From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Aug 12 18:24:56 2014 Return-Path: Delivered-To: current@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [8.8.178.115]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ADH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 9D317DF7 for ; Tue, 12 Aug 2014 18:24:56 +0000 (UTC) Received: from secure.freebsdsolutions.net (secure.freebsdsolutions.net [69.55.234.48]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 65B293C99 for ; Tue, 12 Aug 2014 18:24:56 +0000 (UTC) Received: from [10.10.1.198] (office.betterlinux.com [199.58.199.60]) (authenticated bits=0) by secure.freebsdsolutions.net (8.14.4/8.14.4) with ESMTP id s7CIOq7A032269 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=AES128-SHA bits=128 verify=NOT); Tue, 12 Aug 2014 14:24:53 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from lists@jnielsen.net) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 7.3 \(1878.6\)) Subject: Re: Booting a SuperMicro Superserver From: John Nielsen In-Reply-To: <1407866979.73449.YahooMailNeo@web121604.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 12:24:55 -0600 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Message-Id: <0F76C4E8-A71F-4192-9AE0-9E54F02DFBE1@jnielsen.net> References: <1407861156.35826.YahooMailNeo@web121606.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> <0D393AB7-4632-4BF8-95A3-D8AF25D53E60@jnielsen.net> <1407866979.73449.YahooMailNeo@web121604.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> To: Barney Cordoba X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1878.6) X-DCC-MGTINTERNET-Metrics: ns1.jnielsen.net 1170; Body=2 Fuz1=2 Fuz2=2 X-Virus-Scanned: clamav-milter 0.97.8 at ns1.jnielsen.net X-Virus-Status: Clean Cc: "current@freebsd.org" X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18-1 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 18:24:56 -0000 On Aug 12, 2014, at 12:09 PM, Barney Cordoba = wrote: > On Tuesday, August 12, 2014 1:16 PM, John Nielsen = wrote: >=20 >> On Aug 12, 2014, at 10:32 AM, Barney Cordoba = wrote: >>=20 >>> A continuing issue (with 9.1 previously and now 10) is that FreeBSD = occasionally (or always) seems to boot from the 2nd installed drive = rather than the first. I'd be happy to debug this, but I have no idea if = it's bootcode or a BIOS issue. Supermicro pleads innocent, but their = bios guys are hard to work with and fairly arrogant if you don't = specifically isolate something. >>>=20 >>> The scenario occurs when ada0 is upgraded and has an incompatible = kernel with other code on drive ada1. (note that ada1 is a backup of = the pre-upgrade ada0, so it's fstab points to ada0 for mount points). = The system will boot and then modules will fail to load. It loads the = kernel from ada1 and then mounts partitions from ada0; old kernel and = newer modules. >>>=20 >>> The problem is resolved by popping the 2nd drive. So there is = nothing wrong with ada0 to cause it to bounce to ada1. >>>=20 >>> My question: What would cause the system to boot from ada1 instead = of ada0? Bios or Bootcode? >>=20 >> BIOS, most likely. If the disk controller in question is onboard you = should be able to specify which disk(s) and what order they will be = booted from. If not, you'll need to just say in the = BIOS boot order then go to the controllers BIOS to say which disk(s) to = boot from and in what order. I have recent experience with a SuperMicro = box and an LSI controller; the latter allows you to specify a (b)oot = drive and an (a)lternate. Yes, b comes before a. :) >=20 > The bios only gives you one choice for "HDD". You can't select one of = the 4 drives to boot from. You can specify USB or CD or HDD, but Not = HDD2 or HDD3. There may be a separate option controlling "hard drive boot order", = and/or there may be a completely separate BIOS program for your drive = controller with its own hotkey. JN