Installer stuck

[Melrok]

Hello,

After toying with a TrueNAS CORE installed in an old PC, I bought new hardware for a new server, but TrueNAS CORE won't install…
I tried the 13.0-U6 but it always stuck with a black screen with a white cursor. In normal console mode the last message is:
Dual Console: Serial Primary, Video Secondary.

Show : verbose

...
Root mount waiting for: usbus0 da
da0 at umass-sim0 bus 0 scbus5 target 0 lun 0
da0: <Generic Flash Disk 8.07> Removable Direct Access SPC-2 SPC-2 SCSI device
da0: Serial Number 00B9ECCD
da0: 40.000MB/s transfers
da0: 7431MB (15218688 512 byte sectors)
da0: quirks=0x2<NO_6_BYTE>
da0: Delete methods: <NONE(*),ZERO>
GEOM: new disk da0
(da0:umass-sim0:0:0:0):PREVENT ALLOW MEDIUM REMOVAL not supported.
GEOM: da0: the secondary GPT header is not in the last LBA.
GEOM: iso9660/TRUENAS: the secondary GPT header is not in the last LBA.
ugen0.3: <Logitech USB Receiver> at usbus0
ukbd0 on uhub0
ukbd0: <Logitech USB Receiver, class 0/0, rev 2.00/29.01, addr 2> on usbus0
kbd2 at ukbd0
kbd2: ukbd0, generic (0), config:0x0, flags:0x3d0000
ums0 on uhub0
ums0: <Logitech USB Receiver, class 0/0, rev 2.00/29.01, addr 2> on usbus0
ums0: 18 buttons and [XYZT] coordinates ID=2
ugen0.4: <ASRock LED Controller> at usbus0
uhid0 on uhub0
uhid0: <ASRock LED Controller, class 0/0, rev 1.10/0.00, addr 3> on usbus0
Root mount waiting for: usbus0
ugen0.5: <vendor 0x8087 product 0x0aa7> at usbus0
cd9660: RockRidge Extension
md0 attached to /data/base.ufs.uzip
Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/md0.uzip [rw]...
efirtc0: providing initial system time
Dual Console: Serial Primary, Video Secondary
start_init: trying /sbin/init

My hardware:
- ASRock H610M-ITX/ac (I don't plan to use their wifi things)
- Intel Core i3 12100 (integrated GPU)
- 2×8Gb DDR4 Lexar
- M2 250Gb PNY
- and 4 HDD of 4Tb each
- during installation there were the 8Gb usb stick and 1 usb for keyboard+mouse (the logitech in the verbose output)

I tried several OS. All TrueNAS BSD were stuck, all Linux succeed without any issues and FreeBSD proceed the installation:
- FreeNAS-11.2-U8.iso
- FreeNAS-11.3-U3.iso
- FreeNAS-11.3-U5.iso
- TrueNAS-12.0-U1.iso
- TrueNAS-13.0-U6.iso
- TrueNAS-13.1-MASTER-202311280816-a0b2df9.iso
- TrueNAS-SCALE-23.10.0.1.iso
- ubuntu-22.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso
- ubuntu-22.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso
- FreeBSD-14.0-RELEASE-amd64-bootonly.iso

I think of 3 possibles explanations:
- hardware incompatible with TrueNAS CORE, which I find strange (if it requires a separated GPU for example)
- I didn't wait enough, perhaps the installation is very slow and stuck for more than 15min for a strange reason
- I didn't configured the BIOS correctly, but even there I tried and didn't see any option to change.

Does someone have a clue?

I really prefer TrueNAS CORE over SCALE, even if I can install more tools in a Linux machine than BSD…

 

[Ericloewe]

I bought new hardware for a new server

So why did you buy inappropriate hardware? If you'd asked, you would have been told to stick with actual server hardware - one of the reasons being quirks around the local console.

You could probably work around this by changing the default console or the video mode... But perhaps the quickest solution is to do the install process on another machine and move the boot disk over once it's installed and minimally configured.

 

[Melrok]

So why did you buy inappropriate hardware?

What do you mean? I looked at the hardware recommendations and didn't see any conflicts. What piece is inappropriate here ?
And my first experience was in an old normal PC and TrueNAS work very well on it…

How could I change the console or video mode? The only things I can change seems to be the boot options, so Safe Mode, Single User and Verbose.

 

[Ericloewe]

What piece is inappropriate here ?

