x5-z8350 will not boot NAS4Free

[Duramen]

Trying to build a very low power backup system using a cheap x5-z8350 PC with 4GByte of memory
Seems it only can boot UEFI, can not find how to enable non-UEFI boot
FreeBSD will boot
Windows will boot
Linux will boot
NAS4Free does not seem to be UEFI so it will not boot (NAS4Free USB boot drive not visible in boot menu)
Is there somewhere a NAS4Free build that is UEFI compatible? ZFS on root used to be but I do not want to install on internal disk.
1: Can I still use ZFS on Root USB boot for UEFI boot?
2: Can ZFS on Root use USB drive as boot disk?

Thanks for any answer

[raulfg3]

1- Yes, but use a rally good Brand to bypass burn-out of it (recomended a small SSD not a usb key (PenDrive))
2 - YES.
aclaraton to 2, you can use 2 good brand pendrives that do not have burn-out problem and instal ZFSOnRoot on Both and use it as mirror boot disk so if one fails, the second boot your NAS.

[Duramen]

Just to be sure I understand correctly.

I need to use a non-UEFI PC to boot from the regular live USB image and install root on zfs on one or two disks.
These disks can then be used with a UEFI only computer to boot
Correct?

[raulfg3]

no, you need to boot on your UEFI PC using liveCD or liveUSB and then you need to instal from menu (option 9) ZFSRoot Install on 1 or 2 USB (Pendrive).


read: https://www.nas4free.org/forums/viewtop ... 523#p75523

and FAQ

[Duramen]

That's the problem, the UEFI PC does not see the nas4free live boot usb
It does see a Freebsd, etc... live USB
So as a workaround, could creating the rootonzfs on non Uefi PC work?

[raulfg3]

not sure, try it,and post your result here for other users.

[Duramen]

Used a non UEFI pc to create the zfs boot disk.
Tested the boot disk on non UEFI pc, all ok
Tested on UEFI pc. Not visible in bios as boot option. No luck
Any suggestions on what to try next?

[raulfg3]

sorry not enough experience with UEFI boot, all my NAS have dual boot UEFI & NOT UEFI and have no problem), so sorry i can help you.

[L_oled]

Hi Duramen,

Do you find a solution to boot NAS4Free on your board?
I have the same problem (I use a Up board with x5-z8350 and 4G RAM that doesn't support BIOS emulation, UEFI only), and I'm currently trying the solution of wingenieur (here: https://nas4free.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12977), but I'm a newbie in NAS4Free.

[JoseMR]

That's the problem, the UEFI PC does not see the nas4free live boot usb
It does see a Freebsd, etc... live USB
So as a workaround, could creating the rootonzfs on non Uefi PC work?

Hello, NAS4Free LiveMedia still does not support UEFI/Multi-Image boot ability, as a workaround, you can install NAS4Free "RootOnZFS" from a standard hardware then move the install media to the UEFI machine, select GPT/BIOS + UEFI during install, this option also provides ability to boot from GPT/BIOS in case you need to move later to hardware not supporting UEFI.

Note: USB3.0 or HDD/SSD is the way to go for Full/RootOnZFS installs as raul denoted.

Regards.