Re: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot?
Chris Zumbrunn wrote: We also tried to boot just from one disk (ad0) after disabling the RAID1 (ar0). And we reinstalled the MBR/bootstrap code on the ad0 and ad2 disks but still couldn't get them to boot. Then we switched the disks with those from another (identical) machine and repeated the setup. This time it worked fine and FreeBSD is booting now. The other disks now work fine as well, but are running debian in the other machine. Glad you're running, anyway! Normally, I'd say maybe reseating the cables is what made it work, but I'm sure you said that the machine would boot debian before you did any swapping. So no ideas; you've got me stumped. --Alex ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot?
On Apr 24, 2005, at 9:24 AM, Chris Zumbrunn wrote: On Apr 23, 2005, at 3:54 PM, Chris Zumbrunn wrote: On Apr 23, 2005, at 1:27 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Turn off power management in PC bios and try again. Thanks, I'll try that. [...] As soon as someone goes to the datacenter, we'll see what the console is saying and we'll try disabling the power management in the bios (can't do that remotely either). Someone went by the datacenter and checked this out. When attempting to boot, the machine seemed to hang at the time when it should find/look for an MBR - it didn't report anything. The only power management setting we could find in the bios that seemed related, was an ACPI related enable/disable flag. After disabling that we still experienced the same hang. We also tried to boot just from one disk (ad0) after disabling the RAID1 (ar0). And we reinstalled the MBR/bootstrap code on the ad0 and ad2 disks but still couldn't get them to boot. Then we switched the disks with those from another (identical) machine and repeated the setup. This time it worked fine and FreeBSD is booting now. The other disks now work fine as well, but are running debian in the other machine. Unfortunately, I again don't know what I did differently (nothing, I believe). Maybe I'll figure it out the next time it happens. Any ideas what it could have been or what else I should have checked? /czv ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot?
On Apr 23, 2005, at 3:54 PM, Chris Zumbrunn wrote: On Apr 23, 2005, at 1:27 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Turn off power management in PC bios and try again. Thanks, I'll try that. When this happend to me before, I fdisk'ed, disklabel'ed, atacontrol'ed, sysinstall'ed, dd'ed, newfs'ed, boot0cfg'ed and disktab'ed ferociously until the problem went away and I had no idea why. So, this time I want to go about it less ferociously in order to find out what the problem actually is. So, if in the future this happens again - and I'm in a hurry - I'll know how to fix it quickly. As soon as someone goes to the datacenter, we'll see what the console is saying and we'll try disabling the power management in the bios (can't do that remotely either). /czv ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot?
On Apr 23, 2005, at 1:27 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Turn off power management in PC bios and try again. Thanks, I'll try that. /czv ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot?
On Apr 23, 2005, at 1:16 PM, Alex Zbyslaw wrote: Chris Zumbrunn wrote: Yes, I'm just waiting until someone has to go by there anyway in the next days. No big deal, but it's not urgent enough to justify the trip just for that. In the meantime, it is annoying to know that ultimately I just have this problem because I'm doing something wrong! ...where am I screwing up the setup? :-) The only other thing to occur to me was that the machine might actually be booting, but getting stuck somewhere maybe probing devices. I'm no expert on the bootup procedure, but I would doubt that /var/log/messages was being updated during device probes. The stuff is probably buffered somewhere and then written. One final thing I might try in your position is to copy a GENERIC kernel to the disk and see what happens when you reboot. Or even try a very pared down kernel with nothing but disks, ethernet card and whatever else is mandatory. I guess also compare the stuff in /boot with the machine that works. Like everything else on the disks, /boot has been rsync'ed several times from the machine that works. So, /boot should be identical. But this reminded me to verify that /boot on the remote boot network disk image is ok, since that is where "disklabel -B -b /boot/boot1 -s /boot/boot2 ar0s1" took the boot1 and boot2 data from. The kernel is GENERIC and was also rsync'ed from the machine that works. But I'll try with one from another source, just in case... /czv ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
RE: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot?
Turn off power management in PC bios and try again. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Alex Zbyslaw Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 7:16 AM To: Chris Zumbrunn Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot? Chris Zumbrunn wrote: > Yes, I'm just waiting until someone has to go by there anyway in the > next days. No big deal, but it's not urgent enough to justify the trip > just for that. In the meantime, it is annoying to know that ultimately > I just have this problem because I'm doing something wrong! ...where > am I screwing up the setup? :-) The only other thing to occur to me was that the machine might actually be booting, but getting stuck somewhere maybe probing devices. I'm no expert on the bootup procedure, but I would doubt that /var/log/messages was being updated during device probes. The stuff is probably buffered somewhere and then written. One final thing I might try in your position is to copy a GENERIC kernel to the disk and see what happens when you reboot. Or even try a very pared down kernel with nothing but disks, ethernet card and whatever else is mandatory. I guess also compare the stuff in /boot with the machine that works. --Alex ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot?
