Pfsense console frozen during bootup and sounds not working.
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Good evening,
I built my own pfsense server using the following hardware;
Intel core i3-10105 (10th generation)
Asus H510M-E Prime motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws V 8GB RAM (2x4GB)
Samsung 980 240GB NVME SSD
Seasonic 550w power supply
QNAP Dual port 2.5gb NIC (QXG-2G2T-I225)I installed pfsense 2.6.0 (VGA console) using a USB flash drive. After the installation, pfsense boots as expected and asks if I want to setup vlans etc. After I assign my network interfaces pfsense will finish booting and run as expected.
When I reboot pfsense or turn it on after shutting it down, the pfsense boot screen will show up (where it gives you 3 seconds to pause) then pfsense starts to boot. It goes to the next screen where I'm supposed to see the boot process, however, the screen is frozen with a solid cursor in the top left corner. After a minute or two pfsense boots and I can see the console. The sound also does not come out of the motherboard speaker properly (sounds like it's trying to make the start up sound but its just a bunch of static at a very low volume). The motherboard speaker is working properly and functions as expected during POST.
Has anyone experienced this issue before or knows how to fix it? If I do a factory reset on pfsense I'll be locked out of the console because I'll be unable to assign the network interfaces. The same result will happen if I change NICS.
I thought maybe the QNAP NIC isn't compatible so I tried an Intel 82576 dual port NIC which I took out of a working pfsense install. I did a fresh installation of pfsnese after changing to the Intel 82576 NIC and I'm still having the same problem.
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A PC speaker is or 'beeper' isn't often use by pSense. At startup, yes, and on admin login, if activated.
@smiticans said in Pfsense console frozen during bootup and sounds not working.:
If I do a factory reset on pfsense I'll be locked out of the console because
When you factory reset, you need the console.
Interfaces might ( will get !) unassigned, so these won't be your way in.
The console is actually the most important interface for the admin.@smiticans said in Pfsense console frozen during bootup and sounds not working.:
maybe the QNAP NIC isn't compatible
These don't make a sound, and do not introduce a boot delay.
@smiticans said in Pfsense console frozen during bootup and sounds not working.:
the screen is frozen with a solid cursor in the top left corner. After a minute or two pfsense boots
That's a lot.
You used the walk-through : Troubleshooting Boot Issues ? -
J jimp moved this topic from Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software on
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Where exactly does it appear to stop responding?
It's common to have a speaker that works in post but it's in the expected default location so doesn't work as a speaker device in pfSense, unfortunately.
It sounds like you might just have the wrong console set somehow.
Try forcing a VGA console:
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/troubleshooting/boot-issues.html#booting-with-an-alternate-consoleSteve
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Thank you guys for the responses.
The speaker is connected directly to the speaker header on the motherboard. This is the one I'm using https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DM56TFY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
If this speaker setup won't work what do you guy recommend?
Pfsense will boot to the "Welcome to Pfsense" screen where you have 3 seconds to press the space bar to pause it from booting. Right after this screen is where it freezes. I'll have a solid curser in the top left corner for about two minutes. After that time pfsense will successfully boot and I'll have access to the console where I can change interface adapters, reboot, halt system etc.
The problem is if I do a factory reset or change the NIC adapter I won't be able to get back into the system because the option to assign the NIC's is before it successfully boots. So it will be stuck in the menu asking me to assign the NIC's but I won't be able to see it in the VGA console.
I've installed two other Pfsense installation's on different computers with the same USB drive the exact same way I installed it on this computer. I also followed the installation guide from Netgate during the installation process. I'm using the ZFS file system.
The only difference is the other computers are both Dell Optiplex computers (one 3rd Gen i5 and 7th Gen i3) where mine is a custom built computer using an Asus board.
I'm going to try to force a VGA console and follow the troubleshooting guide and I'll post back with my results.
Thank you!
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@smiticans said in Pfsense console frozen during bootup and sounds not working.:
Pfsense will boot to the "Welcome to Pfsense" screen where you have 3 seconds to press the space bar to pause it from booting. Right after this screen is where it freezes. I'll have a solid curser in the top left corner for about two minutes. After that time pfsense will successfully boot and I'll have access to the console where I can change interface adapters, reboot, halt system etc.
Ok that sounds exactly like what happens if it's booting dual console but with serial as primary.
We've seen that before on some systems but it's a very easy fix. Just go to System > Advanced > Admin Access and change the Primary Console to VGA.Steve
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Thank you!! That worked!
I had to put a check mark in "Enables the first serial port with 115200/8/N/1 by default, or another speed selectable below" then change the primary display to VGA. Originally the primary display was set to console. When I changed it to VGA it still did not work until I checked enable the first serial port box.
Now my last problem lol. Is there anyway I can get the speaker to work so I can hear the boot up, shutdown and login sounds?
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@smiticans said in Pfsense console frozen during bootup and sounds not working.:
Is there anyway I can get the speaker to work so I can hear the boot up, shutdown and login sounds?
Probably not. Or at least if there is a way I have not found it.
You might try disabling any on board sounds chips that might be stealing the speaker output.The 'speaker' device is part of the ancient AT spec I believe. It's at a fixed I/O location and pfSense/FreeBSD writes to that. If it's not in the location the BIOS may know that and can beep to it but pfSense doesn't.
There are a few threads about it.... -
I'm sure there were some far more recent but: https://forum.netgate.com/topic/77759
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@stephenw10 Yeah I read that before. I'll have to dig into it at another time. I read somewhere that someone modified a file in pfsense and was able to get it to play through their computer speakers.
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Yeah, if you have alternative sound hardware and it's recognised I think you can set that be the system sound device and should it work. I've never tried that myself though.
