Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 21:19:30 -0500 (EST) From: Mark Yeck <y3k@gti.net> To: Chris Shenton <cshenton@OutBounderInc.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: RE: 4.2R install on HP Vectra won't boot: no bootmgr, cursor han Message-ID: <XFMail.010116211930.y3k@gti.net> In-Reply-To: <lf3dejo3xa.fsf@Samizdat.uucom.com>
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On 16-Jan-01 Chris Shenton wrote: > I've been installing and using FreeBSD since 2.2.x -- on a variety of > current and obsolete HW -- but this one has me puzzled. > > I installed FreeBSD 4.2-RELEASE onto an old HP Vectra (with Pentium > Classic P54c chip at 75MHz), 40MB RAM, 1GB IDE disk, onboard ether and > video. The install went smoothly. When it's done, it reboots, does > the ROM self-test, then the cursor just hangs at the top of the > screen. It never presents the boot manager. It can boot from floppy > fine. > > So I tried tedious variations on the install: > > - One FreeBSD partition in compatibility mode, with BootMgr > - One DOS and one FreeBSD partition (compatibility mode) with BootMgr > - One FreeBSD partition in "dangerously dedicated" mode (no compatibility) > - Installed 4.1-RELEASE (compatibility, bootmgr) > > I don't know enough about the low-level boot process but I'm guessing > something isn't writing the bootmgr to the drive? Or it's writing a > broken bootmgr? > > The box at one time used to run NT, with different disks. The disks I > salvaged for this had at one time in their previous lives had other > OSes on them. Before install, I tried booting off them to see what > they had: one showed bootmgr with DOS and FreeBSD selections (too > small a slice); the other showed it trying to boot Solaris-x86 (no > bootmgr). > > After all the FreeBSD install variations, I get *nothing* showing up > except the blinking cursor. So it seems the Vectra was able to read > the old MBR on the old disks but not the FreeBSD-installed one... or > maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. > > Clues welcomed. Thanks. Here's a clue I found on dejanews. Hopefully it will help. http://x69.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=700810190&CONTEXT=976477108.518324252&hitnum=2 -mark To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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