Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2002 23:31:58 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> To: Rex Buddenberg <budden@nps.navy.mil> Cc: questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: can't boot kernel Message-ID: <20020627223158.GA6440@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophi> In-Reply-To: <3D1B6070.9030502@nps.navy.mil> References: <3D1B6070.9030502@nps.navy.mil>
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On Thu, Jun 27, 2002 at 11:58:56AM -0700, Rex Buddenberg wrote: > I just upgraded a laptop from FreeBSD 4.4 to 4.6 using the Upgrade > function in sysinstall (ftp option). The upgrade seemed to go without a > hitch (except that the ftp session bombed overnight and I had to restart > it ... which worked). > > At conclusion, the message said something like installation successful, > /etc recovered, time to reboot. > > I issued 'shutdown now -r'. The screen froze partway out of X so I > killed the volts and turned the machine back on. > > I now get: > can't load 'kernel' > can't load 'kernel.old' > no bootable kernel > ok > > which is clearly not OK. > > 1. What happened? You seem to have mislaid your kernel. The `ok' prompt is (as I'm sure you know) from the boot loader. It's possible the loader has got confused about where to find the kernel. Try using some combination of the `ls' and `lsdev' commands to try and locate a kernel image, then use the `load' command to set that as the kernel to boot and finally `boot' to get back to operational mode. If you can get the machine back up that way, then you probably need to look at /boot/loader.conf and work out what needs to be in there to make your system boot reliably again. The man page for loader(8) can be found at http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=loader&apropos=0&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+4.6-RELEASE&format=html if you haven't got a FreeBSD box accessible. > 2. How do I fix? If you really haven't got a kernel on your machine, then you've no choice but to boot off your installation media. If you interrupt the ten second countdown and issue the command `boot -s' you should end up running single user mode off the installation media. You should then be able to fsck(8) and mount(8) the root partition of your hard drive somewhere and copy the kernel from the media onto it. In extremis, you can try just doing another upgrade or even installing a new system over the top of your old one --- if you're careful in sysinstall's disk layout editor to not mark your partitions for newfs'ing you should be able to preserve many of your files. Right about now is the point where you thank your lucky stars for the rigorous backup policy you've been religiously following. Good luck. Matthew -- Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks Savill Way Tel: +44 1628 476614 Marlow Fax: +44 0870 0522645 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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