From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Jul 1 23:00:45 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 823A21065670 for ; Tue, 1 Jul 2008 23:00:45 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jhb@freebsd.org) Received: from server.baldwin.cx (bigknife-pt.tunnel.tserv9.chi1.ipv6.he.net [IPv6:2001:470:1f10:75::2]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0B2268FC0A for ; Tue, 1 Jul 2008 23:00:44 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jhb@freebsd.org) Received: from localhost.corp.yahoo.com (john@localhost [IPv6:::1]) (authenticated bits=0) by server.baldwin.cx (8.14.2/8.14.2) with ESMTP id m61N0XLw034477; Tue, 1 Jul 2008 19:00:34 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from jhb@freebsd.org) From: John Baldwin To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 18:36:32 -0400 User-Agent: KMail/1.9.7 References: <20080627031233.9DC4945047@ptavv.es.net> In-Reply-To: <20080627031233.9DC4945047@ptavv.es.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-15" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Message-Id: <200807011836.32855.jhb@freebsd.org> X-Greylist: Sender succeeded SMTP AUTH authentication, not delayed by milter-greylist-2.0.2 (server.baldwin.cx [IPv6:::1]); Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:00:35 -0400 (EDT) X-Virus-Scanned: ClamAV 0.93.1/7609/Tue Jul 1 18:24:43 2008 on server.baldwin.cx X-Virus-Status: Clean X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.5 required=4.2 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,NO_RELAYS autolearn=ham version=3.1.3 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.1.3 (2006-06-01) on server.baldwin.cx Cc: Volker , Kelly Black Subject: Re: Problem with /boot/loader X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:00:45 -0000 On Thursday 26 June 2008 11:12:33 pm Kevin Oberman wrote: > > Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:53:44 +0200 > > From: Volker > > Sender: owner-freebsd-stable@freebsd.org > > > > On 12/23/-58 20:59, Kelly Black wrote: > > > Hello, > > > > > > I have a problem with loader. I recently upgraded from 6_rel to 7_rel. > > > Now when I install world there is a problem booting. > > > > > > Here is what I do: > > > cd /usr/src > > > make buildworld > > > make buildkernel KERNCONF=BLACK > > > make installkernel KERNCONF=BLACK > > > > > > At this point I can reboot and all is good. After boot I install the new world: > > > > > > cd /usr/src > > > mergemaster -p > > > reboot into single user mode > > > cd /usr/src > > > make installworld > > > mergemaster > > > > > > Now when I reboot there is a problem. I get an error that the system > > > cannot boot. Part of it looks like this: > > > Can't work out which disk we are booting from. > > > Guessed BIOS device 0xffffffff not found by probes, defaulting to disk0: > > > > > > If I boot from a live disk and replace /boot/loader with > > > /boot/loader.old it boots up fine and everything looks good. A new > > > world and a new kernel. I would be grateful for any help or any > > > pointers. > > > > > > Sincerely, > > > Kel > > > > > > PS I do not do anything special with my loader config files: > > > > > > $ cat loader.conf > > >... > > > > Kelly, > > > > the /boot/loader.conf file does not come into play at that stage. Early > > in the loader code, loader needs to figure out, which disk (BIOS device) > > has been booted from. Until loader knows which device was booted up, > > it's unable to access any files (even loader.conf) on your boot device. > > > > As I've never seen such a problem while upgrading any system, I suspect > > your problem must be settings specific. Can you show me your kernel > > config or are you using a plain vanilla GENERIC? Which arch are we > > talking about? > > > > As I'm currently investigating another boot problem (but earlier in the > > boot chain), I'll check boot logic in the source code and may check for > > your issue, too, at that time, so it's just one effort. But please stay > > patient for some days, as I'm currently too busy. > > We just got hit by this. The loader never loads and nothing boots. But a > system admin discovered that the problem disappeared if the /boot.conf > file was deleted. It just contained '-P'. > > Once this file was removed, the system just booted up as expected. When > he changed it to -D or -h, the boot still locked up. Hmm, this is actually a bit helpful. What if you set the equivalent variables in /boot/loader.conf (e.g. console=comconsole) does it still hang? -- John Baldwin