Not Booting

[kaii_contractor]

Hi,
I have recently built a nas from some old hardware i had lying around and it was running (FreeNAS) perfectly. Then the other day I turned off the nas (like every night) and in the morning it refused to turn on.
The system booted but couldn’t load the FreeNAS software. To test is it was my hardware, I added another usb stick loaded with windows and it booted the windows installer. I then downloaded the latest version of FreeNAS and the installer booted. I then proceeded to update the software (through the installer) (which didn't work). I then made a new boot drive but that didn’t work either. And yes the usb drive is detected in the bios.

I really don’t know what to do would really appreciate some help.
Thanks

 

[Chris Moore]

I turned off the nas (like every night) and in the morning it refused to turn on.

If you are turning your NAS off at night, when is it running SMART tests on the drives and doing scrubs of the pool. The idea of a NAS is that it runs 24/7 and is scheduled to do maintenance tasks when the users are not there.

I then made a new boot drive but that didn’t work either. And yes the usb drive is detected in the bios.

With new media? This sounds like the USB drive you were booting FreeNAS from has failed and needs to be replaced, but I can't tell if you replaced it or if you simply tried to reuse it.

I really don’t know what to do would really appreciate some help.

Don't write anything to your storage pool drives and the data should be fine. This sounds like a bad boot drive. USB memory sticks are funny in that they can fail in strange ways. They can show up in the BIOS but still not work. They can act like they are working but not really be working. They are just generally unreliable. It would be best if you could switch to booting from something else. For testing purposes, you could even use a small capacity hard drive that you have lying about. It does not need to be a USB memory stick.

 

[kaii_contractor]

If you are turning your NAS off at night, when is it running SMART tests on the drives and doing scrubs of the pool. The idea of a NAS is that it runs 24/7 and is scheduled to do maintenance tasks when the users are not there.

With new media? This sounds like the USB drive you were booting FreeNAS from has failed and needs to be replaced, but I can't tell if you replaced it or if you simply tried to reuse it.

Don't write anything to your storage pool drives and the data should be fine. This sounds like a bad boot drive. USB memory sticks are funny in that they can fail in strange ways. They can show up in the BIOS but still not work. They can act like they are working but not really be working. They are just generally unreliable. It would be best if you could switch to booting from something else. For testing purposes, you could even use a small capacity hard drive that you have lying about. It does not need to be a USB memory stick.

ok thanks for the advice i will try that. and yes i did replace the usb and it still have the old one tho.

 

[kaii_contractor]

it is working now, i just unplugged all of my other drives and it booted will now plug in the drives one by one to see which is the problem

 

[Redcoat]

Check the boot order - ensure the USB drive is first.

Connect a monitor so that you can see the console screen.