Nanobsd USB Stick boot stuck at F1 and continuous beeping
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Hello, I am newbie and need some help. I am trying to boot pfsense using the memory stick.
I have set the bios to boot from the removable disk.When it boots, it shows:
F1 pfsense
F2 pfsense
F5 Drive 0
F6 PXE
Boot: F1then, last night, it was showing continues ### character and today, it beeps continuously.
I have older hardware.
motherboard Intel D850EMV2, Pentium 4, 512mb memory. I have removed both hard drive and CD drive.
I downloaded 2.0.1 release 512mb-i386 nanobsd_vga file and wrote this file using physdiskwrite to the memory stick.
I tried several different sticks to see if sticks are the problems and also I have tried different versions of pfsense but no success yet.
I also tried monowall pc-generic-1.33.img and it boots up fine. I am thinking the old motherboard might be the problem here.I would appreciated someone can guide me what would be my next steps if any?
Please bear with me since I have limited knowledge of linux/bsd in general.thanks,
smithrock -
The problem here is likely due to the fact that the nanobsd image expects to find itself connected via IDE. What I would expect to see is the boot halt at the 'mountroot>' prompt. At that point you tell it to look at USB instead, then once it's booted you edit fstab to tell it that permanently.
However you're not seeing that.Have you read this: http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Boot_Troubleshooting
You could try using the memstick image instead, that would at least tell you your hardware is supported.
http://files.chi.pfsense.org/mirror/downloads/pfSense-memstick-2.0.1-RELEASE-i386.img.gzSteve
Edit: Way too many spelling errors!
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Steve,
Thank you for taking time to reply me.Yes, I have read the boot troubleshooting page and tried to understand hints given. I did not get very far. I have also searched the forum and found few posts with similar problems.
I could not follow exactly how others eventually fixed the problem.I tried the memstick image as you suggested and I get the following:
Not UFS
Not UFS
No /boot/loader
FreeBSD/1386 boot
Default: 0:fd(0,a)/boot/kernel/kernel
boot:_At that point, it sits at the prompt. If I press anything, it repeats.
what does the fd mean? floppy disk or hard drive? I do not have any drives connected and bios has only one option set it to boot from the removable drive.
why is it looking for floppy or fd disk?I am almost going to give up.
Do you think, I should get the CF/IDE adapter and use the CF card instead of trying to boot from the USB stick?thank you,
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You should try adding the boot delay referenced in the troubleshooting guide first.
I'm not entirely sure where you would add it with the memstick image. Try hitting escape or entering it at the prompt. :-\Steve
Edit: After some searching it seems that your bios is getting in the way. It presents USB attached storage as though it is a floppy drive.
Go into the bios and try to change it to USB-HDD or something similarly labled. -
Steve,
At the prompt, I added the following:
set kern.cam.boot_delay=10000then I get the following (something like that, I only have one monitor so I had to switch it back to write this)
freeBSD/i386 boot
defualt:0:fd(0,a)kern.cam.boot_delay=10000
boot: not ufs
no kern.cam.boot_delay=10000when I hit enter, the spinner shows up for few circles and then the above message repeats.
thank you very much for your time, I appreciated,
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Steve,
In the bios, there is only one option available to me under the boot priority.
removable device-
no where in bios I can set the boot priority to USB-FDD or anything like that. -
Are you using the most recent BIOS?
I found quite a few people complaining about USB booting on that motherboard.
Can you try the stick in another machine to check it?Steve
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Steve,
I have updated the bios with the most current version available for this board from the intel site.I will check the stick on another machine tonight.
Just to note, I have tried about 5 or 6 sticks to make sure sticks are not the problem.
also, I have used physdiskwrite and the other method (win32 image writer) to write and even tried the low level formatting.Strangely, Monowall pc-generic-1.33.img boots OK.
I am guessing PFSense routine must be written differently.thanks,
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Can you try the stick in another machine to check it?
Steve
I just tried the stick on another machine and it boots fine.
That narrows the boot problem with the motherboard D850EMV2 bios.
I may have run out of solutions unless someone running with the exact same motherboard and successfully booting with the USB flash drive can suggest some tips.thanks,
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About the only thing I have left is to try an alternative bootloader. This is referred to in the boot trouble shooting. You can usually boot almost anything with one or other of them. I've never tried, or even thought about, doing this on a Nano or memstick image/install though. :-\
Steve
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Steve,
so, for example, would I run the GAG program from the CD drive and direct it to boot the pfsense nanobsd from the usb stick?
Alternatively, I could just run the pfsense from the CD and use the stick to store configuration file.
correct? -
Yes both those options should work.
You should also be able to boot from a CD with GAG on it and then install it to the USB stick. I've not tried that though.Steve
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Steve,
How do I put GAG onto the USB flash drive and the nanobsd pfSense version on the same stick?
do I need to create two partitions, one with the GAG, and the other one may contain the nanobsd?
If I am able to boot the USB with the GAG, would GAG then boot the nanobsd pfSense? -
Like I say I've not tried it with a USB stick but with a harddrive you can boot from a cd with gag on it like ultimate boot cd for example. Boot the cd and then, using the easy menu options, install gag onto the HD. It only writes over the existing bootloader so you can still boot whatever was on the HD before.
You may be able to do this with a nanobsd image on the memstick or the memstick image. :-\
Can you not boot from a harddrive anyway. ::)
Steve
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I have a hard drive and also the cd drive. Machine can boot from either one.
I was trying to see if I could use the flash drive to run pfSense but unfortunately my MB does not cooperate.
I will try as you suggested tonight and let you know if I get any further.
thanks for your time.
