supermicro x11sslf + boot from pcie-to-nvme adapter

[phier]

hello,
i installed truenas 13 to nvme disk which is plugged via pcie-to-nvme reduction; during the install it was visible as nvd0 (i think), but i cant see it in the boot menu ;/
i was googling all what i found is https://www.supermicro.com/support/faqs/faq.cfm?faq=23137
but it also doesn't work -ie i cant see that nvme disk in boot options/menu.

Does it mean i have to install truenas as UEFI? Bc close by the end of the install process i selected legacy/bios method instead of UEFI.

thank you!

 

[NugentS]

Yeah - try UEFI

 

[phier]

it doesnt work at all.
just uefi shell is opened .... ehm.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Did you do a second install with UEFI? Modern Supermicro boards will happily boot from any UEFI partition they can find, so that's the preferred method, now.

 

[phier]

yes i did second install with UEFI...

 

[phier]

the thing is there is no nvm device shown in boot menu - option - only UEFI hard drive.
i don't know what is modern .. its Supermicro X11SSL-F

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

UEFI hard drive should do fine if you installed with UEFI only. X10, X11, X12 I would consider modern. Current still sold hardware.

 

[phier]

i installed with UEFI only - i dont know whats uefi only means, during installatio nthere are 2 options
eufi / oldbios....

i have x11 ... and i set boot to uefi hard drive.. nothing. just uefi shell - so apparently its not working ...

 

[phier]

its x11ssl-f,
i plugged pcie card to PCI-e 3.0 x4 (in X8) slot, in bios i set that slot as UEFI

i installed truenas to nvm0 - it detected drive - showed proper size etc, and then i set UEFI instead of old bios.

boot options are 1) uefi hard drive...

when i reboot - boot - nothing just eufi shell comes up.



update2
bios version 2.7 latest
so when i go to Boot options - while booting there is nothing ... its just empty - seems its not detecting NVME drive.
any idea?
thanks

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

What PCIe card are you using?

 

[phier]

this card

Amazon.de

but i dont believe its pcie card issue as while installing truenas - drive 128GB - is visible and system is installed there.

 

[phier]

when i was discussing what adapter/card do i have to go for ppls suggested some junks /noname, when i said maybe its good to go for original supermicro pcie nvme i was told i think expensive no point.

so now don't tell me its bc of pcie card....

 

[phier]

is there a way to find out if UEFI was properly set after installation via freebsd shell? before i reboot?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

so now don't tell me its bc of pcie card....

I don't - the card looks fine. Must be something in your BIOS settings. Can you try resetting to defaults?

is there a way to find out if UEFI was properly set after installation via freebsd shell? before i reboot?

gpart show nvd0

 

[phier]

please find the attached results, seems as EFI partitions are there?

any suggestions? I havent reset bios to default yet.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

There's obviously an EFI boot partition created by the installer. Any sufficiently modern Supermicro system should boot that. Reset the BIOS to defaults, possibly look for something like "option ROM" set to "legacy only". It's difficult to spot what might be wrong when I am not sitting at the machine, sorry ...

 

[phier]

you are talking so generic, the type of the supermicro board is known.
I reset bios with default settings; and set PCIe slot to UEFI (i also tried other slot)

It doesnt work. No boot... not sure where or to what you are reffering "option ROM"?

thx

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

you are talking so generic, the type of the supermicro board is known.

Yes, but I do not own that board. I don't know all the settings from memory. Regularly I just flip through all the screens available and look at each setting and decide what makes sense to me.

*Somewhere* in your BIOS there probably is a setting labelled "Option ROM" with the setting "Legacy only, UEFI only, both". Probably. I might be wrong. You did read your mainboard manual, did you? I am not going to read it for you. I can give you generic hints what in my experience has gone wrong in my past.

I am wondering what you mean with "setting the slot to UEFI" ...?

 

[phier]

@Patrick M. Hausen
i make it work,
the option you are mentioning (Even its mentioned here https://www.supermicro.com/support/faqs/faq.cfm?faq=22326) is not there.

Per each PCIe slot you set legacy/disabled/UEFI.

I changed something - related to PCI drivers... and its booting truenas.

I will post what i changed later today - once i reboot


thanks!

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Per each PCIe slot you set legacy/disabled/UEFI.

That's probably the Option ROM selection I was talking about. Per slot - nice.