Chris Zumbrunn wrote: Yes, I'm just waiting until someone has to go by there anyway in the next days. No big deal, but it's not urgent enough to justify the trip just for that. In the meantime, it is annoying to know that ultimately I just have this problem because I'm doing something wrong! ...where am I screwing up the setup? :-) The only other thing to occur to me was that the machine might actually be booting, but getting stuck somewhere maybe probing devices. I'm no expert on the bootup procedure, but I would doubt that /var/log/messages was being updated during device probes. The stuff is probably buffered somewhere and then written. One final thing I might try in your position is to copy a GENERIC kernel to the disk and see what happens when you reboot. Or even try a very pared down kernel with nothing but disks, ethernet card and whatever else is mandatory. I guess also compare the stuff in /boot with the machine that works. --Alex ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot?
On Apr 22, 2005, at 2:01 PM, Alex Zbyslaw wrote: Chris Zumbrunn wrote: The server is in a datacenter and I can only access it via ssh and boot either from the local disks or via network (freebsd or linux) - no serial console, so I can't see where it gets stuck during the bootstrap. Do you mean that you can boot the machine from an OS it picks up from the network? Yes, exactly. I.e. you can boot some OS which is not the one of the local disk? If so, then boot the network FreeBSD, mount your local disks and look at /var/log/messages. If the machine was at least booting FreeBSD when it died then you should see something. I did check that. Nothing is written to /var/log/messages during a local boot attempt. So, the boot fails before that. I checked the MBR by comparing the output of "dd if=/dev/ar0 bs=512 count=1" on the trouble machines with that of a machine that boots fine - and they look identical. So, the MBR seems to be where it belongs. I guess the boot process gets stuck either during boot1/boot2 but before the kernel loads or there is a problem with the RAID1 setup and the machine never even gets to the point where it would look for a MBR on the ar0 disks. Also, when a debian disk image is installed on the same machine, it does boot from the local disks. So, maybe something is goofy with the partitioning/slicing - but I can't see what that would be. # fdisk ar0 *** Working on device /dev/ar0 *** parameters extracted from in-core disklabel are: cylinders=14945 heads=255 sectors/track=63 (16065 blks/cyl) Figures below won't work with BIOS for partitions not in cyl 1 parameters to be used for BIOS calculations are: cylinders=14945 heads=255 sectors/track=63 (16065 blks/cyl) Media sector size is 512 Warning: BIOS sector numbering starts with sector 1 Information from DOS bootblock is: The data for partition 1 is: sysid 165,(FreeBSD/NetBSD/386BSD) start 63, size 240107427 (117239 Meg), flag 80 (active) beg: cyl 0/ head 1/ sector 1; end: cyl 1023/ head 254/ sector 63 The data for partition 2 is: The data for partition 3 is: The data for partition 4 is: # disklabel ar0s1 # /dev/ar0s1: type: ESDI disk: ar0s1 label: flags: bytes/sector: 512 sectors/track: 63 tracks/cylinder: 255 sectors/cylinder: 16065 cylinders: 14945 sectors/unit: 240107427 rpm: 3600 interleave: 1 trackskew: 0 cylinderskew: 0 headswitch: 0 # milliseconds track-to-track seek: 0 # milliseconds drivedata: 0 8 partitions: #size offsetfstype [fsize bsize bps/cpg] a: 24010742704.2BSD 2048 1638489 # (Cyl.0 - 14945*) c: 2401074270unused0 0# (Cyl.0 - 14945*) Any further ideas or hints on what else to check would be very appreciated... Chris ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot?
Chris Zumbrunn wrote: On Apr 22, 2005, at 2:01 PM, Alex Zbyslaw wrote: I.e. you can boot some OS which is not the one of the local disk? If so, then boot the network FreeBSD, mount your local disks and look at /var/log/messages. If the machine was at least booting FreeBSD when it died then you should see something. I did check that. Nothing is written to /var/log/messages during a local boot attempt. So, the boot fails before that. Could it be that the boot manager is fine but that the partition it tries to boot from by default does not exist, or has windows or something? E.g. you have three partitions, FreeBSD is on the second but it is trying to boot from the first? So if you were sat in front of it you could press e.g. F2, but since you're not, you can't! (I.e. partitions in the "windows" sense). If that's plausible then I believe there is a way to change the boot manager's idea of which partition to boot from, but I don't know it offhand -- check the handbook. Clutching at straws for you here. Just how hard is it to get someone to sit in front of the console? (I mean that as a genuine question; not being sarcastic). It seems like you could have your answer in five minutes if only someone was watching... --Alex ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot?
