2.3.3.1 update and is now DEAD - help!

[DaHai8]

I upgraded from 2.3.2.1 to 2.3.3.1 and now my box is dead. No pfSense pages, no internet!
Help!
What do I do?!?!?
Tried rebooting a couple times , no joy

[DaHai8]

F1 pfSense

F6 PXE
Boot: F1
Invalid format

WTF did this update do to my box?!?!
How the hell do I fix it without internet?!?!!

[DaHai8]

FreeBSD/x86 boot
Default: 0:ad(0,a)/boot/kernel/kernel

Why does it say 'x86' when I have a 64 bit system and installed the 64 bit version if pfSense?

[DaHai8]

Here's what I started with:

2.3.2-RELEASE (amd64) 
built on Tue Jul 19 12:44:43 CDT 2016 
FreeBSD 10.3-RELEASE-p5 
Version 2.3.3_1 is available.	

And now after trying to upgrade to 2.3.3_1 and having it install the x86 version kernel instead of the amd64 version, I now back to what I had before after re-installing the initial version and restored the configuration.

This is my second attempt at update pfSense software through the web interface. The last one was 64 days ago. It went badly as well. That's 0 for 2 on pfSense upgrades.

So, lessons learned:

1. Don't upgrade pfSense - it doesn't work
2. Backup your configuration, install brand-new pfSense OS, restore your configuration
3. Keep a USB drive with the current pfSense version install handy at all times!

[stephenw10]

Upgrade from 2.3.2 is relatively minor I would not expect any issues there normally. What hardware are you running on?

Yes, you should always backup your config before an upgrade. Yes, you should always have a recovery plan in place before running an upgrade. That advise applies almost universally!
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Upgrade_Guide#Pre-Upgrade_Tasks

Steve

[DaHai8]

Yeah, I learned the hard way: Panic-ville. Hair on fire. Naked running through the campus. All that.  :D

IBOX-501(N10a)
Intel J1900 Quad Core 2.0Ghz
1SO-DIMM, support 1333/1066Mhz, DDR3L(1.3V low power), 4GB
AMIBIOS 32MBit
4IntelWG82583 10/100/1000M Lan
32GB SSD

Pretty much like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Firewall-Micro-Appliance-Gigabit-Barebone/dp/B01GIVQI3M/

The hardest lessons learned are the hardest to forget