New user - HP Mini-PC won't boot from different USB sticks (beware, WOT)

[Tannhäuser]

Hello Unraiders!

 

I am completely new to the subject, have no Linux or server experiences, as I have actually always been a Windows (or MSDOS) user. Unraid was recommended to me because ... see down below. And I hope it was a suitable recommendation.  

 

I have tried several times to install Unraid on USB sticks (FAT32 format) according to the instructions. In 99% of the cases, no matter which USB port I use, the error message "BootDevice Not Found - Please install an operating system on your hard disk. Hard Disk - (3F0)" occurs.

Only once (same stick, same Unraid installation 6.11.5) did the blue Unraid menu appear, but without any text. Then Unraid must have booted without a GUI (many lines ran through), I ended up at a prompt, was allowed to type in root, but no password. And then I got nowhere, looking at the prompt.  Rebooting from this stick led to the "no boot device" message. Again.

 

Anyway, something's generally wrong and it looks like it's the USB sticks. Or not? Tested sticks:

 

- new Kingston DataTraveler Kyson USB stick USB3.2, 32GB
- cheap 2.0 stick (giveaway), 16 GB

 

It should run on my new HP Pro Mini 400 G9 (i5 12500T, 16GB, Intel UHD 770, new and unformatted Samsung 990 Pro M.2, 1 TB). Perhaps one problem is that this mini PC does not offer any USB2.0 ports. It's all about Superspeed.

 

What is the alternative to the sticks? And why does Unraid have such problems with (fast) USB sticks anyway?

 

Primary mission:
Unraid is supposed to control a set of virtualisations. Mainly to run with priority Home Assistant 24/7 in a power-saving way. In addition, it should be possible to run Win11 either in parallel or manually and individually. Plex could also be interesting and the possibility to start a RetroGames environment manually (something like Retropie, if that is possible).

 

I really want to avoid Proxmox at all costs, as I don't want to learn Linux first. What would be the best approach? A Docker environment? Which one? What file formats of the packages should I download? A Linux version of Home Assistant? A Docker version? How do I additionally install a Windows 11 on the same M.2 SSD where all data should be (these OS environments in virtualisations and media (MP3/FLAC, videos)? Different partitions and file systems? Does NTFS work as the default?

 

I'm really starting from scratch and don't even know what Docker environments exist or how to install anything without a GUI via Linux. It must be automated scripts or video tutorials explaining it step by step (found some), to make it doable. So with Windows I'm pretty good on the subject, but not with anything Linux related.

[Howboys]

Did you ever figure this out?

 

I just got a 800 G4 Mini and I'm seeing very similar symptoms. I've tried booting EFI and legacy, similar results. Basically, half my boots are okay. The other half result in Boot device not found error.

 

Occasionally, I'll see the blue unraid screen without and text (but the boot would hang). I've messed around with BIOS settings but nothing helped.

 

I'm using a Samsung 32GB flash drive. I've tried all USB ports on the computer (none are USB 2.0).

 

Basically, I just can't get unraid to boot reliably on this system.

[wiliamggs]

Did anyone figure this out? I have a HP Elite Mini 600 G9 i5 12600, 64GB ram DDR5. It wont boot Unraid. I tried 4 different brand name drives. Hiren's, Parted Magic and other bootable OS will boot, same USB. If imaging with UNRAID tool it wont boot. It works on HP 600 G6 Mini, not on G9.

Edited November 25, 2023 by wiliamggs

[Howboys]

16 hours ago, wiliamggs said:

Did anyone figure this out? I have a HP Elite Mini 600 G9 i5 12600, 64GB ram DDR5. It wont boot Unraid. I tried 4 different brand name drives. Hiren's, Parted Magic and other bootable OS will boot, same USB. If imaging with UNRAID tool it wont boot. It works on HP 600 G6 Mini, not on G9.

I think this was because of USB3 (or more accurately because unraid doesn't officially support USB3). Most modern computers don't have USB2 ports and mist flash drives are USB3. So you're kinda screwed.

 

My solution was to just move to using snapraid and mergerfs. Much less headache and I use vanilla Ubuntu. I was getting tired of unraid's limitations like these.

[itimpi]

4 hours ago, Howboys said:

I think this was because of USB3 (or more accurately because unraid doesn't officially support USB3).

This is incorrect.   

 

Unraid is quite happy with USB3 as long as the BIOS correctly handles it during the boot sequence.   USB2 drives are simply recommended if possible as they have proved more reliable as they tend to run cooler which is better for long life and BIOS's tend to handle them more reliably when booting.  If using a USB3 drive then if you can plugging it into a USB2 socket as they drive runs cooler when only run at USB2 speeds again it is more reliable.

[wiliamggs]

Nope I figure it out!!! So the problem was that with HP devices with Intel 12th gen or later, make sure not only to disable secure boot BUT ALSO all the stuff under HP Sure Start, some like that. Once I unchecked all it did boot finally.

 

This problem I had when upgrading my mini PC to my new setup HP Elite Mini 600 G9, i5 12600. Sure Start needs to be OFF on this one along with secure boot. 

My prior setup was the HP Prodesk 600 G6 i5 10600, which did work with only Secure boot being disabled. 

Edited November 26, 2023 by wiliamggs

[Celtic67]

On 11/26/2023 at 7:43 PM, wiliamggs said:

Nope I figure it out!!! So the problem was that with HP devices with Intel 12th gen or later, make sure not only to disable secure boot BUT ALSO all the stuff under HP Sure Start, some like that. Once I unchecked all it did boot finally.

 

This problem I had when upgrading my mini PC to my new setup HP Elite Mini 600 G9, i5 12600. Sure Start needs to be OFF on this one along with secure boot. 

My prior setup was the HP Prodesk 600 G6 i5 10600, which did work with only Secure boot being disabled. 

Thank you for this. Worked for me. Got stuck first time switching on and booting up Unraid today.