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    PfSense on Soekris Net 6501-70 - Boots and will not mount

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
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    • M
      martin0641
      last edited by

      The following is the POST from a Soekris 6501 running pfSense 2.0 Release i386 installed to a 320GB drive with the EMBEDDED kernel selected.  Thus far I have not got the disk to mount, I should add that I have the 32GB mSATA SSD that Soekris sells on their site (not installed yet) but I thus far I havn't come up with an easy way for me to install the pfSense image on the mSATA drive as I do not have a PXE environment setup and I can't boot a CD on the Soekris.  I'm wondering if I can get the installer CD onto a USB stick and then install it to the SSD from there, but I havn't tried it yet.

      Any thoughts on getting this mounted and, optimally, getting it over to the SSD?

      POST: 0123456789bcefghips1234ajklnopqr,,,tvwxy

      comBIOS ver. 1.40a  20110906  Copyright (C) 2000-2011 Soekris Engineering.

      net6501

      2048 Mbyte Memory                        CPU Atom E6xx 1615 Mhz

      Initializing Intel(R) Boot Agent GE v1.3.72
      PXE 2.1 Build 089 (WfM 2.0)

      SATA AHCI BIOS ver. 0.6 20110902  Copyright (C) 2003-2011 Intel Corporation

      Controller Bus#02, Device#06, Function#00: 02 Ports, 01 Devices
        Port-00: No device detected
        Port-01: Hard Disk, ST9320421ASG

      Slot  Vend Dev  ClassRev Cmd  Stat CL LT HT  Base1    Base2  Int
      –------------------------------------------------------------------
      00:00:0 8086 4114 06000005 0007 0000 00 00 00 00000000 00000000
      00:23:0 8086 8184 06040000 0107 0010 08 00 01 1FFF1000 A0FFA000 10
      00:24:0 8086 8185 06040000 0107 0010 08 00 01 3FFF2000 A2FFA100 11
      00:25:0 8086 8180 06040000 0107 0010 08 00 01 5FFF4000 A4FFA300 05
      00:26:0 8086 8181 06040000 0107 0010 08 00 01 0FFF1000 00FFA000 09
      00:31:0 8086 8186 06010000 0003 0000 00 00 80 00000000 00000000
      02:02:0 8086 8804 0C031001 0106 0010 00 00 80 A0000900 00000000 09
      02:02:1 8086 8805 0C031001 0106 0010 00 00 80 A0000A00 00000000 09
      02:02:2 8086 8806 0C031001 0106 0010 00 00 80 A0000B00 00000000 09
      02:02:3 8086 8807 0C032001 0106 0010 00 00 80 A0000C00 00000000 09
      02:06:0 8086 880B 01060101 0107 0010 00 00 00 00000000 00000000 11
      02:08:0 8086 880C 0C031001 0106 0010 00 00 80 A0004400 00000000 10
      02:08:1 8086 880D 0C031001 0106 0010 00 00 80 A0004500 00000000 10
      02:08:2 8086 880E 0C031001 0106 0010 00 00 80 A0004600 00000000 10
      02:08:3 8086 880F 0C032001 0106 0010 00 00 80 A0004700 00000000 10
      02:10:1 8086 8811 07000200 0107 0010 00 00 80 00001021 A0004800 09
      02:10:2 8086 8812 07000200 0107 0010 00 00 80 00001029 A0004810 09
      02:12:2 8086 8817 0C800000 0106 0010 00 00 80 00000000 A0004900 05
      02:12:3 8086 8818 0C090000 0106 0010 00 00 80 00000000 A0004A00 05
      03:00:0 111D 803A 0604000E 0107 0010 08 00 01 3FFF2000 A2FFA100
      05:00:0 8086 10D3 02000000 0107 0010 08 00 00 A1000000 00000000 09
      06:00:0 8086 10D3 02000000 0107 0010 08 00 00 A2000000 00000000 10
      08:00:0 111D 803A 0604000E 0107 0010 08 00 01 5FFF4000 A4FFA300
      10:00:0 8086 10D3 02000000 0107 0010 08 00 00 A3000000 00000000 10
      11:00:0 8086 10D3 02000000 0107 0010 08 00 00 A4000000 00000000 11

