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More than 50% of the time my server boots up without network how do I debug this?


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Posted

My first problem is that I have my USB controllers passed through so I can't use the GUI.

 

I can't access the server at all as a result.

 

I managed to boot it in safe mode so I had access to the GUI with a keyboard and downloaded the diagnostics while the network was not working and it downloaded to a Downloads folder in root... but then when I managed to get the machine to boot with the network working it had dissapeared.

Posted

Make sure that the boot drive is plugged into a USB2 port...

39 minutes ago, dodgypast said:

when I managed to get the machine to boot with the network working     it         had dissapeared.

What does the it stand for?

Posted
3 minutes ago, Frank1940 said:

Make sure that the boot drive is plugged into a USB2 port...

What does the it stand for?

Currently I don't have a spare USB controller, and for 12 months I've had no problems booting from a USB3 port.

 

It is the folder /root/Downloads which is where it put the diagnostics when I downloaded them.

Posted
5 minutes ago, dodgypast said:

It is the folder /root/Downloads which is where it put the diagnostics when I downloaded them.

Unfortunately, that location is on the RAM disk that Unraid uses when it installed Linux.  The contents of that directory are lost when the server is rebooted.  You would have to copy the Diagnostics file from that location to a permanent storage media.  I would suggest using the flash drive which is located at /boot and then use the command  poweroff  to shutdown the server. 

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Posted
8 minutes ago, Frank1940 said:

Unfortunately, that location is on the RAM disk that Unraid uses when it installed Linux.  The contents of that directory are lost when the server is rebooted.  You would have to copy the Diagnostics file from that location to a permanent storage media.  I would suggest using the flash drive which is located at /boot and then use the command  poweroff  to shutdown the server. 

That's exactly what I needed to know. Many thanks.

I'll be back tomorrow when I have time to recreate the issue.

Posted
14 minutes ago, dodgypast said:

Thanks, would a possible solution be to diable the nic I don't use in the motherboard settings? ( If that's possible, I haven't check yet )

Absolutely.  However, I believe you should probably rename the   network-rules.cfg    and the     network.cfg    before rebooting to force their recreatation when restarting the system.  I know that a lot of folks do disable the onboard NIC when they move onto Intel based NIC cards.

Posted

Unfortunately my mobo doesn't off that option. ( just looked )

 

It get weirder....

 

When it boots without the networking working I can get the networking working by swapping the ethernet port I'm using..... but then when I reboot I have to change back to old one... and so on... seems like with every failed reboot swapping the network port fixes it.

 

So this defintely seems to be an unraid issue.

Posted

As I remember, this is a problem that can happen.  It depends on which NIC is 'discovered' first as to which is assigned as eth0. 

 

I also seem to recall that you can also 'force' which NIC becomes eth0 by permanently assigning its MAC address.  You would have to look at the Settings   >>>  Network Settings  to see about doing that...

 

You could also just plug a CAT5 cable from your switch in to the other RJ45 connector for the second NIC.  I seem to recall that some folks did this but I suspect it could also have some ramification with MAC addresses and IP addresses issues in the larger networking picture.

Posted
44 minutes ago, dodgypast said:

Unfortunately my mobo doesn't off that option. ( just looked )

Double check again.  It is usually buried in the place where you turn off the sound module, video GPU, serial port, etc.  This may be a couple of layers down in the BIOS menu system as most people never have to use it...

Posted

The problem is both your ethernet ports use the same MAC address, which is not allowed and gives conflicts and explains your 50/50 situation.

 

This is a known issue with some ASRock motherboards. Do you have one? A BIOS update may resolve the issue.

 

Alternatively you need to disable one of the ethernet ports.

 

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Posted
8 minutes ago, bonienl said:

The problem is both your ethernet ports use the same MAC address, which is not allowed and gives conflicts and explains your 50/50 situation.

Interesting!  I looked in ifconfig.txt  in the Diagnostics file and saw it.    WOW!!!    I had always thought a MAC address was permanently 'burned' into the NIC chip.  Shows what assuming will eventually get you...

 

Just sitting here thinking about it.  What possible advantage could be gained by adopting a MAC address from another device?  (I always had the impression that the uniqueness of MAC addresses was the one staple item in the whole networking universal.)

Posted

Modern NICs allow you to change the MAC address, "burned" in was a long time ago in the beginning of ethernet.

 

IMO there are no real reasons to clone MAC addresses, it usually gives more headaches than advantages.

That said, when replacing a device and the new one needs to be an exact copy, this is a trick often used to prevent changes further down the chain (e.g. firewall).

 

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Posted

Unfortunately I have dug through all the BIOS options and there's no way to disable the network interfaces ( It's an AX370 board and it's a very threadbare BIOS due to the amount of CPUs it supports )

 

I'm also on the latest BIOS that was updated this month.

Posted
21 minutes ago, dodgypast said:

Unfortunately I have dug through all the BIOS options and there's no way to disable the network interfaces ( It's an AX370 board and it's a very threadbare BIOS due to the amount of CPUs it supports )

 

Contact MB manufacturer' Tech Support and see what they would recommend...

 

Also see if they have a Users Forum.  Sometimes, you will get quicker response there.

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