ROOT MOUNT ERROR during boot with no keyboard or mouse attached

jdmcs

I am trying to run "pfSense-2.1-BETA1-4g-amd64-nanobsd_vga-20130328-1703" on a SanDisk Cruzer Fit 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (Model SDCZ33-004G-B35) on an ECS HDC-M/C-60 (V2.0) motherboard, as this motherboard's on-board NIC is not supported by the latest release version of pfSense… and I am a glutton for punishment. [Just kidding on that last part.]

Anyways, things were working great when I had a keyboard, mouse, and monitor connected. [This is defined as I was able to set up the WAN, LAN, and OPT1 ports from the keyboard, and then got to the pfSense menu.]

However, when I took the computer downstairs and went headless, the system refused to boot (or so I thought at first). I finally thought to connect just a monitor, and determined that I was actually getting the following message:

Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ufs/pfsense0
ROOT MOUNT ERROR:
If you have invalid mount options, reboot, and first try the following from
the loader prompt:

set vfs.root.mountfrom.options=rw

and then remove invalid options from /etc/fstab.

Loader variables:
vfs.root.mountfrom=ufs:/dev/ufs/pfsense0
vfs.root.mountfrom.options=ro,sync,noatime
…

And the boot process stops at a "mountroot>" prompt.

First of all, I am trying to run the embedded OS so that the boot device can be mounted as read-only, so I'm not sure the instructions presented here are appealing. But secondly, things were working OK when I had a keyboard and mouse connected _.

So I tried booting with the USB keyboard attached (it's a newer Dell USB keyboard of some sort) and no monitor, and lo and behold, I eventually heard the pfSense beeps of success. I also tried booting with just the USB mouse attached (again, a newer Dell USB mouse), and again pfSense boots successfully.

I am stumped. Why does pfSense boot when I have the keyboard or mouse attached, but not when either are attached?_

jdmcs

Here's a few details on the motherboard and other devices that might or might not help:

Processor:AMD Brazos C-60 dual core (1GHz)
Chipset: AMD A45 FCH
Since it didn't seem to make a difference, I set the BIOS to boot in UEFI mode
NICs: Since I am trying to construct a dual-WAN router, I am using an intel PRO/1000PT PCI-E NIC as well as the Realtek 8111E on-board NIC
I do have a DVD-RW drive connected to one of the on-board SATA ports, just in case (running memtest86, etc.), but that drive is set to second in boot priority
The USB flash drive is connected to one of the motherboard internal headers (the one marked as number 1, IIRC) using a StarTech USBMBADAPT2 adapter, just so I don't lose the drive (I have dubbed the Cruzer Fit a "thumbnail drive" due to its small size ;D)
The front USB ports on the case are connected to the motherboard USB header marked as number 2
Come to think of it, the case has an SD reader, and I think I left it connected to the motherboard header marked as number 3…
I don't have any other add-on cards (PCI or PCI-E) installed. In fact, I believe the on-board sound and parallel port are set to disabled in the BIOS because I am not using them. I also set the video memory to 32MB.

And no, I don't recommend this motherboard. But alas, it seems to have been discontinued (at least at the online retailer where I purchased it)…

wallabybob

@jdmcs:

Why does pfSense boot when I have the keyboard or mouse attached, but not when either are attached?

I don't know but it might help to add something like```
kern.cam.boot_delay=10000

jdmcs

@wallabybob:

I don't know but it might help to add something like```
kern.cam.boot_delay=10000

After remembering that the motherboard has PS2 keyboard and mouse ports, and verifying that a PS2 keyboard is insufficient to eliminate this boot error [just in case ECS were to be using some sort of USB to PS2 bridge chip], I used the boot prompt to try the boot_delay – that worked.

The problem is, I can't figure out how to mount the embedded partition as writable so I can create the /boot/loader.conf.local file...```
set vfs.root.mountfrom.options=rw

wallabybob

@jdmcs:

I can't figure out how to mount the embedded partition as writable

I believe you can create the file through Diagnostics -> Edit File in the web GUI.

jdmcs

@wallabybob:

I believe you can create the file through Diagnostics -> Edit File in the web GUI.

Or you could do it the hard way… download and boot from Live CD, go to shell, try to figure out where USB devices appear under /dev in FreeBSD/pfSense, create a place to mount said USB partition, use the cat command to create a file, hit CTRL-z by accident to end said file...

(I'm going to stop there, as it would just go to show how rusty I am at the command line.)

Volui

wallabybob: Thank's for help! It's working! :)