      1 Seconds to automatic boot.  Press Ctrl-P for entering Monitor.

      F1  pfSense

      F6 PXE
      Boot:  F1
      //bboooott..ccoonnffiigg::  --DD

      0
                                            y

      1
      (                                                                            1)
                                                                                    )

      /boot/kernel/kernel text=0x8a1d58 data=0x3c9e94+0x9b6a0 syms=[0x4+0x94100+0x4+0x
      caf47]
      |

      ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
      ³                                        ³
      ³                                        ³
      ³                                        ³
      ³          Welcome to pfSense!            ³
      ³                                        ³                ______
      ³                                        ³                /     
      ³  1. Boot pfSense [default]              ³          /    f 
      ³  2. Boot pfSense with ACPI enabled      ³        /    \        /
      ³  3. Boot pfSense using USB device      ³        /  p  _
      /  Sense
      ³  4. Boot pfSense in Safe Mode          ³        \      /     
      ³  5. Boot pfSense in single user mode    ³        _____/       
      ³  6. Boot pfSense with verbose logging  ³              \        /
      ³  7. Escape to loader prompt            ³                ______/
      ³  8. Reboot                              ³
      ³                                        ³
      ³                                        ³
      ³                                        ³
      ³  Select option, [Enter] for default    ³
      ³  or [Space] to pause timer  0          ³
      ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

