[Bug 297346] FreeBSD 16 installer: When the system has no internet connection the installer fails to install it with vague messages: It should clearly state that there is no internet connection

From: <bugzilla-noreply_at_freebsd.org>
Date: Sat, 08 Aug 2026 02:10:00 UTC
https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=297346

            Bug ID: 297346
           Summary: FreeBSD 16 installer: When the system has no internet
                    connection the installer fails to install it with
                    vague messages: It should clearly state that there is
                    no internet connection
           Product: Base System
           Version: 16.0-CURRENT
          Hardware: Any
                OS: Any
            Status: New
          Severity: Affects Only Me
          Priority: ---
         Component: misc
          Assignee: bugs@FreeBSD.org
          Reporter: yuri@freebsd.org

The UTM VM on MacOS had no internet connection and the FreeBSD installer never
told this, see these steps:
1. download
FreeBSD-16.0-CURRENT-arm64-aarch64-20260804-e004ff15f87e-287922-disc1.iso
2. create UTM VM with all default parameters with the above ISO image
3. attempt to install the system
4. After the "Last Chance" message "Yes" was selected to overwrite the disk.
5. Next screen said: "Updating repositories failed, try again?"
6. Trying again leads to the same message again.

While clicking on Yes in step 6 the text is blinking at the bottom of the
screen:
Updating FreeBSD-based repository catalogue ...
Repository FreeBSD-base has no meta file, using default settings


Solution: The installer should say "Updating repositories failed. Reason: No
internet connection."

The core reason of failure should be presented to the user.

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