The motherboard sticks out like a sore thumb. It's an unspectacular lowish-end desktop board, though there's a lot worse out there.

 

[Redcoat]

Does someone have a clue?

I looked at the motherboard manual. Did you turn off fast boot?

 

[Melrok]

The motherboard sticks out like a sore thumb. It's an unspectacular lowish-end desktop board, though there's a lot worse out there.

Ok but can you be more precise? TrueNAS CORE can be installed in a desktop motherboard since I did it, so what make this desktop motherboard incompatible with TrueNAS? Is there a special component (hard or soft) missing?
As a reminder FreeBSD installer works with my motherboard, so it's not a BSD problem. I wonder why TrueNAS CORE is not yet compatible…
And if you can explain how to change default console or video mode I would appreciate it. I didn't find anything about it for the TrueNAS installer.

I'll try to put an external GPU, could it help?

Show : EDIT

No. I could modify more things in my BIOS but I had the exact same problem.

I looked at the motherboard manual. Did you turn off fast boot?

Of course! I tried for record and I can't even try to install with fast boot. I don't know why and don't care.
I'll have to see if there are some hidden options to change, the internet manual is more complete than the one I received with the motherboard.

 

[jmejia]

@Melrok any luck with this? I'm here with a fresh build and having the same problem. ASUS H610I-plusd4 here. If there's a chipset incompatiblity it would be great to know - and if there's a workaround for this that would be even better to know. Can anyone provide some insight?

 

[Melrok]

@Melrok any luck with this?

No.
You can try changing the console, but it didn't change anything for me, or it was even worse. A GPU didn't change anything either.

Show : change the console

When booting go to prompt console, type set console= to see the valid options like efi and comconsole. Set the console you want and boot with boot -v -h (I don't know about the options, I just copied from somewhere in the forum).
If you find documentation somewhere out of the source code I want it.

If there is a solution, I think it has to deal with the console, and it's a TrueNAS CORE problem.
When I installed FreeBSD 13 (the one used for TrueNAS 13 I suppose), the installer asked me to provide a path to a console, otherwise the default would be something like /bin/sh. It happened at the exact same moment where TrueNAS installer is stuck.
So either TrueNAS forgot to import that part of the code with all it shall bring and I want to know when they'll do it, or there is a good reason why it will not be imported and I want to know why.
The worse in this story is that when the FreeBSD installer starts the console you chose, you can just exit from it and the installation continues without any problem…

I'm still wondering what I'll install, between TrueNAS SCALE, Linux with OpenVZ or simply FreeBSD (because I find jails comfortable). I don't know what TrueNAS SCALE uses as a jail in Linux, I'll search later. This case has tired me.

@Ericloewe I would appreciate an answer for my question above, or more generally: which components or characteristics (hard or soft) allow to check if a motherboard is or not compatible with TrueNAS CORE? Or does it deserve a whole thread?

 

[Ericloewe]

@Ericloewe I would appreciate an answer for my question above, or more generally: which components or characteristics (hard or soft) allow to check if a motherboard is or not compatible with TrueNAS CORE? Or does it deserve a whole thread?

It's not a simple topic, but there are a few common pain points:

Stuff that gets worked out over time

• Graphics, console and related
• Specific drivers (new chipset component, new Ethernet NIC, etc.)
• Innovative CPU changes (asymmetric cores, weird power management quirks, etc.)
• Weird UEFI bugs and other quirks

Stuff that does not get worked out over time

• Useless components (audio mostly, these days)
• Weird UEFI bugs and other quirks (yes, this one belongs to both)
• Other platform oddities

Buying a very recent desktop board opens you up to about 5-7 of these 7 points. Buying a very recent server board open you up to 2-4 points instead:

• Graphics are simple ASPeed or Matrox-derived framebuffer devices, essentially unchanged for many years.
• By the time server hardware shows up, drivers are generally somewhat mature (with some exceptions, notably FreeBSD 9.x did not have a suitable XHCI driver, and thus was something of a pain to use on Intel Skylake platforms which moved even USB 2.0 ports to XHCI controllers)
• Less craziness inside the CPUs
• The weirdest UEFI bugs were probably caught in server-specific QA, which is not the same as "Windows gaming machine QA"
• No real useless components on a server board
• Some effort is made to maintain more stable firmware (in the sense that it changes less, not that it crashes less)
• The people designing servers tend to avoid things that people buying servers find weird.

