pfSense won't boot unless I manually interrupt the boot process and change the console to VGA

thearamadon

I'm running 2.6.0 (upgraded over time from roughly 2.3.X) on some old consumer desktop hardware (AMD). If I need to reboot pfSense for whatever reason, it always fails. My typical boot time is on the order of 2-3min, and I can leave it for >15min and it never comes up. The keyboard that's plugged in is also totally non-responsive (numlock/capslock don't toggle).

If I plug in a monitor, I can interrupt the boot process, change the console from serial to VGA (by pressing 5) and the boot completes normally. In fact, I don't really need the monitor if I can time the keystrokes right by memory (space to interrupt, 5 to switch console, and enter to boot). I have a feeling that it's because this motherboard doesn't have a serial port. Unfortunately, with no serial port and no VGA console output, I can't actually debug the problem.

There is no log output whatsoever for these failed boots.

I already set primary console to VGA in System->Advanced, but it seems that doesn't take on boot. I know I did originally install with the VGA console version.

Does anyone know how I might be able to solve this? I'm hoping there's an easy way to edit the boot parameters

stephenw10

Is the serial console enabled in Sys > Adv > Admin Access? Disable it if it is.

Look in /boot/loader.conf to see what is actually set. However you can't just edit that file, it will be overwritten next time you make a change.

Steve

thearamadon

@stephenw10

Serial console is disabled.

Here's my loader.conf:

kern.cam.boot_delay=10000
kern.ipc.nmbclusters="1000000"
kern.ipc.nmbjumbop="524288"
kern.ipc.nmbjumbo9="524288"
autoboot_delay="3"
hw.hn.vf_transparent="0"
hw.hn.use_if_start="1"
net.link.ifqmaxlen="128"

I'm not super familiar with the options but it doesn't seem to have any of the console ones...

stephenw10

@thearamadon said in pfSense won't boot unless I manually interrupt the boot process and change the console to VGA:

it doesn't seem to have any of the console ones...

I agree.

Ok, so if you do nothing where does it stop booting?

And you are simply pressing 5 at the loader menu?
Rather than setting console=vidconsole?
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/troubleshooting/boot-issues.html#booting-with-an-alternate-console

Could be a uefi console issue. Or a video hardware issue. What hardware is it?

Steve

thearamadon

@stephenw10 said in pfSense won't boot unless I manually interrupt the boot process and change the console to VGA:

Ok, so if you do nothing where does it stop booting?

Unfortunately I can't tell exactly because there's no output to observe. The main booting screen (where you can hit spacebar to interrupt) displays briefly. Probably for the 3 second autoboot delay. Shortly after that, the keyboard goes unresponsive. My guess is that it's trying to open a serial port that doesn't exist.

It's running on a Gigabyte F2A88XM-D3H with an AMD A10-7890K CPU. The GPU is integrated.

stephenw10

Ok, well what's the last thing you see?

Just the BIOS output?

You must be able to see the boot loader since you can interrupt it.

Steve

thearamadon

Yes, the last thing I see is the boot loader (slightly different version of this)

stephenw10

So how different? I assume that's not your device?

Try interrupting the bootloader and hitting esc to reach the prompt and then run:

set console=vidconsole
boot

If that works you can just add that line to /boot/loader.conf.local.

Steve

thearamadon

@stephenw10 said in pfSense won't boot unless I manually interrupt the boot process and change the console to VGA:

So how different? I assume that's not your device?

Try interrupting the bootloader and hitting esc to reach the prompt and then run:
set console=vidconsole
boot
If that works you can just add that line to /boot/loader.conf.local.

Steve

I've included a picture of my actual menu below. Turns out the problem isn't console (which is set to efi), but actually that boot_serial=YES. If I do set boot_serial=NO, then it boots just fine. Unfortunately, adding that to /boot/loader.conf.local doesn't work, nor does adding unset boot_serial. So either its not taking that file, or the problem is happening before the file is loaded.

What's the right way to change this?

stephenw10

What exactly did you put in the file? You don't include 'set' there.

thearamadon

@stephenw10 said in pfSense won't boot unless I manually interrupt the boot process and change the console to VGA:

What exactly did you put in the file? You don't include 'set' there.

I tried both set boot_serial=NO and unset boot_serial. Both of these work if I enter them directly into the boot console, but not if I add them to the file

stephenw10

Neither would work in the file, it should be just:

boot_serial=NO

Steve

thearamadon

@stephenw10 said in pfSense won't boot unless I manually interrupt the boot process and change the console to VGA:

Neither would work in the file, it should be just:
boot_serial=NO
Steve

That did the trick! Thanks so much for the help.

nielsjlarsen

@thearamadon and @stephenw10

I have the exact same issue. Also running 2.6 on x86 hardware.
It's normally working perfectly, however for some reason we've had a few power outages lately and every time pfSense powers up again I need to manually power off, break the boot sequence (press space) and change the console to VGA (press 5) and continue with the boot process (press Enter).
If I do nothing it just freezes, black screen and no action on any keyboard input.

After getting fed up with this I researched and thought I might've installed the memstick serial image by mistake, so I downloaded the memstick VGA image and did a fresh install.
I see the same behaviour with a completely fresh VGA install, with nothing more than assigning the adapters i.e. no restore from backup.

I've tried adding boot_serial=NO in /boot/loader.conf.local with no luck.
I've also tried reaching the prompt in the bootloader and run:

set console=vidconsole

but it fails and tells me there's no vidconsole, but efi and a few other options, none of which sound right.

I've also tried assigning the VGA console as the primary console in the GUI and although this setting is persistent after a reboot, it changes nothing.

Any help appreciated as I'm traveling more and more for work and I know I'll have a priority 1 incident if "the WiFi" fails while I'm away from home and my teens cannot watch TikTok etc..

stephenw10

It probably is an efi console. What does the menu entry say?

nielsjlarsen

@stephenw10

What menu entry do you mean?
In the boot options or in the web GUI?

I've tried using efi console, but it doesn't work.

stephenw10

I mean what does menu option 5 in the loader show when you select it?

SeaMonkey

@stephenw10 Thanks! I was suffering from the same issue.

nielsjlarsen

@stephenw10

When it boots it's set to serial regardless of the settings I've played with in loader.conf.local or in the console settings in the GUI.
I have to change that to video to be able to boot successfully.

stephenw10

So the menu shows option 5 as 'serial' and you press it to change to 'video' and then it boots correctly?

What do you have in loader.conf and loader.conf.local?

Steve