Solved: Re: ThinkPad X260 won't boot 14.3-RELEASE installation media

From: Arthur Chance <freebsd_at_qeng-ho.org>
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2025 16:17:44 UTC
On 18/06/2025 14:13, Arthur Chance wrote:
> I have a ThinkPad X260 that's already running FreeBSD 13 successfully
> but want to do a fresh install of 14.3-R. It consistently refuses to
> boot from an installation memory stick. What happens is that I select
> the USB stick in the F12 boot select menu, the screen goes black for a
> while, and then the machine prompts me for the geli decryption key for
> the onboard disc and boots into the already installed 13-R system.

OK, this was me misreading what was happening. It asks for the geli key
for the onboard disk, generates the decryption key to unlock it, and
then boots into the 14.3 installer from the USB stick. I was killing the
process before the final stage, misinterpreting it as a failed boot for
the USB stick.

I'm not sure this is ideal behaviour, it rather violates POLA to do
anything with the onboard disk when booting from an external drive.
Maybe a note about this behaviour in the release notes would be good?

-- 
All network cabling aspires to the condition of macramé.