USB not booting into Grub - FreeNAS 11.0-U4 UEFI install

[r00tb33r]

Hey all,

After a 3 year hiatus I'm giving FreeNAS another go. I ran 9.3 before my family took my server down. Now they realized their need for a reliable network filesystem so the server is back. Jerks!

My machine (2014-spec build):
Motherboard: ECS/Biostar NM70I-1037U
RAM: 8GB DDR3
HBA: Dell PERC H310, IT mode, flashed to P20
HDDs: 8x Seagate 2TB SATA
USB: SanDisk Cruzer Fit 8GB

Since my 9.3 installation had some problems (bugs in Samba permissions), I chose not to upgrade and opt for a clean install, I had no data to lose.
I downloaded the current stable release which is 11.0-U4. Made a second bootable USB stick (Kingston) for installation using Rufus in DD mode to write the ISO to the stick. During installation to the correct USB stick (SanDisk) I chose UEFI boot setup as my motherboard is UEFI-capable. Installation completed and I chose to reboot in the installation menu. Once the screen went dark I pulled out the installer stick and only left the stick FreeNAS installed to. It did not find Grub. Here's the error message:

Code:

Reboot and Select Proper Boot device
or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key

Indeed the correct boot device is chosen, and I have confirmed that the stick has a GPT structure with an EFI partition with bootx64.efi file on it.

Now, there are no specific UEFI options in the UEFI BIOS setup utility. I can run the UEFI shell from a USB stick, which I used to flash the LSI HBA since DOS way did not work, so the board is definitely UEFI-capable. But how do I make it boot into Grub?

I noticed that others also ran into challenges with UEFI BIOS from AMI, but I'm not sure if I have the same exact problem. What's the solution here besides throwing in the towel and using regular BIOS mode boot?

Insight is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[joeschmuck]

What's the solution here besides throwing in the towel and using regular BIOS mode boot?

Throwing in the towel and using the BIOS mode. That is just the way it is. If you know how to do some programming and are willing, you could investigate this issue and try to fix it, at least for your machine. I use to do a lot of programming and compiling. I thought it was fun but that was quite a few years ago. If you are not a programmer or want to learn this kind of stuff, that is okay too. Sometimes I think about drafting someone into programming and most times it fails. There has got to be the 1% that wants to, maybe you are it.

 

[r00tb33r]

Throwing in the towel and using the BIOS mode. That is just the way it is. If you know how to do some programming and are willing, you could investigate this issue and try to fix it, at least for your machine. I use to do a lot of programming and compiling. I thought it was fun but that was quite a few years ago. If you are not a programmer or want to learn this kind of stuff, that is okay too. Sometimes I think about drafting someone into programming and most times it fails. There has got to be the 1% that wants to, maybe you are it.

What's the advantage of UEFI boot in respect to FreeNAS, and what do I lose if I use the regular BIOS boot? I'm assuming the server shouldn't really have to boot up very often, it should just stay running.

 

[r00tb33r]

I got UEFI boot working.

In UEFI BIOS setup utility there are the following confusing options that can be set (choices that I previously did not see).

Under Boot -> CSM parameters:
Setting Launch CSM to "Never" (default is "Always") will make UEFI boot work.

OR

While Launch CSM is set to "Always" set Boot option filter to "UEFI only" will make UEFI boot work (default is "Legacy only", "UEFI and Legacy" option does not work)
I prefer the first method, though.

Note: default settings will not boot in UEFI.

 

[joeschmuck]

What's the advantage of UEFI boot in respect to FreeNAS, and what do I lose if I use the regular BIOS boot?

You gain nothing and loose nothing for FreeNAS. UEFI is a newer standard that is replacing BIOS. You can do an internet serach for "UEFI BIOS" and find several places which describe what is going on, but with respect to FreeNAS, it doesn't make a difference other than BIOS is used more widely so it is tested more.