Beyond this, a server board is one sold as such, and a line in the sand would not be super easy to draw.

 

[Derob]

I’m trying Truenas for a home setup, and ran into the same issue. I am not into building servers for hobby, and just need a performant storage solution. And yes, I am using consumer grade hardware (no IPMI, no COM). Given that most ‘help’ here seems more focused at bashing people with a genuine question for their use of ‘non-server’ hardware (which nevertheless is perfectly in spec given the specifications on the website, neither IPMI nor an old COM interface is anywhere required)

I thought hard myself googled some more and found a solution.

Press 3 in the boot menu to ge to the prompt, type ‘set boot_serial=NO’, type ‘Menu’ and from the menu select 1 - which got at least me finally to the installer. This is not hardware related but seems rather an oversight in the parameters.

I am now stuck with the next issue, truenas doesn’t recognise my NIC.There is no warning in the documentation that support for NICs is very limited. Although nobody has bothered to list supported NICs, googling 10 GbE models that do not have apparent issues with Truenas, yields some long obsolete and expensive intel NICs. They are PCIE v2 8x, which aren’t useable in my scenario, I need my free pcie for (indeed server grade) SAS/SATA (and, no, there isn’t a GPU stuck in one those)

Now I think of it I see no serious use case for TrueNAS core given its adherence to old hardware and chasing people like me to expensive server hardware. This is pointless as it would mean for my scenario I am better off buying an off-the-shelf functioning solution such as made by Synology and the like. Anyone else will consider the Scale and enterprise solutions (I will still see where Scale brings me).

Cheers!

 

[sretalla]

I am now stuck with the next issue, truenas doesn’t recognise my NIC.There is no warning in the documentation that support for NICs is very limited. Although nobody has bothered to list supported NICs, googling 10 GbE models that do not have apparent issues with Truenas, yields some long obsolete and expensive intel NICs. They are PCIE v2 8x, which aren’t useable in my scenario, I need my free pcie for (indeed server grade) SAS/SATA (and, no, there isn’t a GPU stuck in one those)

10 Gig Networking Primer

This document is now available in the Resources section! Use the tabs above to navigate to the document itself. The current version also follows inside the spoiler tag: Also, if you'd like to repost this elsewhere, I'd appreciate it if you would have the courtesy to ask. And to credit the...

www.truenas.com

NICs mentioned there are available under 100 USD/€ on ebay.

 

[Ericloewe]

Look, if you want to rant, you have to be accurate.

I am now stuck with the next issue, truenas doesn’t recognise my NIC.

That's what 5 minutes of research avoids. Even ChatGPT could probably get that one right and traditional search engines certainly do.

Although nobody has bothered to list supported NICs

That is transparently false.

googling 10 GbE models that do not have apparent issues with Truenas, yields some long obsolete and expensive intel NICs.

The Intel 82599 10 GbE NIC, also known as X520, is widely supported by every PC operating system of any remote relevance on this planet. ReactOS is not relevant, but you have twelve OSes listed there that support it, ranging from the ubiquitous to the weird and esoteric. It is a current product straight from Intel, and will be so at least until Q4 of this year. It will be available new for quite some time yet, and used for all eternity. It is available in basically any relevant format, from standard PCIe low-profile card to basically all proprietary formats for specific vendors.
If you actually needed better availability than that, the X710 is slightly better and will be available until 2030.

They are PCIE v2 8x, which aren’t useable in my scenario

Well here's some more news, all semi-serious-to-serious 10 GbE NICs come in at least a x4 form factor. There are a few reasons for this, including maintaining performance on older PCIe links.

So, by insisting we are wrong, you end up with:

• Trouble booting, which required a workaround
• Unsupported NICs
• A system that won't easily take the necessary expansion cards

Are any of those show-stoppers? Not really. Could they have been avoided? Oh yes.

 

[Derob]

Look, if you want to rant, you have to be accurate.

That's what 5 minutes of research avoids. Even ChatGPT could probably get that one right and traditional search engines certainly do.

That is transparently false.

The Intel 82599 10 GbE NIC, also known as X520, is widely supported by every PC operating system of any remote relevance on this planet. ReactOS is not relevant, but you have twelve OSes listed there that support it, ranging from the ubiquitous to the weird and esoteric. It is a current product straight from Intel, and will be so at least until Q4 of this year. It will be available new for quite some time yet, and used for all eternity. It is available in basically any relevant format, from standard PCIe low-profile card to basically all proprietary formats for specific vendors.
If you actually needed better availability than that, the X710 is slightly better and will be available until 2030.

