Failure to boot on IBM x335
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Hi,
I have an IBM eServer x335 that's refusing to boot pfSense 1.2.2 in normal mode - I get a hard lockup on "Configuring LAN interface". If I boot into safe mode then I get no lockups and everything apparently works fine. I'm using the internal NICs for internal and external (both are Broadcom BCM5703 chips), and have a 4-port Sun card in there for a few other odds and ends. Does anyone know what might be going on, or know why I shouldn't keep running in safe mode indefinitely?
Cheers!
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The key here is whats the difference between "normal" mode and "safe" mode? According to http://my.safaribooksonline.com/9781593271510/start_me_upexclamatory_the_boot_process
Boot FreeBSD in safe mode
FreeBSD's safe mode turns on just about every conservative option in the operating system. ATA hard disks run without DMA or write caching, limiting their speed but increasing their reliability by working around cabling issues and other physical problems. EISA slots are not probed, and ACPI is disabled. On i386 systems, SMP is disabled. USB keyboards will no longer work in single-user mode. This option is useful for disaster recovery and debugging older or otherwise troublesome hardware.
If your system's performance in safe mode is adequate for your requirements you could stick with safe mode (though don't you need to be present to force a "safe" mode boot?) otherwise you may be better off investigating the problem so you can attempt to rectify it. If you want to investigate I suggest a place to begin might be to see what happens when you boot without the 4 port Sun card.