Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 22:14:41 -0800 (PST) From: Mike Brown <mike@hyperreal.org> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: FreeBSD 5.3-RELEASE kernel boot problems Message-ID: <20041201061441.18580.qmail@hyperreal.org>
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First the system specs:
* Motherboard: SuperMicro 370SED (manuf. in 2000; see [1])
* CPU: Intel Pentium III 933 MHz
* RAM: 384 MB (128 MB PC100; 256 MB PC133)
* network:
* Linksys LNE100TX Etherfast 10/100 (device dc0)
* Linksys LNE100TX Etherfast 10/100 (device dc1; unused for now)
* video: integrated
* storage:
* built-in primary IDE controller
* primary master: 24x CD-ROM (unknown manuf.)
* built-in secondary IDE controller: disabled in BIOS
* Maxtor Ultra/ATA 100 PCI IDE controller:
* primary master: Maxtor 80 GB ATA/133 DiamondMax Plus 9 (new)
using entire disk for FreeBSD slice; geometry is OK.
partitions:
ad4s1a 150 MB /
ad4s1b 768 MB swap
ad4s4d 8 GB /var
ad4s1e 7 GB /usr
ad4s1f 61 GB /milo (misc)
* primary slave: Maxtor 60 GB ATA/100 (DiamondMax Plus 60)
* secondary master: Maxtor 30 GB (DiamondMax VL40)
* secondary slave: none
Now for my problem:
If I install FreeBSD 4.10 from a miniinst CD-R on this system, it works great,
no problems.
If I install FreeBSD 5.3 from a miniinst CD-R on the same system with no
hardware changes, the CD boots up fine (no need to disable ACPI), it fails to
make it through the boot process; it just keeps rebooting. More on that in a
sec.
It also fails to install if all of the following are true:
- partitions were set up already from a previous install;
- in the slice editor I just re-entered the mount points
(they come up as asterisks each time sysinstall is run...
I assume that's normal?)
- the newfs flag is NOT set on each partition
Under these circumstances, the install process freezes at the first fsck_ffs
operation ("Doing fsck_ffs -y /mnt/dev/ad4s1f" which is my /milo partition)
...and no key combos can get out of it. I thought it maybe just took a while
but after 30 minutes I decided it was dead.
OK, anyway, so if I set newfs on the partitions, then the base distribution
installs OK. I can set up the network and root user password, enable SSH and
inetd, and then let it boot...
BSP CPU.....Microcode OK
Searching for Boot Record from CDROM..Not Found
Searching for Boot Record from Floppy..Not Found
Searching for Boot Record from SCSI..Not Found
...and then I get a stack dump that I can't copy here because it disappears as
the system automatically reboots right away.
If I press a key during the boot, before /boot/loader runs, I can enter
0:ad(0,a) /boot/kernel/kernel -p
The result is a rapidly twirling "-" that then slows and then freezes. A cold
reboot is then needed. Same effect when using "-sv" or "-C".
I have also tried putting in a different drive (an old 5 GB Seagate instead of
the 80 GB Maxtor) and installing to that. For some reason, it doesn't
automatically reboot after printing the kernel stack dump, but otherwise
there's no change in behavior.
I tried using an old 5 GB Seagate drive instead of the Maxtor 80 GB. I tried
using a different drive cable. I tried disconnecting all drives other than the
boot drive. I have tried setting the partition active and not modifying the
MBR. I have also tried using UFS1 instead of UFS2 on all partitions. I have
tried using the FreeBSD boot loader. No difference in any case. Twirl twirl
twirl freeze.
Help?
Thanks,
Mike
[1] http://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/810/MNL-0618.pdf
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