Cannot Boot 5.4

Lowell Gilbert freebsd-questions-local at be-well.ilk.org
Mon Oct 3 06:51:49 PDT 2005


"Bill Schmitt (SW)" <software at schmittnet.com> writes:

> I have a 300MHz Gateway that was resurrected with new memory (128MB)
> and an additional Maxtor 60GB IDE hard disk to run FBSD about a year
> and a half ago. At the time, when I tried to install an early 5.x
> release (I don't recall which), I could boot the CD and go through the
> installation, but the machine hung on the subsequent boot from the
> Hard Disk. I tried 4.10, and it did the same thing, but I managed to
> install 4.9 and have run that ever since. booting from the original
> Maxtor 4.7GB (configured as the master) IDE drive with most storage on
> the newer drive that I added. This week, the added (60GB) drive
> started sending out error messages, and fsck just cycled through hours
> of fixes and told me to run itself again when it completed.
> 
> I've purchased a new 80GB hard disk and decided to try to install 5.4
> again. I installed the new disk in place of the original 4.7GB drive
> with the dying drive left as a slave in the hopes that I might be able
> to retrieve something from it. When I boot from the 5.4 ISO image, the
> systems messages scroll through until the devices are recognized. The
> last three lines listed are:
> 
> ad0: 78533MB <HDS728080PLAT20/PF20A2B> [159560/16/63] at ata0-master UDMA33
> ad1: 58644MB <Maxtor 6Y060l0/YAR41BW0> [119150/16/63] at ata0-slave UDMA33
> acd0: <TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1102/1426> at ata1-master P104
> 
> At that point, it hangs and I see no activity at all. I've tried the
> Boot FreeBSD (default), Boot FreeBSD with ACPI disabled options., and
> Boot FreeBSD in Safe Mode options, but all have the same results.
> 
> Before I go back to 4.9, can anyone suggest steps to resolve this or
> point me to a resource that would help me resolve it?

First of all, I would try 6.0.  It's currently in beta, but some of
the changes in device probing may help you.  

If that doesn't help, then take a look at your BIOS settings.
Toggling such settings as "plug-and-play OS" might help you get
further, here, particularly with "safe mode".

You could also try a source upgrade; just be careful with keeping a
bootable kernel around, as you may need to experiment to get a
kernel that doesn't tickle whatever is funny about your hardware.

Another point would be to look to that hardware.  For one thing, make
sure that the acd0 drive is *really* configured and cabled as the
master on the second IDE bus.  And that if anything else is on the
same cable, you remove it.  [It isn't being seen anyway.]

Good luck.


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