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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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