Blocked out from reinstalling by system konsole GELI passphrase request

[John Gaskill]

After getting 15.1 installed on my new system, a closer inspection revealed it did not go down as I thought I had specified, so I wiped out the old install and reinstalled with more of what I wanted.

All new AMD/ASUS system with lots of ram, good CPU and SSDs.  Followed instructions through the install menus and set up a ZFSRAID1 file system.

I probably should not have opted for GELI encryption, but did, kept accurate record of input and successful passphrases, etc. and finished installation.

When attempting to reboot into FreeBSD afterwards, the following screen appeared and entering the strong passphrase correctly does not allow me to pass and get further.

I would like to use "gpart destroy -F" to clear the three SSDs of the ZFS systems and FreeBSD installation and reinstall it without the encryption and other hardening options I selected last time around.

Not much out there on this subject from what I can find.

Suggestions please on getting past this screen?

Tried UEFI shell but although I can render a list of devices, I don't seem to be able to mount them.

Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer

[Edward Sanford Sutton, III]

On 7/14/26 15:51, John Gaskill wrote:
> After getting 15.1 installed on my new system, a closer inspection
> revealed it did not go down as I thought I had specified, so I wiped out
> the old install and reinstalled with more of what I wanted.
>
> All new AMD/ASUS system with lots of ram, good CPU and SSDs.  Followed
> instructions through the install menus and set up a ZFSRAID1 file system.
>
> I probably should not have opted for GELI encryption, but did, kept
> accurate record of input and successful passphrases, etc. and finished
> installation.
>
> When attempting to reboot into FreeBSD afterwards, the following screen
> appeared and entering the strong passphrase correctly does not allow me
> to pass and get further.

Is it re-prompting for the password after you enter it or is it doing
something else? At 3 failed attempts to get a password to decrypt it
should move on to the next device(/partition?). With layouts using
labels/IDs instead of raw device entries I've had geli prompt across all
detected variations when trying to fail attempts but not sure if the
early boot prompts have that too.

If you made changes such as using a different keyboard layout then you
need to be aware that such layouts are not present when prompted for the
password before the kernel and such is loaded.

> I would like to use "gpart destroy -F" to clear the three SSDs of the
> ZFS systems and FreeBSD installation and reinstall it without the
> encryption and other hardening options I selected last time around.

As long as you can boot your install media, you should be able to use
alt+F# where different #s go to different terminals and some will take
you straight to an interactive prompt. From there you can issue whatever
commands you desire including "camcontrol/nvmecontrol format/sanitize"
or "dd" operations if you want to go further than just changing/erasing
partition data.

Asus usually supports pressing F8 during boot to get a menu of bootable
devices for a one time override or you can temporarily/permanently
change boot device order in the UEFI (both F2 or del should enter if I
remember Asus right). If you have booted other media and still get the
password prompt, entering incorrect values 3 times should have it move
on. A more drastic choice would be disconnecting the disk until bootup
has gone further but UEFI settings and hardware needs to support hot
swapping to connect it after power on. You could also use another OS
version or type that doesn't have GELI support to get past it getting
stuck on a GELI password.

> Not much out there on this subject from what I can find.
>
> Suggestions please on getting past this screen?
>
> Tried UEFI shell but although I can render a list of devices, I don't
> seem to be able to mount them.
>

> Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer <https://
> mail.onelink.me/107872968?
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[Marco Moock]

Am 15.07.26 um 00:51 schrieb John Gaskill:

> When attempting to reboot into FreeBSD afterwards, the following
> screen appeared and entering the strong passphrase correctly does
> not allow me to pass and get further. I would like to use "gpart
> destroy -F" to clear the three SSDs of the ZFS systems and FreeBSD
> installation and reinstall it without the encryption and other
> hardening options I selected last time around. Not much out there on
> this subject from what I can find.

You can boot the install media and go into a console there to delete the
partition table.
Although, that does not wipe the data. If you also need to do that, you
can use dd to write zeros. If the SSD supports secure erase, you can use
that too (I never did in FreeBSD).

