linux present devices in different manners, and because the boot systems are somewhat different, there are a number of possibilities that come to mind, including:

1) The iX installer handles BSD correctly but perhaps due to different OS toolsets in use under the hood, Linux incorrectly

2) The HP is not recognizing a generally valid Linux boot configuration that works on most machines. Unfortunately due to nonstandardness of the PC architecture, there are speed bumps and bugs involved in trying to make this stuff entirely reliable on every machine.

3) User error of some not-entirely-obvious sort

The fact that it's showing up at such an early stage of boot, generally makes 1) and 2) somewhat less likely, just because the BIOS code to recognize a bootable disk is pretty standard. However, it is entirely possible that some critical error, such as installing a UEFI rather than a BIOS boot environment, is going on. Having worked on these things over the years, I curse them. The Gen8 Microserver is a bit long in tooth at this point, but I'd be shocked if it didn't work somehow... I've still got a Gen7 or two rattling around here soaking up backups.

 

[AndyW]

It's hard to say. Because BSD and Linux present devices in different manners, and because the boot systems are somewhat different, there are a number of possibilities that come to mind, including:

1) The iX installer handles BSD correctly but perhaps due to different OS toolsets in use under the hood, Linux incorrectly

2) The HP is not recognizing a generally valid Linux boot configuration that works on most machines. Unfortunately due to nonstandardness of the PC architecture, there are speed bumps and bugs involved in trying to make this stuff entirely reliable on every machine.

3) User error of some not-entirely-obvious sort

The fact that it's showing up at such an early stage of boot, generally makes 1) and 2) somewhat less likely, just because the BIOS code to recognize a bootable disk is pretty standard. However, it is entirely possible that some critical error, such as installing a UEFI rather than a BIOS boot environment, is going on. Having worked on these things over the years, I curse them. The Gen8 Microserver is a bit long in tooth at this point, but I'd be shocked if it didn't work somehow... I've still got a Gen7 or two rattling around here soaking up backups.

Thanks for you reply.
Is there any disadvantages of installing truenas core first and then installing truenas scale via the upgrade path on the installation media?

 

[jgreco]

disadvantages of installing truenas core first and then installing truenas scale via the upgrade path

Your previous objection that it's undesirable to have an additional step would seem valid. I believe that it's intended for this to work and be workable, however.

 

[AndyW]

Your previous objection that it's undesirable to have an additional step would seem valid. I believe that it's intended for this to work and be workable, however.

Thanks for your assistance @jgreco .
I will try install debian on the server just to see if the same problem occurs and report back if I run into the same issues.

 

[jgreco]

That's actually a great plan. If you do and it works, I would definitely suggest filing a Jira bug report ticket so that iXsystems can look at it.

 

[AndyW]

That's actually a great plan. If you do and it works, I would definitely suggest filing a Jira bug report ticket so that iXsystems can look at it.

I can confirm debian installs and boots correctly.
I will try report this on Jira.

 

[WarnesJ]

I thought I'd chime in to this thread because I have an HP Proliant Microserver Gen 8 too, and I was able to install TrueNAS SCALE without any issues.

For my system, I has a 120GB USB thumb drive connected to the internal USB port on the motherboard.

This is my boot drive and TrueNAS OS drive. I know, I know, USB thumb drives are not recommended for TrueNAS but I'm just testing on this system. My intent is to connect an SSD to the optical SATA port eventually. In the meantime, the USB thumb drive works fine.

The process I used to install TrueNAS was to have that 120GB USB thumb drive connected to the internal USB connector on the motherboard and then use another 8GB USB thumb drive connected to one of the external USB ports which I created using balaEtcher and the latest TrueNAS SCALE ISO. I installed TrueNAS SCALE on the 120GB internal USB thumb drive and it all went smoothly. Once complete I shut down the server, removed the external 8GB USB thumb drive and the system has been booting for me just fine from the internal 120GB USB thumb drive.

It sort of sounds like your setup might be similar. Is there anything I can take pictures of from my BIOS to see if any of my settings might be different from yours? At the very least I thought I'd take pictures of the BIOS settings from my system from the same menus you had. Here those are:

The only difference I see is that my system has the External DriveKeys First selected in the Removable Flash Media Boot Sequence section.

If there's anything else I can take a picture of, let me know and I'll do that.

 

[AndyW]

I thought I'd chime in to this thread because I have an HP Proliant Microserver Gen 8 too, and I was able to install TrueNAS SCALE without any issues.

For my system, I has a 120GB USB thumb drive connected to the internal USB port on the motherboard.

View attachment 53956

This is my boot drive and TrueNAS OS drive. I know, I know, USB thumb drives are not recommended for TrueNAS but I'm just testing on this system. My intent is to connect an SSD to the optical SATA port eventually. In the meantime, the USB thumb drive works fine.

The process I used to install TrueNAS was to have that 120GB USB thumb drive connected to the internal USB connector on the motherboard and then use another 8GB USB thumb drive connected to one of the external USB ports which I created using balaEtcher and the latest TrueNAS SCALE ISO. I installed TrueNAS SCALE on the 120GB internal USB thumb drive and it all went smoothly. Once complete I shut down the server, removed the external 8GB USB thumb drive and the system has been booting for me just fine from the internal 120GB USB thumb drive.