      Copyright © 1992-2010 The FreeBSD Project.
      Copyright (c) 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
              The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
      FreeBSD is a registered trademark of The FreeBSD Foundation.
      FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE-p4 #0: Tue Sep 13 16:40:00 EDT 2011
          root@FreeBSD_8.0_pfSense_2.0-snaps.pfsense.org:/usr/obj./usr/pfSensesrc/src/
      sys/pfSense_wrap.8.i386 i386
      Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0
      CPU: Genuine Intel(R) CPU        @ 1.60GHz (1600.01-MHz 686-class CPU)
        Origin = "GenuineIntel"  Id = 0x20661  Family = 6  Model = 26  Stepping = 1
        Features=0xbfe9fbff<fpu,vme,de,pse,tsc,msr,pae,mce,cx8,apic,sep,mtrr,pge,mca,c<br>MOV,PAT,CLFLUSH,DTS,ACPI,MMX,FXSR,SSE,SSE2,SS,HTT,TM,PBE>
        Features2=0x40e3bd<sse3,dtes64,mon,ds_cpl,vmx,est,tm2,ssse3,cx16,xtpr,pdcm,mov<br>BE>
        AMD Features=0x20100000 <nx,lm>AMD Features2=0x1 <lahf>TSC: P-state invariant
      real memory  = 2147483648 (2048 MB)
      avail memory = 2086936576 (1990 MB)
      ACPI Error: A valid RSDP was not found (20100331/tbxfroot-309)
      MPTable: <soekris  net6501 =""  ="">WARNING: Non-uniform processors.
      WARNING: Using suboptimal topology.
      ioapic0: Assuming intbase of 0
      ioapic0 <version 2.0="">irqs 0-23 on motherboard
      netisr_init: forcing maxthreads to 1 and bindthreads to 0 for device polling
      wlan: mac acl policy registered
      ipw_bss: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/.
      ipw_bss: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1 in /bo
      ot/loader.conf.
      module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (ipw_bss_fw, 0xc0710010, 0) error 1
      ipw_ibss: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/.
      ipw_ibss: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1 in /b
      oot/loader.conf.
      module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (ipw_ibss_fw, 0xc07100b0, 0) error 1
      wpi: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_wpi/.
      wpi: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_wpi.license_ack=1 in /boot/l
      oader.conf.
      module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (wpi_fw, 0xc0883050, 0) error 1
      ipw_monitor: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw
      /.
      ipw_monitor: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1 in
      /boot/loader.conf.
      module_register_init: MOD_LOAD (ipw_monitor_fw, 0xc0710150, 0) error 1
      ACPI Error: A valid RSDP was not found (20100331/tbxfroot-309)
      ACPI: Table initialisation failed: AE_NOT_FOUND
      ACPI: Try disabling either ACPI or apic support.
      cryptosoft0: <software crypto="">on motherboard
      padlock0: No ACE support.
      pcib0: <mptable host-pci="" bridge="">pcibus 0 on motherboard
      pci0: <pci bus="">on pcib0
      pcib1: <pci-pci bridge="">irq 16 at device 23.0 on pci0
      pci1: <pci bus="">on pcib1
      pcib2: <pci-pci bridge="">irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci1
      pci2: <pci bus="">on pcib2
      pci2: <unknown>at device 0.0 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <network, ethernet="">at device 0.1 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <unknown>at device 0.2 (no driver attached)
      ohci0: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">mem 0xa0000900-0xa00009ff irq 19 at devic
      e 2.0 on pci2
      ohci0: [ITHREAD]
      usbus0: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">on ohci0
      ohci1: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">mem 0xa0000a00-0xa0000aff irq 19 at devic
      e 2.1 on pci2
      ohci1: [ITHREAD]
      usbus1: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">on ohci1
      ohci2: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">mem 0xa0000b00-0xa0000bff irq 19 at devic
      e 2.2 on pci2
      ohci2: [ITHREAD]
      usbus2: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">on ohci2
      ehci0: <ehci (generic)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">mem 0xa0000c00-0xa0000cff irq 19 at d
      evice 2.3 on pci2
      ehci0: [ITHREAD]
      usbus3: EHCI version 1.0
      usbus3: <ehci (generic)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">on ehci0
      pci2: <serial bus,="" usb="">at device 2.4 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <base peripheral,="" sd="" host="" controller=""> at device 4.0 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <base peripheral,="" sd="" host="" controller=""> at device 4.1 (no driver attached)
      atapci0: <intel ahci="" controller="">port 0x1000-0x101f mem 0xa0004000-0xa00043ff ir
      q 17 at device 6.0 on pci2
      atapci0: [ITHREAD]
      atapci0: AHCI v1.10 controller with 2 3Gbps ports, PM supported
      ata2: <ata 0="" channel="">on atapci0
      ata2: [ITHREAD]
      ata3: <ata 1="" channel="">on atapci0
      ata3: [ITHREAD]
      ohci3: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">mem 0xa0004400-0xa00044ff irq 16 at devic
      e 8.0 on pci2
      ohci3: [ITHREAD]
      usbus4: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">on ohci3
      ohci4: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">mem 0xa0004500-0xa00045ff irq 16 at devic
      e 8.1 on pci2
      ohci4: [ITHREAD]
      usbus5: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">on ohci4
      ohci5: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">mem 0xa0004600-0xa00046ff irq 16 at devic
