Re: FreeBSD 9.1 won't boot after install

[James E. Pace]

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate your trying to help me.

On Fri, Jul 5, 2013 at 3:25 PM, Warren Block <wbl...@wonkity.com> wrote:
>
> On Fri, 5 Jul 2013, James E. Pace wrote:
>
>> I bought an HP Pavilion p7-1597c [1] system last week. It is Intel Core
>> i5-3330, with a Seagate 1.5 TB SATA drive and 12 GB of memory, shipped with
>> Windows 8.
[...]
>> I am able to complete the install of FreeBSD 9.1/amd64 from the CD without
>> any problems. However, when I attempt to boot, it doesn't.
[...]
>> After an install, I get to the boot0 (the F1 boot menu thing) screen, but
>> when it tries to boot, it prints "#" and doesn't boot. When trying to
>> share the disk with Windows, mostly I'd get boot errors about not having a
>> bootable device (ERROR: No boot disk has been detected or the disk has
>> failed.).

> boot0 is the multi-boot loader. I'm reasonably sure it will not work on a GPT disk. GPT needs the PMBR loader. This should be correctable by using the Shell option of the install disk:
> # gpart bootcode -b /boot/pmbr -p /boot/gptboot -i 1 ada0
>
> The installer would write that by default on a blank disk. I don't know what it does when partitions are added to a GPT disk. For that matter, I'm not sure how you got boot0 on there.

boot0 must have been installed when I did MBR partitioning, and/or PCBSD did it?

> If there is nothing on the disk to lose, I would start from scratch by going to the shell from the installer:
> # gpart destroy -F ada0
>
> Return to the installer, and it should find the entire disk unpartitioned.

I booted the 9.1 install CD, executed "gpart destroy -F ada0", and
installed. After completing the install, boot fails with:

ERROR: No boot disk has been detected or the disk has failed.

I booted the install CD again, and executed:

# gpart bootcode -b /boot/pmbr -p /boot/gptboot -i 1 ada0

and rebooted.

I got the same error:

ERROR: No boot disk has been detected or the disk has failed.

> If you really want to multi-boot, reinstall Windows 8.

The Windows ship has sailed -- the system didn't come with media, and
the install has been removed. So, I'm committed. :)

Do you have any other suggestions?

Thanks,

James
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[Warren Block]

That is a BIOS error, probably due to UEFI expecting a certain disk
layout when it finds GPT.

> I booted the install CD again, and executed:
>
> # gpart bootcode -b /boot/pmbr -p /boot/gptboot -i 1 ada0
>
> and rebooted.
>
> I got the same error:
>
> ERROR: No boot disk has been detected or the disk has failed.
>
>> If you really want to multi-boot, reinstall Windows 8.
>
> The Windows ship has sailed -- the system didn't come with media, and
> the install has been removed. So, I'm committed. :)

Always image the disk that comes with the machine. I like to do that
before the first boot. Clonezilla works well for that. Something to
remember for next time, anyway. You may be able to get Windows
reinstall media from HP.

> Do you have any other suggestions?

Use 'gpart destroy' again, and set up an MBR partitioning scheme:
http://forums.freebsd.org/showpost.php?p=149210&postcount=13

[James Pace]

You, sir, are a wizard. You magical incantations worked, and I now have a bootable FreeBSD 9.1 system. 

​
​> Use 'gpart destroy' again, and set up an MBR partitioning scheme: 
> http://forums.freebsd.org/showpost.php?p=149210&postcount=13  

I really, really appreciate your help.

​
 James

[Warren Block]

On Fri, 5 Jul 2013, James Pace wrote:

> You, sir, are a wizard. You magical incantations worked, and I now have a bootable FreeBSD 9.1 system.

> ?
> ?> Use 'gpart destroy' again, and set up an MBR partitioning scheme:

> > http://forums.freebsd.org/showpost.php?p=149210&postcount=13
> I really, really appreciate your help.

Excellent! For future reference, I have an article on disk setup here:
http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/docs/html/disksetup.html

Other FreeBSD articles that you may find useful:
http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/docs/index.html

[Simon]

On Fri, 5 Jul 2013 19:43:02 -0600 (MDT), Warren Block wrote:

>> I booted the 9.1 install CD, executed "gpart destroy -F ada0", and
>> installed. After completing the install, boot fails with:
>>
>> ERROR: No boot disk has been detected or the disk has failed.

>That is a BIOS error, probably due to UEFI expecting a certain disk
>layout when it finds GPT.

Does this mean GPT is not supported by this system? I thought
GPT is supposed to replace MBR and UEFI is the future. Perhaps
there is something in UEFI that can be tweaked to make it work
with GPT?

-Simon

[Warren Block]

On Sat, 6 Jul 2013, Simon wrote:

> On Fri, 5 Jul 2013 19:43:02 -0600 (MDT), Warren Block wrote:
>
>>> I booted the 9.1 install CD, executed "gpart destroy -F ada0", and
>>> installed. After completing the install, boot fails with:
>>>
>>> ERROR: No boot disk has been detected or the disk has failed.
>
>> That is a BIOS error, probably due to UEFI expecting a certain disk
>> layout when it finds GPT.
>
>
> Does this mean GPT is not supported by this system?

Kind of the opposite: UEFI expects GPT, but also expects a particular
set of partitions. And then there's the SecureBoot situation.

> I thought GPT is supposed to replace MBR and UEFI is the future.
> Perhaps there is something in UEFI that can be tweaked to make it work
> with GPT?

Yes. There should be some sort of legacy boot. In UEFI mode,
SecureBoot can be disabled, so with the correct partition layout FreeBSD
should boot even in UEFI (untested, I do not yet have a UEFI system).