--
Gruß
Marco

Junk-Mail bitte an tras...@stinkedores.dorfdsl.de

[John Gaskill]

>> After getting 15.1 installed on my new system, a closer inspection
>> revealed it did not go down as I thought I had specified, so I wiped out
>> the old install and reinstalled with more of what I wanted.
>>
>> All new AMD/ASUS system with lots of ram, good CPU and SSDs.  Followed
> instructions through the install menus and set up a ZFSRAID1 file system.
>>
>> I probably should not have opted for GELI encryption, but did, kept
>> accurate record of input and successful passphrases, etc. and finished
>> installation.
>>
>> When attempting to reboot into FreeBSD afterwards, the following screen
>> appeared and entering the strong passphrase correctly does not allow me
>> to pass and get further.

> Is it re-prompting for the password after you enter it or is it doing
> something else? At 3 failed attempts to get a password to decrypt it

>.should move on to the next device(/partition?). With layouts using

> labels/IDs instead of raw device entries I've had geli prompt across all
> detected variations when trying to fail attempts but not sure if the
> early boot prompts have that too.

After entering the password it returns "Bad password Request" and allows two
more attempts before changing to another device/partition id and
repeating the process.

If I let it wait or doesn't respond quickly enough, it returns to a system on
login screen.

> If you made changes such as using a different keyboard layout then you
> need to be aware that such layouts are not present when prompted for the
> password before the kernel and such is loaded.

>> I would like to use "gpart destroy -F" to clear the three SSDs of the
>> ZFS systems and FreeBSD installation and reinstall it without the
>> encryption and other hardening options I selected last time around.

> As long as you can boot your install media, you should be able to use
> alt+F# where different #s go to different terminals and some will take
> you straight to an interactive prompt. From there you can issue whatever
> commands you desire including "camcontrol/nvmecontrol format/sanitize"
> or "dd" operations if you want to go further than just changing/erasing
> partition data.

That is the problem. I am unable to boot the install media.
Normally it would boot by itself after signing in with the install media USB drive
in place.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will attempt and get back to the list.

[John Gaskill]

Since the hardware and FreeBSD/ZFS refused under any circumstances to allow
a reinstallation or other access to the system without requested passwords, I
used a tool from my OS/2 era, called DFSee, to create a Linux DFSPup64 thumb
drive which got me on as I had installed the Linux support when doing the
installation.

From that point I ran some reports for my own benefits and files, then wiped the
drives to blank so I can reinstall FreeBSD. Clean shutdown afterwards.

Good night's sleep and back to the installation this morning.

No encryption during the installation this time.

[David Christensen]

On 7/20/26 06:54, John Gaskill wrote:
> Since the hardware and FreeBSD/ZFS refused under any circumstances to allow
> a reinstallation or other access to the system without requested passwords, I
> used a tool from my OS/2 era, called DFSee, to create a Linux DFSPup64 thumb
> drive which got me on as I had installed the Linux support when doing the
> installation.
>
> From that point I ran some reports for my own benefits and files, then wiped the
> drives to blank so I can reinstall FreeBSD. Clean shutdown afterwards.
>
> Good night's sleep and back to the installation this morning.
>
> No encryption during the installation this time.

I have a SOHO network with various clients and two FreeBSD servers (live
and backup). I put each OS on a dedicated SSD and I put my data on the
server, to the extent that is practical.


To install FreeBSD:

1. Download the FreeBSD installer ISO of choice and burn to an optical
disc. Alternatively, download the FreeBSD installer memstick image of
choice and burn to a USB flash drive.

2. Power down the target machine. Disconnect all drives except
optical. Leave HBA/RAID cards connected. Install a 2.5" SATA III
mobile rack and connect to the BIOS/UEFI first enumerated port. Insert
a 2.5" SATA III SSD into the mobile rack.

3. Power up the machine. Insert FreeBSD installer media. If the SSD
is self-encrypting and you want encryption, press the Setup hot key, set
the SED passphrase, save, and exit.

4. Install FreeBSD onto the SSD. KISS. I prefer UFS for OS disks.

5. Check-in key files to a version control system. Backup the boot and
root file systems. Take an image of the drive.

6. Power down. Install/connect/reconnect hardware. Boot.
Install/configure/reconfigure services. Validate. Repeat as required.


David