Can no longer boot with monitor connected - efi frame buffer

chrcoluk

I reattached my monitor to make sure I had console access ready for upgrading pfSense, and it wont boot, it presents something related to framebuffer and then stops there.
The bios is UEFI only with no legacy boot support.
When I unplugged the monitor, it booted fine.

I also cant boot it and then plug in monitor later, as then there is no signal.

patient0

@chrcoluk what hardware is it and what pfSense version? Can you see the pfSense boot menu where you choose the console, kernel or single mode (you should see that)?

And with the monitor attached, leaving it running for a few minutes, does pfSense maybe boot but not showing anything on the monitor?

Maybe you could record a video of the boot and post a screenshot of the last thing on screen?

chrcoluk

@patient0 It is a n100 NUC, weird thing is it worked a while back, and with nothing changed no longer works.

I think it was left for 15 minutes or so the first time. It also acts as if its hung, e.g. not responding to ctrl-alt-del.

The initial boot menu is visible but renders very slow, I tried safe mode, and I noticed it was defaulting to serial console so also tried changing that to video.

Specifically it is EFI framebuffer, so its UEFI and video related.

all the hits on google for the problem, people just switched back to legacy boot with no proper resolution found.

patient0

@chrcoluk said in Can no longer boot with monitor connected - efi frame buffer:

It is a n100 NUC

Can you be more specific, maybe someone else got a similar issue and would then help to know what brand or model.

I think it was left for 15 minutes or so the first time. It also acts as if its hung, e.g. not responding to ctrl-alt-del.

Ok, more than enough time to boot up, it really does hang then.

The initial boot menu is visible but renders very slow, I tried safe mode, and I noticed it was defaulting to serial console so also tried changing that to video.

Mmmhh even for the boot menu on the monitor? Odd, I assume you did switch off the N100, not just a restart (just to be sure)?

Can you try interrupting the boot menu and from the boot prompt run:

set console="efi"
boot -v

chrcoluk

@patient0 I dont want to be too specific to respect netgate, but it is a intel n100 CPU with integrated GPU. NUC.
After the first stall/hang yes I power cycled.

I think it already is a efi console due to the resolution, but I will try those commands, and come back to you, bear in mind I will be offline when trying this so will be at least a few minutes.

patient0

@chrcoluk said in Can no longer boot with monitor connected - efi frame buffer:

I dont want to be too specific to respect netgate, but it is a intel n100 CPU with integrated GPU. NUC.

Mmmh, ok. Why would Netgate care on what hardware you run pfSense? We are all the time very specific, I had a console issue running pfSense on OPNsense hardware. People here are happy to help, be it Netgate employees or volunteers.

But if you prefer to not say more: you should search the internet for your model and pfSense console issues. The chances are someone else tried to install some BSD variation and ran into that or a similar issue.

..I will try those commands, and come back to you, bear in mind I will be offline when trying this so will be at least a few minutes.

Of course, no hurry. You don't have to answer within minutes, take the time you need. Can be in a few hours or tomorrow, or at the weekend.

chrcoluk

@patient0 I dont think you will find model specific information, its a chinese vendor from ali express. I think its topton or something like that. There is no specific model number given to me for the unit, it is just a n100 Intel NUC.

Anyway I tried the commands, no difference, but noticed as soon as I unplugged the monitor, without rebooting it or power cycling it, it then booted. So the video negotiation, whatever it is trying to do is freezing the boot process.

I believe this negotiation isnt mandatory as its already displaying something on the screen, so I am looking perhaps for a way to skip it in the loader.conf.

If you find something to change in the bios, please share, as I can check if its an option in my bios. There is a fair few iGPU options in the bios, with the majority I dont know what they do.

patient0

@chrcoluk said in Can no longer boot with monitor connected - efi frame buffer:

Anyway I tried the commands, no difference, but noticed as soon as I unplugged the monitor, without rebooting it or power cycling it, it then booted. So the video negotiation, whatever it is trying to do is freezing the boot process.

If it does have a serial console, you could try using that to make sure you have access to a console while upgrading.

Unfortunately I don't know how to disable the console, well maybe set to serial or video console:

set console=comconsole
boot -v

or

set console=vidconsole
boot -v

Btw: can't you make a screenshot of it the before it fails and post it?

chrcoluk

@patient0 Interestingly I just plugged the monitor back in with it now booted, and its showing the console, but with no updates since the efi frame buffer error.

EFI framebuffer information:
addr, size 0x4000000000000, 0x1d4c00
dimensions 800x600
stride 800
masks 0x00ff0000, 0x0000ff00, 0x000000ff, 0xff000000

I dont have serial console access sadly, just hdmi.

Attaching the picture.
https://imgur.com/kq1tH8O

There is a chance it carried on booting without updating the display even with the display plugged in, I didnt try to use the net or access the firewall. Although it didnt react to ctrl-alt-del.

patient0

@chrcoluk said in Can no longer boot with monitor connected - efi frame buffer:

Your image:
alt text (include it by use 'image link' and on the imgur image, right click copy image address)

Yep, that is where it stops when it hits there-is-an-issue-with-the-console-settings, like in this thread and others.

There is a chance it carried on booting without updating the display

No, not with that issue, it won't boot any further.

Unfortunately I don't know right now what else to do than setting the console boot variable. Maybe someone else has another hint or trick.

You could try booting from an 2.7.2 ISO or the 2.8.0 installer (you get it for $0 from the Netgate store, account needed) or a standard FreeBSD installer, just to see what happens.

chrcoluk

@patient0 Ok I fixed it by forcing it to not do EFI video negotiation.

https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=loader.conf

screen.textmode it seems can be used to make it use VBE instead of EFI for video.

'efi_max_resolution' and 'vbe_max_resolution' it seems can be used instead of auto negotiation.

Currently I have the textmode set to 0, and the vbe resolution override on 720p.

screen.textmode="0 # new to diagnose efi framebuffer
vbe_max_resolution="720p" # new to diagnose efi framebuffer

Yes I did forget the second " on the textmode line. Documentation says though if you specify vbe max resolution, it will auto force VBE mode anyway.

patient0

@chrcoluk said in Can no longer boot with monitor connected - efi frame buffer:

Ok I fixed it by forcing it to not do EFI video negotiation.

Excellent!

chrcoluk

@patient0 Yep, thanks your help, now there is something on the net, that is a solution for people instead of just disabling EFI boot. :)

Also agree is a good idea to see if I can boot the installer's I will try that later, thank you.

stephenw10

Ooo nice find. I wonder why that fails for some hardware only.

But good workaround anyway.

chrcoluk

@stephenw10 wouldnt surprise me if either my hdmi cable or hdmi port is failing, I have updated to 2.8.0 fine now without issues, but still plan to test boot the installers at some point.