FreeNAS Breakthrough

Essentially, I had two options: copy a file called if_re.ko to the right place and edit the kernel boot configuration file, or recompile my kernel.

I really didn't want to have to perform that second option. And even if I wanted to, I couldn't even find the kernel source code in my system files.

But I didn't have the 'if_re.ko' file either. I just had the source code.

But I bet the internet does! Sure enough searching for if_re.ko yielded this site.

Yippie! I downloaded it and followed the instructions, looked up some vi commands for editing the boot configuration file and BAM! Had the module loaded, and on the next reboot my NAS was recognized on the network!

One slight comment, is that my FreeNAS file system was built on / not /cf. So when she says to copy the file to /cf/boot/kernel, mine was just /boot/kernel. But other than that, it was spot on.

Now, I still haven't gotten the speeds I was anticipating, so I'm still troubleshooting that. But they did improve. I think in actuality I'm being limited by my old hard drives that I kept in there to troubleshoot the system. I still need to get some decent sata drives in there and make sure my PCI-SATA card is working properly. I think I'll see some decent speeds once I get there, but I don't have any extra sata drives around to try it out. I figure that would make a great Christmas present: a couple of 2 TB sata drives for my NAS.

So, as much as a challenge this project ended up being, it was fulfilling to get back to some command line stuff and editing the kernel. It certainly made me feel pretty confident in my computer hacking skills. And I found a great use for some old hardware so I didn't have to throw it out.

I also found some advantages to building a NAS this way. Granted, I have to power another computer (a fact my dad was quick to point out.) However, I quickly found out, that there are some great hard drive diagnostic tools built into FreeNAS. Case in point, I have some friends that had some issues with a hard drive and needed some help getting some family photos off it. They couldn't do it with Windows. However, I was easily able to slap this drive in my NAS, run some diagnostics, mount it, and copy their files over to another usb drive for them. It's nice to have that kind of capability around. Just sayin'.

Now on to the next project.