Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Non-system disk on fresh install Mac Mini 2015

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
    18 Posts 3 Posters 1.9k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • U
      Unheated9118
      last edited by

      Hi everyone,

      I am hoping someone may be able to provide some insight into my issue. Due to a major power outage, my PFSense macMini which was running 2.7.2 received the dreaded notices.rc error. I proceeded to re-install PFSense. However, after loading from the USB drive with the latest image from Netgate and going through the whole install, no matter the combination ZFS + GPT, UFS + MBR, or anything else. the system does not boot after PFSense gets re-installed. I get the following error:

      F1 ?
      F2. FreeBSD

      Non-system disk
      Press any key to reboot

      I attempted the suggestion from the netgate site https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/troubleshooting/boot-issues.html#boot-blocks-loader-issues

      However, non of those work. I am a bit at a loss. I tried the 2.7.0 version, the 2.7.2 and netiher work.

      Does anyone have any experience with this or any suggestions?

      Thank You!!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • U
        Unheated9118
        last edited by

        To add additional info, I used Etcher and the latest img for amd64 from the netgate site.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • U
          Unheated9118
          last edited by

          error_pfsense.png

          GertjanG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • GertjanG
            Gertjan @Unheated9118
            last edited by

            @Unheated9118

            THis :

            Looks like partition F1 is unknown ... and booting from it fails.
            Can you select F2 ?

            No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
            Edit : and where are the logs ??

            U 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • U
              Unheated9118 @Gertjan
              last edited by

              @Gertjan When I attempt to select F2, I just get a bunch of ########## and nothing ever loads or show errors.

              I fully wiped the drive, then attempted to re-install and I still get the same result.

              I am not sure if this is just old hardware, as I was wrong as this is a 2012 MacMini.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • stephenw10S
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                Which image did you install from? It booted from USB correctly?

                U 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • U
                  Unheated9118 @stephenw10
                  last edited by

                  @stephenw10 I used the latest 2.7.2 for AMD64 Memstick USB. It booted and installed from the USB Stick as expected. Then when I reboot the MacMini I get the menu options with the screenshot I shared.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • stephenw10S
                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                    last edited by

                    It looks like it's switching a serial console for the output from bootloader and you are not connected to the serial console.

                    Are you sure you didn't use the memstick-serial image?

                    U 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • U
                      Unheated9118 @stephenw10
                      last edited by

                      @stephenw10 That's good to know, I am definitely not connected to the serial console. I believe, I set the boot to Video. Here is the image that I used from Netgate:

                      Screenshot 2025-01-27 at 10.48.06 AM.png

                      Is there an option to disable Console during the installer menu?

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • stephenw10S
                        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                        last edited by

                        Try the legacy 2.7.2 installer: https://atxfiles.netgate.com/mirror/downloads/pfSense-CE-memstick-2.7.2-RELEASE-amd64.img.gz

                        U 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • U
                          Unheated9118 @stephenw10
                          last edited by Unheated9118

                          @stephenw10 Thanks for sharing that. I ran the installer. It booted perfectly fine from the USB Thumb drive created via etcher. The installation did not connect to the internet. When it completed, I rebooted and I received the following message:

                          No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key.

                          The installation said it was successful.

                          I used the defaults for ZFS, Stripe, no encryption, all defaults.

                          Any thoughts on what may be the issue? or something else to try?

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • stephenw10S
                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                            last edited by

                            Hmm, odd. Try installing it as UFS. The installer image itself is UFS.

                            U 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • U
                              Unheated9118 @stephenw10
                              last edited by

                              @stephenw10 OK, let me give that a Go. I did try the ZFS + BIOS + UEFI and that resulted in the same. I will report back if I get the same issue with UFS.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • U
                                Unheated9118 @stephenw10
                                last edited by Unheated9118

                                @stephenw10 OK, after some changes this worked. I took the legacy image you provided, and then changed the settings to be UFS, MBR and the rest of the settings are default. That allowed the system to boot normally. Thank you so much!

                                Can you share what the difference between the legacy and the production image is?

                                What should I do if this ever happens again? Any thoughts on what the root cause of the issue is/was?

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • stephenw10S
                                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                  last edited by

                                  The legacy installer only installs one version. The Net Installer pulls in the current version (or several other versions) at install time so it can be used across an update for example.

                                  If you have time you might try installing UFS from the Net Installer. I would expect that to work also.

                                  U 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • U
                                    Unheated9118 @stephenw10
                                    last edited by

                                    @stephenw10 Interesting, that is good to know. To be fair, I tried using UFS with MBR on the Netgate image and it failed. It showed me the F1 F2 FreeBSD option that never loaded. Again, I really appreciate the insight as I was unaware of the legacy installer. In the future I will make sure to use the legacy installer for this hardware. It's a beefy machine with 16GB of RAM so it can still pull it's weight real well.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • stephenw10S
                                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                      last edited by

                                      Ah, that's also good information because I'd expect the resulting install to be almost identical there and it seems like it isn't. More digging required!

                                      U 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • U
                                        Unheated9118 @stephenw10
                                        last edited by

                                        @stephenw10 My system is back-up and running as the main firewall, but I am happy to help in figuring out or gathering any useful information.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • First post
                                          Last post
                                        Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.