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    2.4 Memstick or Post-Install Boot Issues with Older Hardware

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved 2.4 Development Snapshots
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    • jimpJ
      jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate
      last edited by

      There are a few older platforms out there that are 64-bit but have picky BIOS implementations that may not handle GPT as well as they should (or at all). On these, 2.4 install memsticks or other media may not boot properly. One notable example is the FW-7551 device we sold in the past.

      I added some docs to the wiki with workarounds to help sidestep these issues. While they are simple modifications, they need to be made from an existing pfSense or FreeBSD installation

      https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Boot_Troubleshooting#GPT_Boot_Issues

      If your device can boot the installer with these changes, then you need to be careful which partition scheme you use in the installer as well. That is also noted on the wiki doc.

      We can't make these modifications the default as they negatively impact other devices. These systems are fairly rare (so far), so maintaining yet another memstick variant is impractical.

      If it goes well then you can use ZFS or have a fresh 2.4 install. If all else fails, install pfSense 2.3.4 and then upgrade in-place to 2.4.

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

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      • MORGiONM
        MORGiON
        last edited by

        Fresh install worked perfect, thankyou

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