ZimaOS has many positives but sadly network disconnections are recurrent and are likely to be the main factor in my decision to switch to an alternative OS. In the time I have spent troubleshooting my ZimaOS installation (@raller1028) I suspect I would have had TrueNAS up and running by now (I am no IT expert!):
I am using a Beelink ME Mini with ZimaOS 1.4.3 and an ethernet connection to a netgear orbi 770 router. Every few weeks the NAS just loses it’s network connection so the web GUI and apps become inaccessible. There is no obvious trigger and it’s also happened once when I was on holiday. The samba shares do continue to work but in order to restore my network connections I need to power down and then reboot zimaos. It appears similar to this installation scenario:
That screen is just ZimaOS waiting on DHCP. because your SMB shares keep working while the GUI drops, this smells like a lease/DNS wobble, not a dead link.
The clean fix: give the NAS a DHCP reservation on your Orbi, then mirror it in ZimaOS with a static IPv4, gateway, and manual DNS (1.1.1.1 / 9.9.9.9). on a lot of Realtek/2.5G mini-PCs, flipping off Energy-Efficient Ethernet helps too: find your interface (ip -o link …) and run ethtool --set-eee <iface> eee off. keep MTU at 1500 and disable any “green ethernet/EEE” toggle on the router. if it ever flakes, you can recover without a hard reboot by bouncing the link (ip link set <iface> down; sleep 2; ip link set <iface> up) and, if you’re on DHCP, dhclient -v <iface> usually brings the GUI right back. for quick forensics after a drop, check journalctl --since "10 min ago" | grep -i -E "dhcp|carrier|link|r816|realtek" and ethtool <iface>. and just to add: ZimaOS has been the best I’ve used—super simple to run and to tinker with—but that’s ultimately a personal call based on your setup.
I had reserved the IP address already on my router but I did not realise that a static IP address also needed to be set in ZimaOS. I have an old WD MyCloud NAS that has worked for years (but much more slowly) that has a reserved IP address but needed no IPv4 configuration. Anyway I suppose this was where I was going wrong. I’ll keep my fingers crossed now!
No need to keep fingers crossed—this should sort it. A DHCP reservation on the router only guarantees the router hands out the same address; the NAS still relies on DHCP renewals.
When that lease/DNS dance hiccups, the web UI can drop even though SMB keeps chugging along. Setting the same address as a static IPv4 inside ZimaOS removes that uncertainty and pins DNS too. Your WD MyCloud likely rode through renewals more gracefully, but with these Realtek/2.5G mini-PCs it’s safer to take DHCP out of the loop.
Thanks for simplifying what seemed like a complicated problem (as well as highlighting my lack of networking knowledge )
I suspect I might not be the only person to have this issue. I think it’s easy to assume that a DHCP reservation on the router should prevent it? There is no reference anywhere here: Welcome to Zima Space | Zimaspace Docs It’s a good job that you stepped in to fix it! @gelbuilding
I am really not someone that likes to continuously be tinkering with my setup… but I might hang onto ZimaOS a little longer!
Thanks mate, and you’re definitely not alone. It’s super common to assume a DHCP reservation on the router = “static IP,” but it only guarantees what the router hands out; the NAS still plays the renewal/DNS game. Setting the same address as a static IPv4 inside ZimaOS removes that handshake entirely, and with some Realtek/2.5G + router combos it’s the difference between flaky and rock-solid. You shouldn’t need to keep tinkering now, this is set-and-forget stuff.
You’re right the docs don’t call this out clearly. I’ll pass that feedback on so there’s a simple note: “reserve the IP on your router and also set it manually in ZimaOS,” with an extra tip about disabling ‘green/EEE’ if needed. And for what it’s worth, I’m hanging onto ZimaOS because it’s been the least fussy system I’ve used, simple to run, simple to tweak, but of course it comes down to what suits you.
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