Kernel Panic when Upgrading to 2.8.0 beta

Gertjan

Your "loader.conf.local" won't get saved in the config.xml.
Rule of thumb : only GUI settings are saved.

Possible solution : Install this package :

and use it to date/annotate/detail (with URLs to the sites /forum /whatever ) and make a Note about what you've put into these system file.

The Notes info will get saved into the config.xml

From now on, you won't need to remember what you've done today, yesterday, or last year.
In case of a re install, read your Notes and do what said in there, you'll be fine.

stephenw10

No the loader file isn't included in config file.

You could add it using the filer package but you don't have to. You can always set that hint at the loader prompt to allow the system to boot before adding the file again.

Astronaut 0

@stephenw10 said in Kernel Panic when Upgrading to 2.8.0 beta:

No the loader file isn't included in config file.

You could add it using the filer package but you don't have to. You can always set that hint at the loader prompt to allow the system to boot before adding the file again.

I ran into this issue when upgrading to 2.8.0 (not beta). I did the loader.conf.local thing and managed to upgrade.

What is the right way of dealing with this issue? I really don't want to have to go through the same thing with the next upgrade. This seems like something that should be documented or even better, the kernel should not crash when it detects a device where it doesn't have a driver.

stephenw10

Indeed it should not. Removing the offending hardware will obviously prevent it. And in almost every case that hardware was not doing anything useful in pfSense anyway.

However it should be fixed soon anyway: https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=283285

Hopefully will be in the next release.

CCNewb

As a follow-up, after replacing my motherboard, knock on wood, no more random crashes. And 2.8.0 seems to be working fine so far, no complaints.

thrx1

@manicmoose said in Kernel Panic when Upgrading to 2.8.0 beta:

That same WiFi chip/adapter has been working with pfsense/BSD for over 5 years...the driver probably just needs slight adjustment for a newer kernel, would be my expectation.

Reply

+1 on the Kernel Panic when Upgrading to 2.8.0 here.
I have pfSense running in an Intel NUC7 and it has been running fine for several years until I tried to upgrade to 2.8.0 on Friday. In my case I'm getting the Fatal Trap 12 page fault while in kernel mode with the AC9560 Intel Wireless on the NUC.

More details: Aside from the occasional run of dropouts (not dis-similar to @CCNewb symptoms) and a PITA when upgrading from 2.6 to 2.7, all versions of pfSense since 2.6.0 have been pretty solid on the NUC. I chose the NUC because I wanted something as vanilla as I could get to avoid any issues, and I've pretty much done so...until I tried to upgrade to 2.8.0.

stephenw10

Same advise applies: remove the card, disable it in the BIOS or add the loader hint to disable it in pfSense.

The patch should be in 2.8.1.

thrx1

@stephenw10 said in Kernel Panic when Upgrading to 2.8.0 beta:

Same advise applies: remove the card, disable it in the BIOS or add the loader hint to disable it in pfSense.

The patch should be in 2.8.1.

Thanks.

thrx1

@patient0 said in Kernel Panic when Upgrading to 2.8.0 beta:

At the loader prompt before pfSense boots (press '3' when the boot menu shows) you enter:

set hint.iwm.0.disabled="1"

I used this method, and the upgrade to 2.8.0 worked.

The WiFi card is disabled in the BIOS; however, this was still required when the upgrade occurred. It is also required every time pfSense boots now.

I do not need the WiFi on the pfSense box, but it is not removable. Is there a way to set this parameter, or some other so it remains permanent and I do not need to enter this every time pfSense reboots? @patient0 mentioned a config file? Is that an option going forward, and if so, how should I do that exactly?

patient0

@thrx1 said in Kernel Panic when Upgrading to 2.8.0 beta:

Is there a way to set this parameter, or some other so it remains permanent

Yes, add/set it in the /boot/loader.conf.local file (it may not exist yet):

hint.iwm.0.disabled="1"

thrx1

@patient0 said in Kernel Panic when Upgrading to 2.8.0 beta:

Yes, add/set it in the /boot/loader.conf.local file (it may not exist yet):

hint.iwm.0.disabled="1"

Thanks for confirming. Applied and works. :-)

stephenw10

Hmm, interesting if it's really disabled in the BIOS pfSense shouldn't see it at all. Something not working right there.

dominik.b

@thrx1

I just want to verify your steps because I'm facing the same Wi-Fi problem.

Create a file called 'loader.conf.local' on your desktop
Edit this file and add: hint.iwm.0.disabled="1"
Use File Upload on the pfSense GUI to load this file
cp /tmp/loader.conf.local /boot/

Correct?

Once I reboot, the error should no longer be visible in the logs of my current version (2.7), but what does the error look like?

When I try to install or upgrade to PFSense 2.8, almost the same error occurs as shown in the large picture of Spacecase.

Regards Dom

patient0

@dominik-b said in Kernel Panic when Upgrading to 2.8.0 beta:

When I try to install or upgrade to PFSense 2.8, almost the same error occurs as shown in the large picture of Spacecase.

Indeed that is the same issue you are facing.

... 4 ... Correct?

I gave it a go using only pfSense GUI and your steps: yes your way does work, IF that file does not yes exist. Otherwise it will get overwritten!!

Ideally you use an editor like Notepad++ to create that file on Windows and set the End Of Line to Unix.

Gertjan

@patient0 said in Kernel Panic when Upgrading to 2.8.0 beta:

like Notepad++ to create that file on Windows and set

@dominik-b .... and use WINSCP - activate the SSH access, the access is 'admin' + your pfSense password.

Btw : For SSH to work, the file system to be available, pfSense needs to have booted ...

A way out : Re install 2.7.2 - and now you can create /modify /boot/loader.conf.local file.
When done, reboot and check that all is well - and that you 'lost' the 'iwm9000fw' device.
From here, upgrade to 2.8.0 and this time, as the kernel doesn't find that device, no more issues.

edit : plan B : from the >db prompt you've shown above, you might be able to "mount" the pfSense partition (read write) mode.
When done, you could create the file.
Then a simple reboot will do the job.

How to mount etc from the >db prompt .... The solution might be here : pfSense Documentation

( I would vote for the 2.7.2 re install etc ...)

stephenw10

You can do it by simply running the single command:
echo 'hint.iwm.0.disabled="1"' >> /boot/loader.conf.local

Like:

[2.8.0-RELEASE][admin@cedev-7.stevew.lan]/root: echo 'hint.iwm.0.disabled="1"' >> /boot/loader.conf.local
[2.8.0-RELEASE][admin@cedev-7.stevew.lan]/root: cat /boot/loader.conf.local
hint.iwm.0.disabled="1"

That will also append the line to the file if it already exists.

Gertjan

@stephenw10 said in Kernel Panic when Upgrading to 2.8.0 beta:

You can do it by simply running the single command:
echo 'hint.iwm.0.disabled="1"' >> /boot/loader.conf.local

At the console db> prompt ?

stephenw10

Nope at the pfSense CLI (or via the gui command prompt page). So you have to manually boot to 2.8 once or run it from 2.7.2 before upgrade.

Gertjan

@stephenw10

Ah, ok, right. Of course.
But : what if his 2.8.0 doesn't boot /didn't boot (because of the kernel boot failure ) ?

stephenw10

Then you need to manually set that disabled at the loader prompt one time to boot into 2.8 first. Then run that command to allow it to boot normally after that.