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    Upgrade from 2.2.6 to 2.3 Release fails - can't find kernel, can't mount filesys

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
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    • 4 Offline
      4920441
      last edited by

      Hi,

      just tried to upgrade my running 2.2.6 pfsense Box (Amd Sempron 200U, 1 GB DDR2).
      After rebooting it failed too boot complaining no kernel found….

      Then I tried do boot by (USB) CD-Rom and the next problem occured... neither the compact flash IDE drive, nor the cd drive was mountable - even mounting in manually
      ended with a "error 19"

      Mounting from ufs:/dev/ada0xxx failed with error 19
      mountroot>

      a ? did only show the cd rom...

      Now I am trying to reinstall 2.2.6 again - seems to work fine, now...

      No Idea what 2.3 does there...?

      After dozens of flawless updates, now this..:-(

      Any Ideas?

      Cheers,

      4920441

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      • R Offline
        robi
        last edited by

        Check BIOS / DMA settings for the compact flash IDE drive.

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        • 4 Offline
          4920441
          last edited by

          Hi,

          I'll try that.. but that does absolutely doesn't explain why it also fails too boot the installer from an USB CDrom….

          When I am reading the Upgrade problems to Version 2.3 in the forum, I think I stick with the 2.2.6 release for  a couple of weeks... What a bummer - the first upgrade since 1.2 to 2.x which didn't work at all...:-( (at least for my system)

          Cheers,

          4920441

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          • jimpJ Offline
            jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
            last edited by

            What is the exact, specific error?

            If it cannot load the kernel, it's possible it ran out of disk space during the upgrade. Safest and quickest fix is to reinstall.

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            • B Offline
              BlackDragon381
              last edited by

              Hello!
              Have the same error, after the upgrading on first boot:
              kernel not found
              can't load kernel

              pfSense installed on ProxmoX

              How I can fix this problem?

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              • R Offline
                robi
                last edited by

                I don't get it, people. When you see such errors, what's the first thing you can think about, to fix it???
                Isn't that if it's a physical machine, re-format and re-install? Or if it's a VM, just simply create a new VM with the same params and re-install there from ISO? Or revert from snapshot if you have one?
                Is it worth the time to ask in a forum????

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                • B Offline
                  BlackDragon381
                  last edited by

                  Great idea:
                  reinstall & configure…update
                  reinstall & configure...update
                  reinstall & configure...update

                  Maybe updates must be more stable?!

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                  • jimpJ Offline
                    jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                    last edited by

                    Without more info about why it happened, we can't address the issue. Every other time we've seen this happen it was because the disk was filled during the update (so it was installed on a too-small disk or allocated too little VM disk space, etc). That will be better from 2.3 forward because of how the updates work.

                    If someone keeps installing to the same too-small disk, it's quite possible they could keep shooting their foot in the same way every time…

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                    • R Offline
                      robi
                      last edited by

                      @BlackDragon381:

                      Great idea:
                      reinstall & configure…update
                      reinstall & configure...update
                      reinstall & configure...update

                      Honestly? Yes!

                      I never update in-place. I always do a fresh install and restore file from backup. On a separate hardware, and when assuring 100% is done, swap the cables. On a VM, it's even more easier.

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                      • B Offline
                        Boolah
                        last edited by

                        I'm seeing something similar when attempting to upgrade from 2.2.6 amd64 running under Hyper-V 2012 R2.  I removed all packages from pfSense prior to the upgrade.  I had 4.9 GB of free HDD space before performing the upgrade.

                        Nothing was output to the console during the upgrade process (other than the standard "firmware upgrade in process") until the end of the process, just before the machine reboots.  The first two screenshots reflect the errors.  The third screenshot is after the machine reboots and can no longer mount the filesystem.

                        Hope it helps.

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                        • jimpJ Offline
                          jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                          last edited by

                          @Boolah:

                          I'm seeing something similar when attempting to upgrade from 2.2.6 amd64 running under Hyper-V 2012 R2.  I removed all packages from pfSense prior to the upgrade.  I had 4.9 GB of free HDD space before performing the upgrade.

