Unraid on Dell R440 - Can't Boot Into Installer - SOLVED

[Nomaran]

Hi all,

 

I've been spending probably the last few days trying to get my R440 to boot into the Unraid installer.

 

So far this is what I've tried:

 

Used both the tool and did the manual method to create a USB stick.

Testing the USB on another machine - it boots into the installer.

Trying every USB port on the R440.

Trying two other USB flashdrives from different vendors.

Confirmed that I can boot into another OS. I was able to boot into Windows Sever 2016, Ubuntu Server 20.01.2, and ESXi.

I've played with multiple BIOS settings in attempt to get it to boot.

 

I'm hoping someone that has installed on an R440 can point me in the right direction.

 

Thanks!

Edited June 4, 2021 by Nomaran
Solved

[trurl]

What do you see when you try to boot? 

[Nomaran]

Boot failed:

Please ensure a compatible bootable media is available.

[trurl]

2 hours ago, Nomaran said:

did the manual method

Did you try this?

 

[Nomaran]

I'll try that tomorrow after work and I'll report back.

 

thanks for your help so far trurl.

[Nomaran]

17 hours ago, trurl said:

Did you try this?

 

 

Alright I followed those steps on three different USB drives, I'm getting the same error.

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by Nomaran

[Nomaran]

I got it!

 

I updated the BIOS for the R440 and now I'm able to boot into the installer.

 

Thanks trurl for the assist!

[JonathanM]

3 minutes ago, Nomaran said:

I'm able to boot into the installer.

You keep saying installer, and I suppose that's technically somewhat accurate, but keep in mind that it "installs" into RAM, so it has to "install" on every boot. It's not something you boot from once and then complete a process, the USB stick stays connected whenever Unraid is running. It's more like a "Live" install that saves settings to the USB flash drive.

[Nomaran]

3 minutes ago, jonathanm said:

You keep saying installer, and I suppose that's technically somewhat accurate, but keep in mind that it "installs" into RAM, so it has to "install" on every boot. It's not something you boot from once and then complete a process, the USB stick stays connected whenever Unraid is running. It's more like a "Live" install that saves settings to the USB flash drive.

 

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

[crusemm]

On 6/4/2021 at 2:55 PM, Nomaran said:

I got it!

 

I updated the BIOS for the R440 and now I'm able to boot into the installer.

 

Thanks trurl for the assist!

How did you update the bios?

I have an old (2010) Dell Inspiron 580s that I am trying to load unraid onto.  I am not sure how to update the bios, without being able to load some form of OS first. And right now I can't get that far.