Yet Another "TrueNAS Not Seeing SATA Drives" Post

[VersoJosh]

While there seem to be many threads like it, this one is mine.

I completed a new build for TrueNAS Core today, I have not used the product before and am more of a Network than Storage guy, so bear with my ignorance. My hardware is below:

Motherboard - Topton N5105 NAS Motherboard
CPU - Intel Celeron N5105 (Integrated)
Memory - Crucial 32GB DDR4 3200MHz CL22 (2x16GB)
Case - JONSBO N1
Power Supply - SilverStone Technology 450W SFX PSU
Boot Drive - PNY CS1030 250GB M.2 NVMe
SATA Drives - HGST WD Ultrastar DC HC510 10TB 7200RPM (4 of these, I also put in a random Drive from an old PC as a test)

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As I said, I completed the physical build and TrueNAS Core installation this evening. Everything worked fine, I was able to get it the NAS an IP Address and can reach it from my main PC without issue. The only problem is none of the SATA Drives are seen, nor were they during installation (only the NVMe Drive was seen then). This is from the Storage > Pool and Storage > Disks menus.

Four of the Drives are brand new (well refurbished, but otherwise) and the other is a non-matching, used Drive. I have altered no BIOS Settings, only installed the OS. As far as I know all the cabling is tight/correct, I am unaware of any additional settings for the Drives or MoBo that may be needed but that being said I did get the build from an article.

My assumption is I set something up wrongly in the Hardware or OS as I doubt four (or five) Drives would be bad. No other issues with the build, USB/HDMI work fine and all that. Happy to T/S, just not sure where to start as the Documentation didn't cover the Drives not being seen. :P

 

[HoneyBadger]

Hey @VersoJosh

Have you tried TrueNAS SCALE by any chance? These Topton and similar motherboards often use a JMicron SATA chipset which isn't well-supported under FreeBSD, but might have better support under Linux.

Checking to ensure that you see your SATA controller in the lspci output is also a good first step.

With that said, while the JMicron JMB585 isn't an ideal/optimal choice, if it's using the JMB575 SATA port multiplier instead that's got a much greater chance for poor results and potentially putting your data at risk.

 

[VersoJosh]

Hello, I have not tried the Scale version, although I'm not averse to doing so as I haven't done any real configuration. I'll see if I can make that happen tonight.

Output from lspci is: SATA controller: Intel Corporation Device 4dd3 (rev 01)
SATA controller: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB58x AHCI SATA controller

The other entries don't seem relevant to your question, but it looks like they're at least recognized.

Can you elucidate on your last line, specifically how it puts the data at risk? This is only intended to be used as a Media Box (main PC is what runs Plex) but it seems like a relevant warning. :]

If your recommendation is to go with the Scale version of the product I can do that and report back.

 

[joeschmuck]

I am not familiar with this motherboard but for some motherboards if you use an M.2 slot, you kill a few SATA ports. What does your manual say? You can pull out the M.2 card(s) and if you have a smaller hard drive or even a flash drive, you can install TrueNAS to that and then see if the drives show up.

Good Luck

 

[HoneyBadger]

Hello, I have not tried the Scale version, although I'm not averse to doing so as I haven't done any real configuration. I'll see if I can make that happen tonight.

Output from lspci is: SATA controller: Intel Corporation Device 4dd3 (rev 01)
SATA controller: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB58x AHCI SATA controller

The other entries don't seem relevant to your question, but it looks like they're at least recognized.

Can you elucidate on your last line, specifically how it puts the data at risk? This is only intended to be used as a Media Box (main PC is what runs Plex) but it seems like a relevant warning. :]

If your recommendation is to go with the Scale version of the product I can do that and report back.

Have a read through @jgreco 's Resource below:

Multiply your problems with SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers

In the last year or two, we've had a resurgence of users asking about SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers. Please, do NOT use port multipliers, and use cheap SATA controllers only after extensive research. SATA controllers and SATA...

www.truenas.com

Specifically, SATA port multipliers will limit all of their "downstream" drives to the speed of a single SATA port, which can cause them to fail under heavy loads such as ZFS scrubs. While it looks like this board is using the JMB585 as an actual SATA chipset, it does still fall under the limit of a single PCIe lane, which can be a bottleneck.