                          Nothing was output to the console during the upgrade process (other than the standard "firmware upgrade in process") until the end of the process, just before the machine reboots.  The first two screenshots reflect the errors.  The third screenshot is after the machine reboots and can no longer mount the filesystem.

                          First two errors are normal, on 2.2 as the VM shuts down it (briefly) tries to load 2.3's PHP files on 2.2, which won't work, but after reboot it would be fine)

                          Last one is different. That may be an issue with HyperV's disk controller setting. There's another thread for that already ( can't find the link at the moment ), likely related to https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=109952.0 – at least one report in another thread said they had to recreate the VM, but if that's the case, it's possible just fixing the disk controller settings in HyperV may be sufficient. I don't have any Hyper-V that I can test on myself, so I can't offer any more concrete suggestions for that situation.

                          Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

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                          • B Offline
                            BlackDragon381
                            last edited by

                            @jimp:

                            Without more info about why it happened, we can't address the issue. Every other time we've seen this happen it was because the disk was filled during the update (so it was installed on a too-small disk or allocated too little VM disk space, etc). That will be better from 2.3 forward because of how the updates work.

                            If someone keeps installing to the same too-small disk, it's quite possible they could keep shooting their foot in the same way every time…

                            Have about 5GiB free space before performing the upgrade (10GiB on VM, no additional packages).
                            What information do you need?
                            And how can I get it ?

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                            • jimpJ Offline
                              jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                              last edited by

                              In general, "Mounting from ufs:/dev/ <mumble>failed with error 19" means the OS tried to mount the disk from that specific device, but the device wasn't there.

                              Why wasn't it there? Two main potential answers:

                              1. The disk controller driver didn't attach to the hardware. Rare that it would happen on a new version and not an old, but if for some reason a driver was dropped, it could happen. Unlikely here, since it's bare metal and was using AHCI, but still possible.

                              2. The disk changed locations and is no longer at "/dev/<mumble>". This isn't a factor on modern installs since we go by ufs ID and not a specific device name, but if you upgraded over the years and the driver name changed, it could hit that. If you can find the right device name and enter it at the prompt, it can then be made to work by manually editing /etc/fstab. A reinstall is probably quicker if you don't know your way around FreeBSD though.</mumble></mumble>

                              Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

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                              Do not Chat/PM for help!

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                              • jimpJ Offline
                                jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                                last edited by

                                @BlackDragon381:

                                @jimp:

                                Without more info about why it happened, we can't address the issue. Every other time we've seen this happen it was because the disk was filled during the update (so it was installed on a too-small disk or allocated too little VM disk space, etc). That will be better from 2.3 forward because of how the updates work.

                                If someone keeps installing to the same too-small disk, it's quite possible they could keep shooting their foot in the same way every time…

                                Have about 5GiB free space before performing the upgrade (10GiB on VM, no additional packages).
                                What information do you need?
                                And how can I get it ?

                                If it's a VM, probably not the same problem as the OP in this thread, there are other threads for VM issues (especially Hyper-V), you're better off moving there.

                                Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

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                                Do not Chat/PM for help!

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                                • B Offline
                                  Boolah
                                  last edited by

                                  @jimp:

                                  If it's a VM, probably not the same problem as the OP in this thread, there are other threads for VM issues (especially Hyper-V), you're better off moving there.

                                  Actually, your second point in the above post (https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=109802.msg612250#msg612250) solves the issue.  pfSense v2.3 was trying to load the root from /dev/ada0s1a, when it should have been using /dev/da0s1a.  Entering "ufs:/dev/da0s1a" at the mountroot> prompt boots v2.3 correctly.  After the booting, /etc/fstab shows it's trying to mount the device directly, not by ufs id.  Editing the fstab and rebooting solves the issue and allows the machine to reboot in the future without issue.

                                  Also, the two posts linked in the Hyper-V thread both say the issue is with Hyper-V 2008 R2 and is fixed in Hyper-V 2012.  I'm running Hyper-V 2012 R2, so don't believe they're related.

