Booting after Install Fails - PC-BSD Forums

Medic350 · #1 10-18-2005, 08:20 PM

Ok, I've tried to install PCBSD like 12 times now. Here's what I've tried and what it says...

The condensed version:
- I've tried installing it over my XP install, choosing the BSD boot loader option. I got the "Matrix" screen.
- After reading the forums I did a low-level format and installed again. This time I got a No /boot/loader error.
- I installed FreeBSD and it's boot loader and then installed PCBSD with it's boot loader. Got a boot loader not found message.
- Installed FreeBSD with it's boot loader and then PCBSD without a boot loader and get the following:

Code:

F1  FreeBSD

Default F1

error 1 lba 268715615
No /boot/loader

FreeBSD/i386 boot
Default 0:ad(0,a)/kernel
boot:
No /kernel

FreeBSD/i386 boot
Default 0:ad(0,a)/kernel
boot:

Any ideas how to get this working?

Medic350 · #2 10-18-2005, 09:01 PM

I just walked through my initial installation steps again:

Use entire disk.
Use BSD boot-loader.
Install.

And it boots, gets to the FreeBSD number selection screen... 1. Boot normally or whatever, 2. ..., 3. ..., etc.

And then I get the "Matrix" fast scrolling error. I'd really like to try PCBSD, but it's starting to annoy me.

Charles · #3 10-18-2005, 10:09 PM

Strange. It seems a hardware issue to me. Do you have another HDD to try out? If you use the whole disk, make sure it is the only one connected (and that you don't have other HDDs connected). Did the installation go out smoothly?

Medic350 · #4 10-18-2005, 11:52 PM

It's the only drive. I supposed I could try another one, but that would require using a very small drive ~4G. The install says it completes successfully. It reboots gracefully and appears to be booting fine. I see the first 1 or 2 screens where it provides a countdown to select options different from the default. Like I said, after the screen with multiple options that are numbered it starts an endless scroll of some error I can't read. I'll try to find a way to stop it tomorrow and get the exact error message.

Charles · #5 10-19-2005, 01:31 AM

This is strange indeed, because if it were to cause problem, either it wouldn't even show the list of options, or it would happen after probing hardware

I would install PC-BSD on the 4GB HDD just for testing purpose. Install just takes 20 minutes. This way we could isolate the problem.

Medic350 · #6 10-19-2005, 01:46 AM

Ok, I'll try that tomorrow.

antik · #7 10-19-2005, 05:25 AM

Originally Posted by Medic350

I just walked through my initial installation steps again:

Use entire disk.
Use BSD boot-loader.
Install.

And it boots, gets to the FreeBSD number selection screen... 1. Boot normally or whatever, 2. ..., 3. ..., etc.

And then I get the "Matrix" fast scrolling error. I'd really like to try PCBSD, but it's starting to annoy me.

Disable ACPI from BIOS and boot FreeBSD bootloader with ACPI disabled option.

Medic350 · #8 10-19-2005, 12:29 PM

Ok, so on a smaller drive it boots no problem. I'm going to try hooking up my original drive and boot without ACPI like antik suggests.

Charles · #9 10-19-2005, 12:43 PM

I knew it was your HDD 8)

Medic350 · #10 10-19-2005, 01:04 PM

So I couldn't find a way to disable ACPI in my BIOS, but I was successful in loading PCBSD on the original drive. I partitioned the drive into a 40G chunk and a 120G chunk. I then loaded PCBSD on the 40G partition. It now boots fine. Is this a previously known issue with PCBSD, or is it a new one that I've found? It appears to not like large drives.