I recently had to change the IP address of my network.  Most of the devices switch over fine, but the UnRaid Server did not grab a new IP address.

 

I restarted the server thinking that if all else fails, it will just rebuild parity and I'll be up and running in a day.  When the server did not grab a new IP address after the restart, I attached a monitor and keyboard.  All I see is a flashing cursor.  I restarted the server again and it appears to go through the BIOS startup fine, but again, nothing except a flashing cursor.  The USB drive is flashing so I am assuming it is being read, but nothing appears to be happening.

 

Any thoughts on how I might resolve this?  At this point I cannot pull logs, etc as I cannot get to a command prompt.

 

Running UnRaid: 5.04

Make sure the Flash is selected as the boot device in BIOS.

Do you get to the unRAID boot menu? If not then it is not booting from the flash drive. You will have to set your BIOS to make it boot from the flash.

 

As noted above, this is almost certainly just a matter of the system not booting from the flash drive.    Check your BIOS to ensure it's set to boot from the flash drive.

 

Note that some flash drives are listed as hard drives -- if that's the case in your BIOS you'll need to set the first boot device as "hard drive" ... and then set the "hard drive boot order" to list the flash drive first.  The latter menu is often NOT on the same BIOS page as the boot order ... so look carefully.

 

You are all awesome!

 

The server has been up for years and somehow the boot priority changed to show the USB drive as the last in the boot priority list.  Very odd....

 

Needless to say, the server booted after I moved the drive to the top of the list and it is going through a parity check now.  It Should be a day or so before I can use it, but the important thing is that I will be able to use it!

 

Thanks again for your VERY quick responses and assistance.

If it has been up for years you might consider whether your CMOS battery is dying.

If it has been up for years you might consider whether your CMOS battery is dying.

 

I powered up an old W2K server the other day, worked fine .... following day nada. It WAS the cmos battery, coincidence possibly? This server had stood idle for 6 years 

Agree -- when you get unexplained changes in BIOS options ... especially after the system's been off for a while (thus depending on the CMOS battery to retain settings) ... it's almost always due to a depleted CMOS battery.  A 2-minute, $2 fix