Well here's some more news, all semi-serious-to-serious 10 GbE NICs come in at least a x4 form factor. There are a few reasons for this, including maintaining performance on older PCIe links.

So, by insisting we are wrong, you end up with:

• Trouble booting, which required a workaround
• Unsupported NICs
• A system that won't easily take the necessary expansion cards

Are any of those show-stoppers? Not really. Could they have been avoided? Oh yes.

I would sort of consider anything PCIE v2 obsolete, including an x520 NIC, as over a decade ago v3 replaced it. Intel Ark confirms its x520 is discontinued, but OK the chip itself isn't. Obviously I have a 4x slot free in which the X550 for which I was planning would have perfectly fitted, but I gather from this forum that an X550 is not without issues (it uses the same driver according to your resources, so it might be related to individual set-ups). Anyway, I don't see it 'listed' in the Networking primer, so I would risk another told you so if I would ask here why it wouldn't work. I do understand that the server market could be conservative and still widely use the x520, but still I'd expect trueNAS to clearly support a widely used sever product from 2016. BTW, I wasn't planning on putting a 10 GbE NIC in a 1x slot, I can do the maths (actually pcie v4 1x might theoretically just support a single port one if it existed).

 

[Ericloewe]

would sort of consider anything PCIE v2 obsolete

Nonsense. Tons of things don't need more bandwidth and thus gain nothing. There's an argument to be made regarding NICs, but since the target market nearly always provides 8 lanes anyway (see typical server risers, proprietary mezzanine form factors and the OCP form factors), there's no great impetus.

Obviously I have a 4x slot free in which the X550 for which I was planning would have perfectly fitted, but I gather from this forum that an X550 is not without issues (it uses the same driver according to your resources, so it might be related to individual set-ups)

Not that I've ever heard. It's a 10GBase-T NIC, which is worse than something that takes SFP+ modules (more power, terrible switch prices, slightly worse latency), but it shouldn't be problematic. If you're having trouble with one, it's likely to be either a hardware defect or some weird incompatibility.

 

[Melrok]

Hello again my dears, I have good news: patience pays off!

Press 3 in the boot menu to ge to the prompt, type ‘set boot_serial=NO’, type ‘Menu’ and from the menu select 1 - which got at least me finally to the installer. This is not hardware related but seems rather an oversight in the parameters.

At first I tried this, but it didn't solved my problem. I don't remember exactly what happen but even if it has I don't want to need a hack to install TrueNAS, or at least I want to understand it.
But then I tried the latest nightly version, the TrueNAS-13.1-MASTER-202401310814-3c7140e and it worked normally!
I take this opportunity to ask where is the documentation for the boot shell if there is any? I remember digging in the source code trying to find some commands and their behavior…

Seeing the thread's bad atmosphere I decided to wait for it to calm down a bit and answer after the test version was out, and here I am!
So now I installed the test version, I'll have fun with my sweety server and try all sorts of things until the stable version is out (early April).
And I have to repair my computer since i wrote the first giga of my disk… how can I be so heedless!

Thanks to @Ericloewe and the others for the support!
I didn't take the first answer well, but at least it's good to have people who answer and seem to know what they're talking about.
I know it's another topic but it's a shared view and I think it's important to point it out.

Given that most ‘help’ here seems more focused at bashing people with a genuine question for their use of ‘non-server’ hardware

What @Derob is saying is not specific to this post, when I was searching for a thread answering my problem I saw it a lot.
It's in nobody's interest to be rough, I don't understand why so many of you seem embittered. I hope it's just an impression…
In short, please be kind.
Especially since even if we read the hardware documentation for example, we can have problems. And I am a good example of that.
What leads me to ask why the forum documentation (like the Hardware Recommendations), that should be the top of the top because all of you (local elders) recommend it, is not visible in the TrueNAS documentation? Worse: some of you point to different pages for the same topic!
As a newcomer it's scary to see all this documentation. In my case I didn't know BSD nor TrueNAS, and never thought that I should read documentation from the Ressources of the forum too!

Anyway, thanks again.
My problem is solved but since I asked some questions and I don't know how to close the thread we can continue the discussion a bit.