Failed to select the ZFS volume type

[jbo5112]

The installer is giving me an error that I "Failed to select the ZFS volume type." It never asked (netgate-installer-v1.0-RC-amd64-20240919-1435.iso -- who ships the same release candidate for 3+ months?!!)

Everything matches up with what I'm seeing in the walkthrough (https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/install/install-walkthrough.html), until I get to the ZFS configuration. I fill out all of the networking configuration questions that it should be able to pull from the configuration file it should have loaded.

The last non-error screen is where I select ZFS for a file system and GPT for a partition scheme.
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/_images/netinstaller-filesystem-partition.png

I never see any of the questions under the ZFS section of the installer walkthrough (https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/install/install-zfs.html). Instead I get a "pfSense ZFS Configuration" error "Failed to select the ZFS volume type."

I have 2 SSDs of 256GB each. I can see them in FreeBSD. I wiped the disk first 128MB of each disk (headers and then some). I rewrote empty GPT partition tables on them. I've rebooted (and rebooted). When I started, one of the 2 disks was still configured as part of a ZFS mirror w/ MBR, and the other had whatever they shipped from the factory.

The NICs all seem fine, except my LAN port is disconnected until I can get this installed & replace my working router.

[jimp]

Wiping just the start of a disk isn't sufficient. There can also be metadata at the end of a disk, which can lead to problems like you're seeing:

https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/troubleshooting/multiple-disks.html#clear-the-disk

Normally the installer would be able to work around most things of that nature, but not always.

[jbo5112]

@jimp I previously wrote a new, empty GPT partition table on each disk,. Is there something wrong with the 'gpart create -s gpt' command on FreeBSD that wouldn't clear the GPT data at the end of the disk?

Either way, I wiped the entirety of both disks with zeros, clearing every byte of GPT and ZFS data. Afterwards, I manually ran sync, then rebooted. Even after clearing every byte & rebooting, it still has the same issue.

[jimp]

What do the disks show up as in the OS? What device names, make/model/type, etc.

Also what shows in sysctl kern.disks?

[jbo5112]

@jimp The disks are 2 Silicon Power A55 SSDs, (256GB). The second disk is plugged into a SATA-2 port, because the motherboard only has a single SATA-3 port.

camcontrol identify ada0
pass0: SPCC Solid State Disk SBFM81.3 ACS-4 ATA SATA 3.x device
pass0: 600.000MB/s transfers (SATA 3.x, UDMA6, PIO 8192bytes)
...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075RJS55D

camcontrol indentify ada1
pass1: SPCC Solid State Disk VE1R900F ACS-3 ATA SATA 3.x device
pass1: 300.000MB/s transfers (SATA 2.x, UDMA6, PIO 8192bytes)
...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQCH4RSD (a more recent replacement drive)

When I type 'sysctl kern.disks' it shows me
kern.disks: da1 da0 ada1 ada0

[jimp]

That all seems OK.

The only way I can get the "Failed to select ZFS volume type" error is if I either hit the Esc key or deliberately choose Cancel at the prompt to choose between ZFS stripe and mirror.

It's possible this is something in your console client/serial connection and not in the installer or disks. Maybe somehow when you're confirming the previous choice it's sending an extra escape sequence or key that's interacting negatively with the next prompt.

If this is a serial connection you might try a different client, or a different type of client system altogether, to rule out some other interaction (e.g. something with the keyboard).

https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/hardware/connect-to-console.html

[jbo5112]

I don't get a screen asking about a stripe or mirror. I'm wired into the VGA and USB ports on a computer. I moved the keyboard from the KVM directly into the back of the computer, in case that was an issue.

I even tried to check for stray keyboard events: cat /dev/input/event4. I'm not as knowledgeable about FreeBSD as I am about Linux, but assume that's correct enough to work. I get a bunch of strange output on my screen whenever I touch the keyboard. Leaving it alone for several hours produces nothing.

I may try running the installer on a VM later, if I can track down my ESXi server, if it's not too much trouble to get working on my spare (cheap) router.

[stephenw10]

If you boot the legacy CE installer does it see the disks and allow you to select them?

[jbo5112]

That one works great. Zero issues. I just need to upload the config to it and find a time to swap routers.

Why is that so buried compared to a release candidate that has some fatal bugs somewhere?

[jbo5112]

The legacy CE installer even found the config.xml off the second USB I had plugged in.

I don't see any upside to the new installer, other than pushing me to buy a license at the expense of making me have it connected to the Internet during install (an issue for some).

[stephenw10]

You can install CE from the net installer without a subscription.

Using the network installer you can install a number of versions from one image. There is no need to download a new installer for each release for example.

But, yes, bugs exists and we need to squash them. As far as I know we have not been able to replicate this drive recognition issue locally.

[jimp]

Interesting why it failed that way, but unless we can find a way to replicate it, I'm not sure if we can track down why it was failing.

It had to detect the drives properly or it wouldn't have reached that point, and it wasn't at a point where it would have been dependent on downloading anything. It should just be a prompt choice between stripe and mirror.

It could be something about the keyboard itself, or a difference in the base OS in the installer (the legacy installer uses an older version of FreeBSD than the latest online installer).

Not that I expect it would make a difference but there have been cases in the past where things have treated using the Enter key on the number pad differently than the Enter key with the letters, too.

[JesseMc]

Hi All,

I just thought I'd respond because I had this "Failed to select the ZFS volume type" issue on install of whitelabel hardware, but was able to resolve it by retrying install with the "Netgate Installer - AMD64 Memstick USB" installer instead of the ISO installer.

Hope this helps someone else!