SOLVED Unable to boot into FreeNAS.

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FREEMENAS

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Hello - I'm brand new to FreeNAS. System is in my SIG but is as follows:
Lenovo ThinkServer TS130
Model: 1100A32
BIOS Revision: 9HKT47AUS
Processor: Intel Xeon E31275 3.4ghz Quad Core
Memory: 32GB ECC 1333MHZ
Boot Device: PNY 16GB USB 3.0 Thumb Drive
NIC: Intel Pro/1000 PT Dual Port (Add in)
Installed Version: 9.10.1 (Attempted)

I have 3 1TB WD Blues installed currently but I'm not even getting to the point where it shows the command menu and IP Address of the system. I have attached a picture of where it gets. I can hit enter and get into the boot options and I can hit E to edit the three options. Once I try and boot it goes to a blank screen with no cursor. However, the screen is still lit and light is still blue (active). Doesn't matter to which option I boot I get the blank black screen with no cursor.

Tried searching and found a lot of stuff about blank screen WITH a cursor but nothing about just a blank black screen. It has no problem getting to the point below but seems as thought it will not load any further.

Thanks for your time.
 

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nojohnny101

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how did you install freenas? did you follow the steps in the manual?

Me thinks something obviously went wrong. It has nothing to do with your drives because it seem you are not even booting into FreeNAS. FreeNAS should boot fine even if you don't have any data disks setup.

Have you checked in the BIOS to see if there are settings pertaining to booting from USB drives? Sometime boards can be finicky about this although I do not have any experience with the TS130 so hopefully someone who does will chime in.
 

FREEMENAS

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I used Win32DiskImager to write the ISO to One USB Drive. Booted to it with another USB drive plugged in. Installed FreeNAS onto my intended boot OS Thumb Drive. All went well on the install part as per the successful message I received at the end of the install. Unless I missed something.

As far as the BIOS go I have auto, fail and default boot settings set to the USB on the front panel in which my intended boot drive is plugged in. It has no problem seeing the drive as far as I can see as brand/model number and size come up in the BIOS when I check the BIOS and the boot sequence.


Edited: Words
 

jlpellet

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First, while I can't tell from the description, I suggest ensuring the FreeNAS stick is in a USB 2 port as I've seen USB 3 controllers act inconsistently with the OS. If that gives the same results, I think it most likely the install went bad so would suggest trying a new ISO dl, burn, & install to a different USB stick. Also, I suggest using a USB 2 port to write the ISO image - it's small enough to not require much extra time. Just some ideas - good luck!
 

FREEMENAS

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Thanks! It was installed VIA USB 2.o port. The Drive is a 3.0/2.0 drive so I figured I should list that. I am going to try to boot to it on another machine and see what happens as I haven't tried that yet. If it does not boot in another machine I'm going to reinstall again onto one of the drives I have installed in the server and see if it boots.
 

FREEMENAS

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Got it!

Hit enter at the screen I posted. Hit "E" on normal boot and changed the line from "set kFreeBSD.kern.vty=$kernvt" to "set kFreeBSD.kern.vty=vt" as per a suggestion in another thread.

Also, confirmed I'm able to log into the GUI over the network!
 

melloa

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Got it!

Hit enter at the screen I posted. Hit "E" on normal boot and changed the line from "set kFreeBSD.kern.vty=$kernvt" to "set kFreeBSD.kern.vty=vt" as per a suggestion in another thread.

Also, confirmed I'm able to log into the GUI over the network!

Will that "survive" reboots?
 

FREEMENAS

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x_kansas_x

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I tried this and it solved my identical problem - able to boot up where previously I had a black screen only.

However, maybe unrelated, my FreeNAS setup isn't saving the configuration and boots on subsequent tries as if it was the initial bootup. Did you encounter a similar issue?

Edit: The "default" boot environment was set to initial-install, so silly noob mistake there. If you don't mind explaining what the edit does, and how it could be made to survive reboots that would be awesome!
 
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Jim92

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I've tried this, and as mentioned, it works on THAT boot, however a more 'stable' solution would be appreciated if anyone has any ideas!
 

Mirfster

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x_kansas_x

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In my case, where this line of config text got me to boot, I was eventually successful in re-downloading the iso and reinstalling completely. Now I can boot normally without any workarounds. I had tried re-downloading and reinstalling before, but apparently trying that yet again was all I needed. As a total novice, I can't say if that's a good idea for you, too, but just sharing how I eventually got my FreeNAS up and running since my post above.
 

Jim92

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In my case, where this line of config text got me to boot, I was eventually successful in re-downloading the iso and reinstalling completely. Now I can boot normally without any workarounds. I had tried re-downloading and reinstalling before, but apparently trying that yet again was all I needed. As a total novice, I can't say if that's a good idea for you, too, but just sharing how I eventually got my FreeNAS up and running since my post above.

I had hoped to avoid a complete re-install, but if that's what it'll need to get working, might as well give it a shot. Editing the boot every time I need/want to reboot is (obviously) a pain!
 

Mirfster

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Okay, then can you try this:
  1. Backup your config - [System] - [General] - [Save Config]
  2. In the GUI, select the "initial-install" and set that to [Activate]
  3. Then once that is done, select the "default" and set that to [Activate]
Try a reboot and see what happens.
 

Mirfster

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Johannez

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After doing a fresh install of the latest version of FreeNAS onto my C2750 server i gotten the same problem.
I tried a lot of stuff and yes your method did work but annoyed me that this where necessary, also changing back to a previous config file gave me some problems.

I decided to boot from my SSD again instead of the USB drive, this however gave even more problems because after the installation the SSD Drive where not bootable.
Yes bios and boot settings where fine. After a long search i switched back to the USB drive again and loaded an older version of FreeNAS FreeNAS-9.10-STABLE-201606270534 (dd17351), it booted without any problems.
So the version of FreeNAS does (also) create this problem.
This version is the same version by the way which gave the Grub problems after doing an update FreeNAS-9.10.1 (d989edd)
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/freenas-9-10-1-upgrade-problem.45153/


Reason for the SSD not being bootable is probably because of a left over boot partition which i need to delete with Diskpart, i read up on this after my switch back to the USB drives.
 
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