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

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • T
      thearamadon @stephenw10
      last edited by

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

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      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        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

        T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • T
          thearamadon @stephenw10
          last edited by

          @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?

          20220311_213824.jpg

          stephenw10S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • stephenw10S
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator @thearamadon
            last edited by

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

            T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • T
              thearamadon @stephenw10
              last edited by

              @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

              stephenw10S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator @thearamadon
                last edited by

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

                boot_serial=NO
                

                Steve

                T S 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
                • T
                  thearamadon @stephenw10
                  last edited by

                  @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.

                  N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • N
                    nielsjlarsen @thearamadon
                    last edited by 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.. 😂

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                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

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

                      N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • N
                        nielsjlarsen @stephenw10
                        last edited by

                        @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.

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                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

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

                          N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • S
                            SeaMonkey @stephenw10
                            last edited by

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

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                            • N
                              nielsjlarsen @stephenw10
                              last edited by

                              @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.

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                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                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

                                N stephenw10S 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • N
                                  nielsjlarsen @stephenw10
                                  last edited by

                                  @stephenw10

                                  loader.conf

                                  kern.cam.boot_delay=10000
                                  kern.ipc.nmbclusters="1000000"
                                  kern.ipc.nmbjumbop="524288"
                                  kern.ipc.nmbjumbo9="524288"
                                  opensolaris_load="YES"
                                  zfs_load="YES"
                                  kern.geom.label.gptid.enable="0"
                                  kern.geom.label.disk_ident.enable="0"
                                  autoboot_delay="3"
                                  hw.hn.vf_transparent="0"
                                  hw.hn.use_if_start="1"
                                  net.link.ifqmaxlen="128"
                                  

                                  There's no loader.conf.local at the moment.

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                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator @stephenw10
                                    last edited by

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

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

                                    N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • N
                                      nielsjlarsen @stephenw10
                                      last edited by

                                      @stephenw10

                                      Correct

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                                      • stephenw10S
                                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                        last edited by

                                        Do you see a console type option in the gui in Sys > Advanced > Admin Access?

                                        You may have initially installed from the memstick serial image accidentally.

                                        Steve

                                        N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • N
                                          nielsjlarsen @stephenw10
                                          last edited by

                                          @stephenw10

                                          I do, and I have tried selecting VGA console as primary but it doesn't take effect.

                                          Yes this was my concern after having spent many hours troubleshooting and trying various things, so I downloaded and installed the VGA memstick image (triple checked), but there's no difference.

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                                          • stephenw10S
                                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                            last edited by

                                            Setting a value there should change what is in loader.conf, do you see that?

                                            N 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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