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    Problems flashing to USB drive [SOLVED]

    Installation and Upgrades
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    • P
      paalgg last edited by

      I have tried flashing the newest 1.2.3 release images to USB drives, both 512MB image and a 1GB image (to 512mb drive and 1gb drive), but no success. I have used physdrivewrite v. 0.5.2, WinImage and a tool which I don't remember the name of (from a russian webpage). I remembered to unpack the img file inside the gz archive.

      I have tried booting from the USB drives on three different laptops and one stationary computer, but none of them boots up pfSense from the USB drives. I know the computers are able to boot from USB drives, because I have successfully booted from my MS DOS USB drive.

      I have tried flashing the USB drives from other computers, but it's the same problem.

      I am insisting to run pfSense from USB drive because the firewall will be running without hdd to make it as silent as possible.

      Any suggestions? Did I overlook something important?

      Extra info: When booting, the cursor is blinking in the upper left position on the screen, and nothing more happens.

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      • S
        SecretAsianMan last edited by

        I'm in the same situation, and experienced the same behavior.

        I want to run pfSense from a 4GB USB thumb drive.

        After fairly extensive searching yesterday, it appears that it should be possible, but will require some work.  Tonight I'll dive a little deeper and see if I can find a resolution.  My guess right now is that the boot block in the image is the culprit, somehow not being proper for a USB device.

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        • jimp
          jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate last edited by

          If you are using the NanoBSD images, all output goes to the serial console, not the video/keyboard console. Do you have a null modem cable connected to a serial port to see if it's booting up there?

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          • S
            SecretAsianMan last edited by

            I was under the impression that I'd see a little output on the VGA before it switched over to the serial console.  I recall reading that a slash ("/") would display immediately prior to the serial redirection starting.  Currently, all I see post-POST is a blinking cursor in the upper left corner.

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            • jimp
              jimp Rebel Alliance Developer Netgate last edited by

              That may depend on the BIOS. You'll need a serial console to configure the interfaces anyhow, so there really isn't much point in testing it without a null modem cable hooked up.

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              • S
                SecretAsianMan last edited by

                I haven't owned any RS-232-capable equipment for years.  I'd like to keep it that way.

                After further research, I've concluded that I have some use cases (not just VGA console, but others) that aren't really a good match for pfSense.  I will be better served by generating a custom FreeBSD image, perhaps using the NanoBSD tool.  Thus I'm going to exit the conversation in this thread.

                Paalgg, I agree with jimp's direction regarding the null modem cable.

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                • P
                  paalgg last edited by

                  Do you have a null modem cable connected to a serial port to see if it's booting up there?

                  @SecretAsianMan:

                  Paalgg, I agree with jimp's direction regarding the null modem cable.

                  There we go, that's my problem. :)

                  I guess I have a null modem cable somewhere from old days actually.

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                  • U
                    untermensch last edited by

                    I have also had this problem see my post here

                    http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,24753.msg128448.html#msg128448

                    replacing the mbr fixes the boot for me.

                    you should see some indication of booting on the screen, I always get
                    a backslash with blinking cursor then the text

                    
                    BTX loader 1.00   BTX version is 1.02
                    
                    

                    everything else goes out on the serial port.

                    .

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