It sort of sounds like your setup might be similar. Is there anything I can take pictures of from my BIOS to see if any of my settings might be different from yours? At the very least I thought I'd take pictures of the BIOS settings from my system from the same menus you had. Here those are:

View attachment 53957
View attachment 53958
The only difference I see is that my system has the External DriveKeys First selected in the Removable Flash Media Boot Sequence section.

If there's anything else I can take a picture of, let me know and I'll do that.

Hi WarnesJ

Thanks for your reply.
I managed to get Truenas scale installed by first installing core and then reseting the system and starting afresh. I did decide to try and install scale from the release iso (after hearing you had success) however was facing the same issues as before. The installation was carried out a corsair GTX usb ssd, m.2 drive in usb adapter and also a msata drive with usb adapter. All failed to boot the microserver (also factory defaulted Rom). One thing i did try was to try was to move the installed Truenas Scale media (boot drive) to another computer after running through the installation process and it did boot correctly....

At a loss how you managed to get your system to boot.
I tried etcher, Rufus and also the recommended way suggested by Truenas to create the installation media so I know this isn't the issue.

 

[WarnesJ]

I'm planning to replace my USB thumb drive with a USB enclosure like you describe with either an NVMe disk or SATA M.2. I'll let you know how I make out when I get that far.

One thing I can confirm, is that using a SATA SSD on the optical SATA port doesn't boot. Kind of disappointed that HP wouldn't allow for that. I've heard of people having success using a USB thumb drive to hold the boot loader and then have the TrueNAS OS on a SATA SSD connected to the optical SATA port, but that seems like a lot of extra work. I'll see if I have any success with a USB enclosure similar to yours. It seems like a cleaner option.

 

[stitch]

You can get it to boot off the optical SATA port-it just requires disabling AHCI and using the "Legacy" mode in the BIOS configuration.

1. Go into the BIOS configuration utility (F9 at the graphical start up screen)
2. Go to "System Options" -> "SATA Controller Options" -> "Embedded SATA Configuration" and toggle it to "Enable SATA Legacy Support"
3. Go back to the main menu and then choose "Boot Controller Order", set Ctlr:1 to "PCI Embedded Intel(R) SATA Controller #2"
4. You can now go back to the main menu again and go to "Standard Boot Order (IPL)" and set IPL:1 to "Hard Drive C: (See Boot Controller Order)

When installing, as long as you're using a disk that is a different brand or model (it shows the manufacturer and the serial I believe?) from the data disks it should be simple to tell which disk(s) you want to boot off of.

 

[Whiskydrinker]

One thing I can confirm, is that using a SATA SSD on the optical SATA port doesn't boot. Kind of disappointed that HP wouldn't allow for that.

When using AHCI the Microserver G8 always tries to boot from the first SATA device in the regular bays.

I've heard of people having success using a USB thumb drive to hold the boot loader and then have the TrueNAS OS on a SATA SSD connected to the optical SATA port, but that seems like a lot of extra work. I'll see if I have any success with a USB enclosure similar to yours. It seems like a cleaner option.

It's actually pretty easy. All you need is a live Linux on an USB-stick and an USB-stick or micro SD card plugged into one of the internal ports.
Then it's about 10 lines of terminal commands to install Grub on the internal device of your choice and create a chainloading mechanism to boot from the ODD port.
Hint: Remove all other disks when doing this. Makes it much easier and safer to choose the right installation target for Grub.

I've done this before with a G8 using a leftover micro SD card from a trashed cellphone. Works flawlessly.

 

[WarnesJ]

Thanks @stitch for letting me know about that. I'll have to give that a try!

And @Whiskydrinker, tweaking GRUB has never been a great skill of mine. But for the heck of it, I might give that a try too.

I appreciate the responses. It's given me a few things to mess with. :)

 

[Whiskydrinker]

And @Whiskydrinker, tweaking GRUB has never been a great skill of mine. But for the heck of it, I might give that a try too.

A good guide doing this can be found here. Although it's in German it's mostly shell commands anyway and the rest should be understandable using a translator like deepl.com. Also he provides a ready to flash image file at the beginning of the page so basically you must only edit the Grub config for your number of drives.

 

[Smitch71]

Hi WarnesJ

Thanks for your reply.
I managed to get Truenas scale installed by first installing core and then reseting the system and starting afresh. I did decide to try and install scale from the release iso (after hearing you had success) however was facing the same issues as before. The installation was carried out a corsair GTX usb ssd, m.2 drive in usb adapter and also a msata drive with usb adapter. All failed to boot the microserver (also factory defaulted Rom). One thing i did try was to try was to move the installed Truenas Scale media (boot drive) to another computer after running through the installation process and it did boot correctly....

At a loss how you managed to get your system to boot.
I tried etcher, Rufus and also the recommended way suggested by Truenas to create the installation media so I know this isn't the issue.

Hi
Did you ever find a solution to this boot issue? I really want to use Scale on my Microserver as currently using OpenMediaVault which although easy to use, I feel that Scale would be better. I haven't yet tried the 22.02.1 release, was it fixed in that release does anyone know?

Thanks for your time.