Re: Boot loop in FreeBSD 5.2-RELEASE after install
On Fri, 20 Feb 2004, Tony Frank wrote: tfrank I saw the crash/assert type scenario if the boot blocks are not installed tfrank properly. tfrank Ie the MBR is updated with the bootmgr (F1 .. bit) but the 2nd/3rd stages tfrank were corrupted somehow. tfrank (In my case I accidentally overwrote the blocks with some experiementation) tfrank You can reinstall boot blocks using bsdlabel (or disklabel on 4.9) tfrank If you can boot from floppy/CD, get into fixit mode. tfrank Then run: tfrank bsdlabel -B da0s1 (assuming da0 is the disk you are trying to boot from) I had tried re-writing the MBR in a number of ways. This one didn't succeed either... Sigh... It's clear I'm getting to the /boot/loader program and it's running; it just keeps looping with no indication of an error (until it runs out of heap, which is the assertion failure). Do you know if there's a method of bypassing the loader program and directly booting the kernel? I tried stopping the second stage boot and booting /boot/kernel/kernel. The boot program spins for a (long) while loading it, but I'm guessing something's missing 'cause once it transfers control to the kernel the system freezes. tfrank Have you tried 4.9-RELEASE on this system? No, I have several other 5.2 systems (built from these same CDs) and I kind of wanted to minimize the number of variants. This IS the only dual-drive SCSI-only box I have going though... Maybe I should just slap an IDE drive into the box (there's space and even cabling available) and install to that??? tfrank I understand that 5.2.1-RC2 ISO is also available which might be another option. I know - it came out the weekend after I downloaded and burned the 5.2 ISO. G :-) Thanks! Mike ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: Boot loop in FreeBSD 5.2-RELEASE after install - FIXED!
Well THAT'S weird... I wondered if there might be some strange data left on the drive (I had a 4.7-RELEASE install on it prior to this), so I stopped the system in POST and entered the Adaptec system utilities. I then did a low-level format of the drive. Reinstalled and Hey Presto - booted up fine! I wonder if the /boot/loader program found some bad data left over from a prior install that it didn't validate and that corrupted the boot process? Dunno, but it's up now. THANKS!! Mike -Original Message- From: Tony Frank [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2004 10:08 PM To: Mike Newell Cc: Tony Frank; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Boot loop in FreeBSD 5.2-RELEASE after install Hi, On Thu, Feb 19, 2004 at 09:48:04PM -0500, Mike Newell wrote: On Wed, 18 Feb 2004, Tony Frank wrote: tfrank While I cannot perhaps comment on your problem, you can try either pressing tfrank 'pause' key or 'scrolllock' which might help depending on where the problems tfrank are occuring. They don't work. Fortunately I was able to: 1. Hook a null modem to the serial port and my laptop. 2. Run hyperterm on my laptop to view serial port data. 3. During the initial boot load hit ESC to get the Boot: promt, then do -h to switch to serial console. 4. Capture the stuff on the serial console. What it does is repeatedly go through the BTX boot loader, saying something like (this is from memory): BTX loader... BIOS Drive A is disk 0 BIOS Drive C is disk 1 BIOS Drive D is disk 2 BTX loader... BIOS Drive A is disk 3 BIOS Drive C is disk 4 BIOS Drive D is disk 5 BTX loader... and so on. Eventually it runs out of drive numbers and starts saying Can't figure out our boot device a few times, then crashes with an assert error. Looks like the loader is just looping until it runs out of heap. That suggests that it may be confused somehow. I saw the crash/assert type scenario if the boot blocks are not installed properly. Ie the MBR is updated with the bootmgr (F1 .. bit) but the 2nd/3rd stages were corrupted somehow. (In my case I accidentally overwrote the blocks with some experiementation) You can reinstall boot blocks using bsdlabel (or disklabel on 4.9) If you can boot from floppy/CD, get into fixit mode. Then run: bsdlabel -B da0s1 (assuming da0 is the disk you are trying to boot from) If I try to boot directly into the kernel the cursor changes from a blinking underscore to a solid block and the system just locks up. In no case is there an error message or any other indication that something is weird. Have you tried 4.9-RELEASE on this system? I understand that 5.2.1-RC2 ISO is also available which might be another option. Regards, Tony ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Boot loop in FreeBSD 5.2-RELEASE after install - FIXED!
