No local terminal access!


Recommended Posts

I can not boot to the command line or GUI on the local unRaid machine with the attached monitor and keyboard.

 

When booting, the boot selection options are shown, I can choose any of the options. Choosing command line or safe mode the screen starts showing the boot messages but seems to stop at random spots. unRaid does continue to boot, the screen just is no longer updated. The same for GUI mode, though it stops with a blinking cursor.

 

UnRaid does boot fine as I can access the web GUI just fine, start my one docker and run my VMs.

 

I know this did work just fine on 6.1, but have not tried it since upgrading to 6.2 a couple months ago. So, is this an upgrade issue?

 

I did find this in the docs:

 

https://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/UnRAID_Manual_6#Assigning_Graphics_Devices_to_Virtual_Machines_.28GPU_Pass_Through.29

 

If you rely upon a locally-attached monitor and keyboard to interact with the unRAID terminal directly, you will lose this ability once you create a SeaBIOS VM with a GPU assigned.

 

I do have several VMs setup with SeaBIOS but none are set to auto start.

 

This seems like what I am experiencing but, this happens on a fresh boot with no VM ever being started.

 

Does merely having a VM configured with SeaBIOS cause this??? With 6.1 I had the same VMs but could still access the local terminal (until I started a VM). Or am I remembering incorrectly? If this is how it is supposed to function, what would I do if I could not access the web GUI, SSH, etc???

 

I've attached my diag logs.

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

server-diagnostics-20170105-1555.zip

Link to comment

So, I have researched this the best I can... I'm guessing as long as I have VMs with SeaBIOS I will never have local access to the terminal.

 

Is that correct?

 

What would I do if I needed local terminal access because the unraid webgui didn't load? Is everything lost then?!?

Link to comment

WOW, that is pretty harsh. I wish there were red flags in the UI when creating VMs warning of such a data loss risk.

 

One would think at least booting to safe mode would get you to the terminal.

 

I searched for a guide on how to convert SeaBIOS to OVMF but could not fins anything. Do you know of any links you could share?

Link to comment

WOW, that is pretty harsh. I wish there were red flags in the UI when creating VMs warning of such a data loss risk.

 

One would think at least booting to safe mode would get you to the terminal.

 

I searched for a guide on how to convert SeaBIOS to OVMF but could not fins anything. Do you know of any links you could share?

 

Data loss?

Link to comment
Data loss?

 

Well, if something happens and I can't get to webgui ssh (putty) into unraid. Now, as it stands, I do not even have access to the cmd line which I would assume would be needed in order to try to fix whatever broke.

 

I'm fine with having convert my VNs to OVMF, but, I be darned if I could find any guides or documentation.

Link to comment

Data loss?

 

Well, if something happens and I can't get to webgui ssh (putty) into unraid. Now, as it stands, I do not even have access to the cmd line which I would assume would be needed in order to try to fix whatever broke.

 

I'm fine with having convert my VNs to OVMF, but, I be darned if I could find any guides or documentation.

 

If the webgui hangs, you can still ssh into the server, so still access to command line. If your server locks up, not only webgui, access to command line (local or ssh) still wouldn't help.

Usually (someone will most likely arrest me if I'm wrong), access to command line if the webgui hangs is to run the diagnostics or shutdown, so not too much to fix.

In the newer version the power down function have been improved and it might be possible to push the power button to shut down cleanly.

 

Normally you need to reinstall to change from seabios to ovmf.

You could try to google for how to convert your operating system from legacy bios to efi. I think there might be some guides out in the wild, but none specific for unraid.

Link to comment

Thanks @saarg. I did find a video on how to convert a macOS SeaBIOS to OVMF. Seems like it should be almost as easy as copy/pasting the <os> section. I've tried that. The VM does boot but only to EFI Shell. I tried running the fs1 commands to no success.

 

Any suggestions, or should I open a new topic in the VM forums?

Link to comment

Thanks @saarg. I did find a video on how to convert a macOS SeaBIOS to OVMF. Seems like it should be almost as easy as copy/pasting the <os> section. I've tried that. The VM does boot but only to EFI Shell. I tried running the fs1 commands to no success.

 

Any suggestions, or should I open a new topic in the VM forums?

 

Might be better to create a new thread in the VM section with details of what you have done and link to the guide.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.