Need to install bootloader onto different drive.

[aaronouthier]

Ok, so I have a server system, specifically a Dell Poweredge 840. Latest bios revision. 4x 4 GB sata2 drives, 8 GB DDR2 ram - the most it supports, and a 16 GB CF card attached via an IDE to CF adapter. I went through quite a bit of trouble to beef-up this machine. Except. Except. EXCEPT!! I discovered after the fact that this server only supports booting from USB, IDE DVD drives, and SATA hard drives - there is absolutely no BIOS support for booting IDE hard drives!

Should I have checked this first? Yes. It's just that in 20 years of doing computer repair, I've never seen a computer that has an ATA/IDE bus, but can't boot a hard drive from it! At least, not until now.

Looking for ideas. I'd use a USB drive for booting, except that the whole reason I bought the CF card and adapter, is that I don't want a USB drive hanging out.

I would also rather not sacrifice a 4 TB drive for the FreeNAS boot drive.

I'm sure I could scrounge up a Floppy drive and have it redirect the boot up to the ATA port, if absolutely needed.

My ultimate question is:
How could I install a second copy of the boot loader onto a SATA drive, but keep the boot config files on the ATA drive?

Is this possible? I am comfortable using a command prompt, and I know how to access one from the FreeNAS install disk.

Help!

--Aaron

 

[BigDave]

I'd use a USB drive for booting, except that the whole reason I bought the CF card and adapter, is that I don't want a USB drive hanging out.

One of these would be a simple solution for you: San Disk Cruzer Fit

 

[aaronouthier]

One of these would be a simple solution for you: San Disk Cruzer Fit

Except that the reason that I don't want flash drives hanging out is that I've had flash drives in various systems before and they keep disappearing. Usually when the company owner's teenaged son comes by to ask for money. The owner swears his son has nothing to do with it, but the drives continue to disappear anyway...

This doesn't happen with internal drives that require a screwdriver to remove.

 

[aaronouthier]

Hmm. Now that you raise the point, I wonder if I could get about 4-6 identical pieces of those old 32 or 64 MEGAbyte USB drives. Sure, one or two may disappear, but once *whomever* realizes that they are worthless, the rest would be left alone?

Then again, the suspected individual hates me, so they might just disappear out of spite. Who knows?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

I wonder if I could get about 4-6 identical pieces of those old 32 or 64 MEGAbyte USB drives. Sure, one or two may disappear, but once *whomever* realizes that they are worthless, the rest would be left alone?

As decoys? Because you know, to actually install FreeNAS you need a device of at least 4GB, with 8GB recommended.

Anyway, why not just put a USB header adapter inside the case?

 

[Bidule0hm]

Simple and proper solution: use an internal USB header ;)

Edit: Robert ninja'd me... :D

 

[mjws00]

LOL. Slow ninja got distracted one more . IDE to CF would have sucked for you any way. Not reliable at all.

 

[aaronouthier]

Would be nice if there were a place to plug in a USB header adapter. Alas, stupid server has 0 Front Panel USB headers.

Well, technically, there are pins for the 2 front panel USB ports, but they aren't a separate header - I'd have to unplug the power button, power LED, and Hard drive LED indicators to do what you're suggesting.

This and more is why I prefer HP systems over Dell. My 2 proliant DL-380 G5 units each have an internal USB port. No header adapter required. Plus the IPMI controller has an easy to use, web-based GUI.

By comparison, the Dell Poweredge has a, um, well it has an, uhhhh. [Crickets chirping].

 

[aaronouthier]

As decoys? Because you know, to actually install FreeNAS you need a device of at least 4GB, with 8GB recommended.

I know. 16 GB ATA to CF adapter for root file system. 32 or 64 MB flash drive to manually install SBM or grub4dos, etc. and chainload the REAL bootloader from my CF card. If I get 1 working, I could clone it to the other drives. Then if a few go missing or fail on me, I can just power off, swap, power on, and good to go.

 

[mjws00]

Just steal the pins, or move the front usb ports internal (it's 2 screws). Should be a 2 minute job. Messing with the bootloader will be nothing but heartache.

 

[aaronouthier]

Just steal the pins, or move the front usb ports internal (it's 2 screws). Should be a 2 minute job. Messing with the bootloader will be nothing but heartache.

This is already giving me a headache. However, I believe I'm onto something.

I have an old 5-port USB to PCI adapter, with the 5th port being internal to the chassis. This is a REAL USB port, not a pin header mind you. Add an old USB card reader into the mix, I think I'll have this issue licked.

As if things weren't tough enough, though, FreeNAS bombs out while trying to install GRUB onto the USB CF adapter. Something about can not find grub device for /dev/da0 . Before, with the IDE to CF adapter, FreeNAS would install but not boot. About to reinstall IDE adapter, install, and remove IDE adapter to install CF card into USB reader so it can boot.

That's life, and right now, life may stink, but it's always darkest before dawn, right??

 

[Bidule0hm]

To keep things clear and simple: do not use CF cards with FreeNAS, they are unreliable (at best).

 

[Ericloewe]

Ok, so I have a server system, specifically a Dell Poweredge 840. Latest bios revision. 4x 4 GB sata2 drives, 8 GB DDR2 ram - the most it supports, and a 16 GB CF card attached via an IDE to CF adapter. I went through quite a bit of trouble to beef-up this machine. Except. Except. EXCEPT!! I discovered after the fact that this server only supports booting from USB, IDE DVD drives, and SATA hard drives - there is absolutely no BIOS support for booting IDE hard drives!

Should I have checked this first? Yes. It's just that in 20 years of doing computer repair, I've never seen a computer that has an ATA/IDE bus, but can't boot a hard drive from it! At least, not until now.

What the hell. That is profoundly asinine.

To keep things clear and simple: do not use CF cards with FreeNAS, they are unreliable (at best).

CF is very reliable. It's bog-standard PATA. It's literally the exact same electrical interface crammed into a smaller form factor, speaking the exact same ATA commands. A CF card attached to an IDE controller should pose no problems, assuming it's fast enough (modern cards should be, but CF is old enough for some painfully slow stuff to exist - speaking of which, there's an 8MB CF card on my desk (that's 8*10^6-ish bytes)).

 

[mjws00]

I thought there were numerous posts, like this one by cyber, against cf and convertors and a section in the manual. It's not about the spec, but about the crap chips, and incompatibility. meh.

That said, I'm sure I was thinking usb->sd not an ancient ide->cf

 

[aaronouthier]

Thanks fellas, I managed to get it working. Using a small 8 GB USB drive plugged into one of the rear ports. I then set the computer near the wall, amongst 4 other computers, all of which are under a wire-mesh shelf. Hopefully, the would-be thief won't see it there.