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                                  • jimpJ Offline
                                    jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                                    last edited by

                                    @Boolah:

                                    @jimp:

                                    If it's a VM, probably not the same problem as the OP in this thread, there are other threads for VM issues (especially Hyper-V), you're better off moving there.

                                    Actually, your second point in the above post (https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=109802.msg612250#msg612250) solves the issue.  pfSense v2.3 was trying to load the root from /dev/ada0s1a, when it should have been using /dev/da0s1a.  Entering "ufs:/dev/da0s1a" at the mountroot> prompt boots v2.3 correctly.  After the booting, /etc/fstab shows it's trying to mount the device directly, not by ufs id.  Editing the fstab and rebooting solves the issue and allows the machine to reboot in the future without issue.

                                    Also, the two posts linked in the Hyper-V thread both say the issue is with Hyper-V 2008 R2 and is fixed in Hyper-V 2012.  I'm running Hyper-V 2012 R2, so don't believe they're related.

                                    Great! Once you have a correct /etc/fstab that works after rebooting, you can run /usr/local/sbin/ufslabels.sh to permanently adjust fstab to use UFS labels rather than the device name

                                    Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

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                                    Do not Chat/PM for help!

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                                    • B Offline
                                      Boolah
                                      last edited by

                                      @jimp:

                                      Great! Once you have a correct /etc/fstab that works after rebooting, you can run /usr/local/sbin/ufslabels.sh to permanently adjust fstab to use UFS labels rather than the device name

                                      Out of the dozen or so pfSense v2.2 instances I manage (most are physical, not virtual), all but one are using device references in their fstab, rather than UFS labels.  Running /usr/local/sbin/ufslabels.sh and rebooting prior to upgrading to v2.3 seems to obviate this issue entirely.

                                      Note: I've only tried this on one VM that was failing to upgrade correctly, but upgraded without issue by running /usr/local/sbin/ufslabels.sh and rebooting prior to attempting to upgrade to v2.3.  Perhaps after someone else can confirm this, the pfSense v2.3 Upgrade Guide (https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/UpgradeGuide#pfSense_2.3_Upgrade_Guide) could be updated to reflect this?

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                                      • jimpJ Offline
                                        jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
                                        last edited by

                                        It's already mentioned on that page, under 2.2, but perhaps needs repeated ( https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/UpgradeGuide#Disk_Driver_Changes )

                                        Remember: Upvote with the 👍 button for any user/post you find to be helpful, informative, or deserving of recognition!

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                                        • B Offline
                                          BlackDragon381
                                          last edited by

                                          @jimp:

                                          Great! Once you have a correct /etc/fstab that works after rebooting, you can run /usr/local/sbin/ufslabels.sh to permanently adjust fstab to use UFS labels rather than the device name

                                          How can I edit fstab?

                                          Now I have in /etc/fstab
                                          /dev/vtbd0s1a for /
                                          /dev/vtbd0s1b for swap
                                          and in /dev/
                                          ad0s1a
                                          ad0s1
                                          and no da0s1a

                                          And how to run /usr/local/sbin/ufslabels.sh?

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                                          • P Offline
                                            paulsnoop
                                            last edited by

                                            @Boolah:

                                            Actually, your second point in the above post (https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=109802.msg612250#msg612250) solves the issue.  pfSense v2.3 was trying to load the root from /dev/ada0s1a, when it should have been using /dev/da0s1a.  Entering "ufs:/dev/da0s1a" at the mountroot> prompt boots v2.3 correctly.  After the booting, /etc/fstab shows it's trying to mount the device directly, not by ufs id.  Editing the fstab and rebooting solves the issue and allows the machine to reboot in the future without issue.

                                            Also, the two posts linked in the Hyper-V thread both say the issue is with Hyper-V 2008 R2 and is fixed in Hyper-V 2012.  I'm running Hyper-V 2012 R2, so don't believe they're related.

                                            Just to confirm I had exactly the same problem on my HyperV 2012R2 pfSense VM. It's also a pretty old install so was using device names rather than the UFS label.
                                            After a brief panic I got round it in exactly the same way, will take a look at ufslabels.sh later.

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