TrueNAS Mini POST hangs after power cycle at A9 instead of Setup or Boot

TrueNAS General
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1

My stalwart TrueNas Mini does not start correctly after power cycle.

Note the A9 below, normally we should get past this quickly, to the Setup screen if F2 is pressed, or to EFI boot if left to its own desires.

20250325-122802
20250325-122802743×469 5.59 KB

C2750D4I UEFI P3.20
Total Memory: 32768MB

Press F2 or DEL to run Setup.
Press F11 for Boot Menu.

Detected ATA/ATAPI Devices...
SATA Port0: WDC WD60EFRX-68L0BN1
SATA Port1: WDC WD60EFRX-68L0BN1
SATA Port0: 2.5" SATA SSD 3MG2-P
SATA Port1: 2.5" SATA SSD 3MG2-P


                               A9

For POST A9 error, I remove the CMOS battery, shorting it briefly, & replacing it. I have twice inserted a fresh tested battery, and repeatedly hit the same issue.

After resetting CMOS it’s necessary to reconfigure the BIOS to regain access to SOL (remote serial console over IPMI) , which I’ve done via VGA + USB keyboard, including setting up the SOL again.

After doing this, I have to disconnect the power supply to put the case back together and then it hangs at boot at exactly this spot every time.

Pressing any of F2, Del, F11, makes no difference.

Any ideas what can be done? What is it doing at the end of A9 when it should jump into either booting, or firmware setup?

2

Not shorting the battery, correct?

You have not included some important information:

  1. Was the computer running before?
  2. If yes, how long? (Be as descriptive as you can)
  3. Things to try (may not work)
  4. Always power off and Unplug the computer before doing an operation! I cannot be more clear than that.
  5. Disconnect all the drives in the system (SATA and USB, everything). Power on, do you get past A9 ?
  6. If 5 fails; do you have multiple RAM modules? If yes, remove all but the one in Slot A1 (the blue slot closes to the ATX power connector).
  7. Can you actually enter the BIOS settings? It sounds like you can.
  8. Do not use the SOL, stay with the directly connected monitor and keyboard, it just rules out stuff.
  9. What is your Monitor connection type? I read that a HDMI monitor cable “could” cause this issue. I don’t see how but it is out on the internet so it is worth a try.
3

thanks for the suggestions Joe.

We are connecting the 2 sides of the CMOS battery slot not the battery itself.

  1. yes

  2. it has run for several years without intervention, with occasional SOL use for power on / off mainly.

  3. plenty of that, yes :slight_smile: probably a little too much for my liking, the reboot lag is annoying.

  4. I have found that I can get past A9 if:

  • we have no extra NIC installed
  • or, if the PCIe > 4G BIOS setting is disabled

So I have no idea what the previous settings were, but that PCIe setting is the culprit here.

This has mostly been done over VGA + usb keyboard, but the SoL is necessary, as this box is not normally nearby.

That will be today’s job to try and coax it into behaving next. These are the settings i’ve used in the past on ASRock

  • disable COM1 & EMS console redirection
  • enable only SOL redirection
  • use defaults, VT100, 115200, 8/none/1/none

On FreeBSD I used these settings:

# /boot/loader.conf
# serial console dmesg
# uart0: <16550 or compatible> port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 on acpi0
# uart0: forcing active-hi polarity for IRQ 4
# uart2: <16550 or compatible> port 0x248-0x24f irq 3 flags 0x10 on acpi0
# uart2: console (115200,n,8,1)
# uart2: forcing active-hi polarity for IRQ 3
boot_multicons="YES"
boot_serial="YES"
console="comconsole,vidconsole"
comconsole_speed="115200"
comconsole_port="0x248"
hint.uart.0.flags="0x00"
hint.uart.2.flags="0x10"