January 5th, 2009
PXE booting FreeBSD - no kernel messages displayed

  • I'm trying to set up a PXE booted FreeBSD 5.3 for the purposes of disaster recovery. I've set up a tftp and nfs environment, and the kernel/mfsroot are both transferred. In fact, if I use a FreeBSD supplied mfsroot, I can actually boot it right up into sysinstall. The only problem is, nothing is displayed from the second the FreeBSD kernel takes over until sysinstall appears. This is pretty much useless to me, since I don't really want sysinstall; I want to roll my own mfsroot that gives me a prompt so I can work on fixing the machine in the event that it dies. I'm not going to be able to do an awful lot until I can see something going on without having to use sysinstall. So my question is this: where are the kernel/init messages going?


  • In case it helps you, I'm having the exact same problem as the guy in this post: http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-questions/2004-January/032742.html Helpfully, there's no follow-ups to his question either. I mailed him asking if he ever got it working, but no response yet :(


  • Hi Hummer, Even if there's no configuration menu, I should still be able to see the kernel boot messages as the system is coming up. And that's what I'm missing - along with any text at all on the console after the system is booted.


  • "To be honest if someone can answer this I'll be very pleasantly surprised - I couldn't find any answers after days of searching mailing list archives etc :/" Ah, now that sounds like a real challenge that GA researchers just love! 8-) Will keep trying... hummer


  • Hi 4.1 Repairing an Existing FreeBSD Installation "FreeBSD features a ``Fixit'' option in the top menu of the boot floppy. To use it, you will also need either a fixit.flp image floppy, generated in the same fashion as the boot floppy, or the ``live filesystem'' CDROM; typically the second CDROM in a multi-disc FreeBSD distribution. To invoke fixit, simply boot the kern.flp floppy, choose the ``Fixit'' item and insert the fixit floppy or CDROM when asked. You will then be placed into a shell with a wide variety of commands available (in the /stand and /mnt2/stand directories) for checking, repairing and examining filesystems and their contents. Some UNIX administration experience is required to use the fixit option. 4.2 Common Installation Problems for IA-64 Architecture Users: This file, and other release-related documents, can be downloaded from: http://snapshots.jp.FreeBSD.org/ For questions about FreeBSD, read the documentation before contacting: . All users of FreeBSD 5-CURRENT should subscribe to the: mailing list. For questions about this documentation, e-mail: . Good luck - I hope something there helps. hummer


  • Hi caesium, "... there is no kernel configuration menu in the installation of 5.0." http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-questions/2003-May/007097.html hummer


  • Hi again, Yes, I can see the sysinstall screen - while the kernel is booting, I can still see the previous PXE and DHCP messages, but then nothing further appears until sysinstall pops up. The bit in the middle is what I'm missing (and need - if I only wanted to install FreeBSD then I'd be all set, as I have sysinstall up, but I don't - I actually want a disaster recovery setup for which I just need a simple prompt). To be honest if someone can answer this I'll be very pleasantly surprised - I couldn't find any answers after days of searching mailing list archives etc :/


  • Hi caesium, Can you see the sysintall Main Menu? Blank screen: Could be a video IRQ assignment problem. Do you have two cd-rom drives? If so, try unplugging one (for example, the cd-writer). hummer







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    Filed under: xn--qi1a.com — anonym @ January 5, 2009 edit