Boot freezes at EFI Framebuffer Information
-
Hi,
this weekend I had to reinstall Pfsense (+) to switch to ZFS. I made several attempts. However, I always ran in the same "error".
Prior to the new installation, I flashed the newest Bios (2.20.0). It’s a Dell R330 Server. I installed the 2.7.2 ISO over the iDRAC (Dells IPMI) console.The install worked fine, but after Upgrading to 23.05 the server stuck booting on the point where the Resolution from the console is set in EFI (I think):
After a hardreset the server booted again. I was able to upgrade to 24.03 and load my old Config.
But then again, the server hanged at this point. I thought that this is no option for a productive installation. It hanged every 2-3 boots and I always had to hardreset the server.
A new installation brought the same results. This time even without upgrading to Pfsense +. This error also occurs on 2.7.2.After some googling, I found a lot different cases for this problem, going back to ~2016. Some only on VMs, others - as me - on bare metal servers.
Also there are some fixes in FreeBSD for this, but the problem still exists (at least for me).My last attempt was a new Installation after I switched from UEFI to BIOS mode. This finally worked. All boots and the upgrade to 24.03 worked.
As for my question:
I do not think there is a quick solution for this, so I will stay at legacy BIOS Mode.
Is there any impact besides that UEFI should be faster in booting?
As for my understanding, FreeBSD should not support secureboot. So UEFI does not bring any advantages.Does this have other impacts in the future regarding functionality or security?
Thanks.
-
I would stay at legacy even if UEFI wokred without any issues.
-
One we have seen affect that is whether or not a com port is present. You might check if that's enabled/disabled in the BIOS.
-
@stephenw10
There is a serial port, at least to access the iDRAC console (it's calles "RAC-serial"). But I don't think this port is connected to the OS.We did not had this problem before updating to ZFS, BIOS and 2.7.2.
Are there any arguments against staying on legacy BIOS mode? I would agree with nimrod and don't switch back to UEFI.
-
It should work fine in legacy mode. It make no significant difference to pfSense.
Yes, it would have to be a com port the OS can see such that it uses dual console at boot.