Hi, On Fri, Feb 20, 2004 at 04:49:00PM -0500, Mike Newell wrote: Well THAT'S weird... I wondered if there might be some strange data left on the drive (I had a 4.7-RELEASE install on it prior to this), so I stopped the system in POST and entered the Adaptec system utilities. I then did a low-level format of the drive. Reinstalled and Hey Presto - booted up fine! I wonder if the /boot/loader program found some bad data left over from a prior install that it didn't validate and that corrupted the boot process? Dunno, but it's up now. THANKS!! Good to hear it's working! Perhaps if there was a mismatch between boot1/boot2 or something. I'm not expert on the internals so I might leave this one there. Take care, Tony ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Boot loop in FreeBSD 5.2-RELEASE after install
On Wed, 18 Feb 2004, Tony Frank wrote: tfrank Hi there, tfrank tfrank Can anyone help? Is there any way to slow the bootup process so I can at tfrank least read the errors? tfrank tfrank While I cannot perhaps comment on your problem, you can try either pressing tfrank 'pause' key or 'scrolllock' which might help depending on where the problems tfrank are occuring. They don't work. Fortunately I was able to: 1. Hook a null modem to the serial port and my laptop. 2. Run hyperterm on my laptop to view serial port data. 3. During the initial boot load hit ESC to get the Boot: promt, then do -h to switch to serial console. 4. Capture the stuff on the serial console. What it does is repeatedly go through the BTX boot loader, saying something like (this is from memory): BTX loader... BIOS Drive A is disk 0 BIOS Drive C is disk 1 BIOS Drive D is disk 2 BTX loader... BIOS Drive A is disk 3 BIOS Drive C is disk 4 BIOS Drive D is disk 5 BTX loader... and so on. Eventually it runs out of drive numbers and starts saying Can't figure out our boot device a few times, then crashes with an assert error. Looks like the loader is just looping until it runs out of heap. If I try to boot directly into the kernel the cursor changes from a blinking underscore to a solid block and the system just locks up. In no case is there an error message or any other indication that something is weird. tfrank Do you get past the F1 FreeBSD part to the loader? tfrank ie do you see a - appear on screen? Yes. This happens after the F1 FreeBSD prompt. tfrank Can you perhaps try a serial console? tfrank If you can get into the boot loader you should be able to set com1 as tfrank your console. Did it. Didn't help... :-( Thanks! Mike ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Boot loop in FreeBSD 5.2-RELEASE after install
Hi, On Thu, Feb 19, 2004 at 09:48:04PM -0500, Mike Newell wrote: On Wed, 18 Feb 2004, Tony Frank wrote: tfrank While I cannot perhaps comment on your problem, you can try either pressing tfrank 'pause' key or 'scrolllock' which might help depending on where the problems tfrank are occuring. They don't work. Fortunately I was able to: 1. Hook a null modem to the serial port and my laptop. 2. Run hyperterm on my laptop to view serial port data. 3. During the initial boot load hit ESC to get the Boot: promt, then do -h to switch to serial console. 4. Capture the stuff on the serial console. What it does is repeatedly go through the BTX boot loader, saying something like (this is from memory): BTX loader... BIOS Drive A is disk 0 BIOS Drive C is disk 1 BIOS Drive D is disk 2 BTX loader... BIOS Drive A is disk 3 BIOS Drive C is disk 4 BIOS Drive D is disk 5 BTX loader... and so on. Eventually it runs out of drive numbers and starts saying Can't figure out our boot device a few times, then crashes with an assert error. Looks like the loader is just looping until it runs out of heap. That suggests that it may be confused somehow. I saw the crash/assert type scenario if the boot blocks are not installed properly. Ie the MBR is updated with the bootmgr (F1 .. bit) but the 2nd/3rd stages were corrupted somehow. (In my case I accidentally overwrote the blocks with some experiementation) You can reinstall boot blocks using bsdlabel (or disklabel on 4.9) If you can boot from floppy/CD, get into fixit mode. Then run: bsdlabel -B da0s1 (assuming da0 is the disk you are trying to boot from) If I try to boot directly into the kernel the cursor changes from a blinking underscore to a solid block and the system just locks up. In no case is there an error message or any other indication that something is weird. Have you tried 4.9-RELEASE on this system? I understand that 5.2.1-RC2 ISO is also available which might be another option. Regards, Tony ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Boot loop in FreeBSD 5.2-RELEASE after install
Hi there, On Thu, Feb 12, 2004 at 11:26:18AM -0500, Mike Newell wrote: I am trying to install FreeBSD on a Dell Precision 410 workstation. The system has two 18G SCSI drives (Seagate ST318203LW) on an Adaptec 7890 SCSI adaptor (BIOS V2.01.05). I've gone through the entire install and when the system tries to boot the first time the boot loader loads, then a huge amount of text scrolls VERY rapidly up the screen [I can see the word Can't but this is scrolling VERY fast], then the system resets (clearing the screen of course) and the process starts again. [ ... ] Can anyone help? Is there any way to slow the bootup process so I can at least read the errors? While I cannot perhaps comment on your problem, you can try either pressing 'pause' key or 'scrolllock' which might help depending on where the problems are occuring. Do you get past the F1 FreeBSD part to the loader? ie do you see a - appear on screen? Can you perhaps try a serial console? If you can get into the boot loader you should be able to set com1 as your console. Hope that helps, Tony ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Boot loop in FreeBSD 5.2-RELEASE after install
I am trying to install FreeBSD on a Dell Precision 410 workstation. The system has two 18G SCSI drives (Seagate ST318203LW) on an Adaptec 7890 SCSI adaptor (BIOS V2.01.05). I've gone through the entire install and when the system tries to boot the first time the boot loader loads, then a huge amount of text scrolls VERY rapidly up the screen [I can see the word Can't but this is scrolling VERY fast], then the system resets (clearing the screen of course) and the process starts again. I've searched the archives and the only hint I've seen is using the install disk to boot then use sysinstall to install a boot manager (Configure...Fdisk...Select DA0...W). I did that and the problem persists. I do get the F1...FreeBSD/F5...Disk1 prompt, but pressing F1 again starts the boot process, which generates billions (all right, maybe just millions...) of lines then hard resets the machine and starts over. I've tried this install with various partition sizes, including the defaults and one signle huge partition. Same symptoms. I've installed FreeBSD 5.2 on other systems with IDE drives from this same CD with no problems. I've also loaned them to others who also have not had problems. Can anyone help? Is there any way to slow the bootup process so I can at least read the errors? Thanks, Mike ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
