Date: Fri, 08 May 2026 15:20:07 +0000 From: linuxblood <linuxblood@proton.me> To: "freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org" <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org> Subject: Re: Unable to boot after update from within auto-admin Message-ID: <H1NGyZ4b9k7LzchPk_nYZo-aPIKfj9salcmZH3VUMeHS5FmH7icoIy1UvXCR5cEd4tc-MRG5mAL-19GzYDUg26GGtlRTlvli5oqMchdjz_8=@proton.me> In-Reply-To: <-jWXlivnnS6JzOLtgdKgTjey5u550bHgIug6b2nMu8bxryJ5eNyXIQkpWZZ-q0Jbs8ndjWl0O521ZbDfIneWs2g0rquBziWMWrZqDBUiusY=@proton.me>
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[-- Attachment #1 --]
Have I chosen the right mailing list for this question?
On Thursday, May 7th, 2026 at 5:32 AM, linuxblood <linuxblood@proton.me> wrote:
> Hi, I'm very new to FreeBSD.
>
> Everything was working fine on my (desktop) system for a few days when I received a popup notification from within Openbox that updates were ready. I was skeptical so I closed the popup box and it said I could run 'auto-admin' at any time. I tried running auto-admin after logging out of Openbox and user session, logged in as root, selected the update option from the menu, it ran it, I accepted the reboot option, and I cannot boot into my system.
>
> I'm running FreeBSD 15, on an old laptop with old BIOS. (from 2010 or thereabouts) I'm not compiling software, just using snapshot packages as selected during the install. I used the guided disk installer option. My system was up-to-date as far as I know prior to this.
>
> Up to this point I'd been updating my system with pkg update then pkg upgrade and it's been smooth, but this popup led me to an update process in auto-admin which hosed my system.
>
> Here are the error messages at boot, after I enter my encryption pass:
>
> ---
> Can't find /boot/zfsloader
> Can't find /boot/loader
>
> zio_read error: 5
> zio_read error: 5
> zfs: i/o error - all block copies unavailable
> zfs: can't read object set for dataset 388
> zfs: can't open root filesystem
> can't find /boot/kernel/kernel
>
> freebsd/x86 boot
> default:zfs:zroot/ROOT/default:/boot/kernel/kernel
> boot:
> ---
> I searched the web for instructions, and came upon something which I tried:
>
> - Boot from FreeBSD 15 LiveDVD
>
> - Choose Single User and login as root
>
> - gpart show
>
> - gpart bootcode -b /boot/pmbr -p /boot/gptzfsboot -i 1 ada0
>
> (after using gpart show -l and gpart -p to verify freebsd-boot location)
>
> It displayed the text that it was written and I rebooted and the system still throws up the errors after entering my encryption password.
>
> I don't know what else to do at this point other than a complete reinstall, which would be a hard lesson to learn as I haven't saved any backups of personal files. I didn't expect this would hose my system. Was I correct to run the update as suggested via auto-admin then reboot? Is this type of popup notification normal?
>
> I'm quite the BSD newbie. I tried to research this and fix it myself but.. I failed.
>
> Is there any way to salvage the installation at this point?
[-- Attachment #2 --]
<div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Have I chosen the right mailing list for this question?</div><div class="protonmail_quote">
On Thursday, May 7th, 2026 at 5:32 AM, linuxblood <linuxblood@proton.me> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="protonmail_quote" type="cite">
<div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Hi, I'm very new to FreeBSD.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Everything was working fine on my (desktop) system for a few days when I received a popup notification from within Openbox that updates were ready. I was skeptical so I closed the popup box and it said I could run 'auto-admin' at any time. I tried running auto-admin after logging out of Openbox and user session, logged in as root, selected the update option from the menu, it ran it, I accepted the reboot option, and I cannot boot into my system.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I'm running FreeBSD 15, on an old laptop with old BIOS. (from 2010 or thereabouts) I'm not compiling software, just using snapshot packages as selected during the install. I used the guided disk installer option. My system was up-to-date as far as I know prior to this.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Up to this point I'd been updating my system with pkg update then pkg upgrade and it's been smooth, but this popup led me to an update process in auto-admin which hosed my system.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Here are the error messages at boot, after I enter my encryption pass:</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">---</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Can't find /boot/zfsloader</span><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Can't find /boot/loader</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">zio_read error: 5</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">zio_read error: 5</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">zfs: i/o error - all block copies unavailable</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">zfs: can't read object set for dataset 388</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">zfs: can't open root filesystem</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">can't find /boot/kernel/kernel</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">freebsd/x86 boot</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">default:zfs:zroot/ROOT/default:/boot/kernel/kernel</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">boot:</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">---</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I searched the web for instructions, and came upon something which I tried:</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" data-editing-info="{"orderedStyleType":1,"unorderedStyleType":2}"><li style="list-style-type: "- ";"><span>Boot from FreeBSD 15 LiveDVD<br></span></li></ul></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" data-editing-info="{"orderedStyleType":1,"unorderedStyleType":2}"><li style="list-style-type: "- ";"><span>Choose Single User and login as root<br></span></li></ul></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" data-editing-info="{"orderedStyleType":1,"unorderedStyleType":2}"><li style="list-style-type: "- ";"><span>gpart show<br></span></li></ul></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;" data-editing-info="{"orderedStyleType":1,"unorderedStyleType":2}"><li style="list-style-type: "- ";"><span>gpart bootcode -b /boot/pmbr -p /boot/gptzfsboot -i 1 ada0<br></span></li></ul></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">(after using gpart show -l and gpart -p to verify freebsd-boot location)</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It displayed the text that it was written and I rebooted and the system still throws up the errors after entering my encryption password.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I don't know what else to do at this point other than a complete reinstall, which would be a hard lesson to learn as I haven't saved any backups of personal files. I didn't expect this would hose my system. Was I correct to run the update as suggested via auto-admin then reboot? Is this type of popup notification normal?</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I'm quite the BSD newbie. I tried to research this and fix it myself but.. I failed.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Is there any way to salvage the installation at this point?</div>
</blockquote><br>
</div>
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