The quality of the controller and driver for it also aren't as robust in comparison to the more popular/widely-used LSI HBA cards; although in this form factor, these HBAs aren't an option (and likely consume more power than your entire board)

 

[joeschmuck]

JMicron Technology Corp. JMB58x AHCI SATA controller

I made an assumption that this is the built-in SATA controller for your motherboard. If this is an add-on card, please state that.

 

[VersoJosh]

I made an assumption that this is the built-in SATA controller for your motherboard. If this is an add-on card, please state that.

There is no Add-On that I am aware of, I only posted what the return for the command was. As far as I know I am using the built-in Controller, everything is direct to the MoBo.

 

[joeschmuck]

In that case, please try the thing I suggested which is to remove the M.2 module(s) and create a bootable USB Flash drive with TrueNAS on it. If the system boots up normally and the drives are now available, then the M.2 module(s) are disabling the SATA ports due to sharing the PCIe connections, or something like that. I'm not suggesting that you let your system continue to run like that, but that is an option (not one most of us recommend). The best thing if you want to use the M.2 card, place it on an adapter and stick it into a PCIe slot. These adapters for a single M.2 module are fairly cheap. Just make sure you have a slot with enough PCIe lanes to support it. The other option is a SATA add-on card/HBA. Honestly, I'd prefer the M.2 adapter if it was my system.

But first you need to see what the test shows. Can you see the drives without the M.2 module(s) installed?

 

[VersoJosh]

In that case, please try the thing I suggested which is to remove the M.2 module(s) and create a bootable USB Flash drive with TrueNAS on it. If the system boots up normally and the drives are now available, then the M.2 module(s) are disabling the SATA ports due to sharing the PCIe connections, or something like that. I'm not suggesting that you let your system continue to run like that, but that is an option (not one most of us recommend). The best thing if you want to use the M.2 card, place it on an adapter and stick it into a PCIe slot. These adapters for a single M.2 module are fairly cheap. Just make sure you have a slot with enough PCIe lanes to support it. The other option is a SATA add-on card/HBA. Honestly, I'd prefer the M.2 adapter if it was my system.

But first you need to see what the test shows. Can you see the drives without the M.2 module(s) installed?

Alright, I finally got some time to test and tried another NAS Product (Rockstor), this had the exact same issue. I removed the NVMe Drive, no change, Rockstor and TrueNAS still can't see the Drives. So I'm pretty sure that's not an OS issue but something with the build.

Unfortunately this MoBo is completely lacking in documentation, never again with these Chinese boards. As far as I can see and feel, everything is cabled tightly and goes direct from the Drive to the SATA Cable to the MoBo SATA Ports. There is nothing else to plug them into or with. I tried a Drive from an old PC just to see if that would show up, it didn't.

At this point I feel a bit dead in the water, I will hook up one of the Drives to my main PC just to make sure it's alive but otherwise I'm open to suggestions. :]

 

[joeschmuck]

I was unable to locate a User Manual on the manufacturer site, which by the way is not Topton.

Here is a link to a forum about your computer and there are even posts about getting TrueNAS SCALE up and running. I would suggest you become a member of that forum and read the entire thread. Hopefully there will be something to use. If not, post the details of your hardware and describe the problem you are having. Be very detailed, and hope someone can help you out.

Topton 'NAS' motherboard.

Just got myself the N6005 powered NAS motherboard (https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005004761498719.html) amongst other resellers. Costs around $300 (less with rebates) A couple of quick conclusions after installing Debian: 1. 64Gbytes is NOT supported, 'only' 32Gbytes, yes, I have tested this...

forums.servethehome.com

 

[LemonBag]

Alright, I finally got some time to test and tried another NAS Product (Rockstor), this had the exact same issue. I removed the NVMe Drive, no change, Rockstor and TrueNAS still can't see the Drives. So I'm pretty sure that's not an OS issue but something with the build.

Unfortunately this MoBo is completely lacking in documentation, never again with these Chinese boards. As far as I can see and feel, everything is cabled tightly and goes direct from the Drive to the SATA Cable to the MoBo SATA Ports. There is nothing else to plug them into or with. I tried a Drive from an old PC just to see if that would show up, it didn't.

At this point I feel a bit dead in the water, I will hook up one of the Drives to my main PC just to make sure it's alive but otherwise I'm open to suggestions. :]

Similar issue here. Power disable feature on select Ultrastar models prevented my drives from spinning up and showing up even in the BIOS.