On Apr 22, 2005, at 6:16 PM, Alex Zbyslaw wrote: Chris Zumbrunn wrote: On Apr 22, 2005, at 2:01 PM, Alex Zbyslaw wrote: I.e. you can boot some OS which is not the one of the local disk? If so, then boot the network FreeBSD, mount your local disks and look at /var/log/messages. If the machine was at least booting FreeBSD when it died then you should see something. I did check that. Nothing is written to /var/log/messages during a local boot attempt. So, the boot fails before that. Could it be that the boot manager is fine but that the partition it tries to boot from by default does not exist, or has windows or something? E.g. you have three partitions, FreeBSD is on the second but it is trying to boot from the first? So if you were sat in front of it you could press e.g. F2, but since you're not, you can't! (I.e. partitions in the "windows" sense). If that's plausible then I believe there is a way to change the boot manager's idea of which partition to boot from, but I don't know it offhand -- check the handbook. The FreeBSD partition is the first partition and it is active, which is what I believe determines where the BIOS will look for a MBR. The other three partitions are unused. The data for partition 1 is: sysid 165,(FreeBSD/NetBSD/386BSD) start 63, size 240107427 (117239 Meg), flag 80 (active) beg: cyl 0/ head 1/ sector 1; end: cyl 1023/ head 254/ sector 63 The data for partition 2 is: The data for partition 3 is: The data for partition 4 is: Clutching at straws for you here. Just how hard is it to get someone to sit in front of the console? (I mean that as a genuine question; not being sarcastic). It seems like you could have your answer in five minutes if only someone was watching... Yes, I'm just waiting until someone has to go by there anyway in the next days. No big deal, but it's not urgent enough to justify the trip just for that. In the meantime, it is annoying to know that ultimately I just have this problem because I'm doing something wrong! ...where am I screwing up the setup? :-) Chris ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot?
Chris Zumbrunn wrote: The server is in a datacenter and I can only access it via ssh and boot either from the local disks or via network (freebsd or linux) - no serial console, so I can't see where it gets stuck during the bootstrap. Do you mean that you can boot the machine from an OS it picks up from the network? I.e. you can boot some OS which is not the one of the local disk? If so, then boot the network FreeBSD, mount your local disks and look at /var/log/messages. If the machine was at least booting FreeBSD when it died then you should see something. Otherwise I'll get someone to sit in front of the machine and look at the screen during a boot attempt Well, that would be easiest, if you can do it. How many airmiles do you have :-) --Alex ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Stuck in bootstrapping hell - how do I troubleshoot?
I repeated the setup attempt on another machine with different hardware and got stuck with the same problem. Does anybody have a idea regarding the obvious that I could be missing in order to get these systems to boot? Otherwise I'll get someone to sit in front of the machine and look at the screen during a boot attempt :-) /czv On Apr 17, 2005, at 8:31 PM, Chris Zumbrunn wrote: I'm having a hell of a time trying to get a new development server to boot FreeBSD. The disk contents are an exact mirror from what I have running on a production server, except for a different IP number in rc.conf. The hardware is identical as far as I can tell. The server is in a datacenter and I can only access it via ssh and boot either from the local disks or via network (freebsd or linux) - no serial console, so I can't see where it gets stuck during the bootstrap. Any attempt to boot from the local disks fails. I can't ping the server for several minutes, until I give up and reboot again via network. Nothing is written to /var/log/messages during the local boot attempt. I've reinstalled the bootstrap code several times both using sysinstall to install a standard mbr and using fdisk -B -b /boot/boot0 ar0 and disklabel -B -b /boot/boot1 -s /boot/boot2 ar0s1 I seem to run into this same kind of problem over and over again. Usually I somehow get it to work eventually, without being able to tell anymore what fixed it because of the mass of stuff I tried before it just suddenly works :-) How can I verify that I have a valid boot sector and mbr on that disk (other than by attempting to boot)? Any tips on how to troubleshoot these kinds of bootstrapping problems without sitting in front of the box or having console access? I'm happy to provide any additional infos regarding the details of the setup. I'm mirroring a server that is running FreeBSD 4.11. [EMAIL PROTECTED] +41 329 41 41 41 Chris Zumbrunn Ventures - http://www.czv.com/ Internet Application Technology - Reduced to the Maximum [EMAIL PROTECTED] +41 329 41 41 41 Chris Zumbrunn Ventures - http://www.czv.com/ Internet Application Technology - Reduced to the Maximum ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