      e 8.2 on pci2
      ohci5: [ITHREAD]
      usbus6: <ohci (generic)="" usb="" controller="">on ohci5
      ehci1: <ehci (generic)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">mem 0xa0004700-0xa00047ff irq 16 at d
      evice 8.3 on pci2
      ehci1: [ITHREAD]
      usbus7: EHCI version 1.0
      usbus7: <ehci (generic)="" usb="" 2.0="" controller="">on ehci1
      pci2: <unknown>at device 10.0 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <simple comms,="" uart="">at device 10.1 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <simple comms,="" uart="">at device 10.2 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <simple comms,="" uart="">at device 10.3 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <simple comms,="" uart="">at device 10.4 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <unknown>at device 12.0 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <serial bus="">at device 12.1 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <serial bus="">at device 12.2 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <serial bus="">at device 12.3 (no driver attached)
      pci2: <unknown>at device 12.4 (no driver attached)
      pcib3: <pci-pci bridge="">irq 17 at device 24.0 on pci0
      pci3: <pci bus="">on pcib3
      pcib4: <pci-pci bridge="">at device 0.0 on pci3
      pci4: <pci bus="">on pcib4
      pcib5: <pci-pci bridge="">at device 2.0 on pci4
      pci5: <pci bus="">on pcib5
      em0: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.2.3="">port 0x2000-0x201f mem 0xa1000
      000-0xa101ffff,0xa1020000-0xa1023fff irq 19 at device 0.0 on pci5
      em0: Using MSIX interrupts with 3 vectors
      em0: [ITHREAD]
      em0: [ITHREAD]
      em0: [ITHREAD]
      pcib6: <pci-pci bridge="">at device 3.0 on pci4
      pci6: <pci bus="">on pcib6
      em1: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.2.3="">port 0x3000-0x301f mem 0xa2000
      000-0xa201ffff,0xa2020000-0xa2023fff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci6
      em1: Using MSIX interrupts with 3 vectors
      em1: [ITHREAD]
      em1: [ITHREAD]
      em1: [ITHREAD]
      pcib7: <pci-pci bridge="">at device 4.0 on pci4
      pci7: <pci bus="">on pcib7
      pcib8: <pci-pci bridge="">irq 18 at device 25.0 on pci0
      pci8: <pci bus="">on pcib8
      pcib9: <pci-pci bridge="">at device 0.0 on pci8
      pci9: <pci bus="">on pcib9
      pcib10: <pci-pci bridge="">at device 2.0 on pci9
      pci10: <pci bus="">on pcib10
      em2: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.2.3="">port 0x4000-0x401f mem 0xa3000
      000-0xa301ffff,0xa3020000-0xa3023fff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci10
      em2: Using MSIX interrupts with 3 vectors
      em2: [ITHREAD]
      em2: [ITHREAD]
      em2: [ITHREAD]
      pcib11: <pci-pci bridge="">at device 3.0 on pci9
      pci11: <pci bus="">on pcib11
      em3: <intel(r) 1000="" pro="" network="" connection="" 7.2.3="">port 0x5000-0x501f mem 0xa4000
      000-0xa401ffff,0xa4020000-0xa4023fff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci11
      em3: Using MSIX interrupts with 3 vectors
      em3: [ITHREAD]
      em3: [ITHREAD]
      em3: [ITHREAD]
      pcib12: <pci-pci bridge="">at device 4.0 on pci9
      pci12: <pci bus="">on pcib12
      pcib13: <pci-pci bridge="">irq 19 at device 26.0 on pci0
      pci13: <pci bus="">on pcib13
      isab0: <pci-isa bridge="">at device 31.0 on pci0
      isa0: <isa bus="">on isab0
      cpu0 on motherboard
      ata0 at port 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6 irq 14 on isa0
      ata0: [ITHREAD]
      ata1 at port 0x170-0x177,0x376 irq 15 on isa0
      ata1: [ITHREAD]
      atrtc0: <at real="" time="" clock="">at port 0x70 irq 8 on isa0
      ppc0: parallel port not found.
      uart0: <16550 or compatible> at port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 flags 0x10 on isa0
      uart0: [FILTER]
      uart0: console (9600,n,8,1)
      Timecounter "TSC" frequency 1600007360 Hz quality 800
      Timecounters tick every 10.000 msec
      IPsec: Initialized Security Association Processing.
      usbus0: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
      usbus1: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
      ugen0.1: <(0x8086)> at usbus0
      uhub0: <(0x8086) OHCI root HUB, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1> on usbus0
      ugen1.1: <(0x8086)> at usbus1
      uhub1: <(0x8086) OHCI root HUB, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1> on usbus1
      usbus2: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
      usbus3: 480Mbps High Speed USB v2.0
      ugen2.1: <(0x8086)> at usbus2
      uhub2: <(0x8086) OHCI root HUB, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1> on usbus2
      ugen3.1: <intel>at usbus3
      uhub3: <intel 1="" 9="" ehci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus3
      uhub0: 1 port with 1 removable, self powered
      uhub1: 1 port with 1 removable, self powered
      usbus4: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
      usbus5: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
      uhub2: 1 port with 1 removable, self powered
      ugen4.1: <(0x8086)> at usbus4
      uhub4: <(0x8086) OHCI root HUB, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1> on usbus4
      ugen5.1: <(0x8086)> at usbus5
      uhub5: <(0x8086) OHCI root HUB, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1> on usbus5
      usbus6: 12Mbps Full Speed USB v1.0
      usbus7: 480Mbps High Speed USB v2.0
      ugen6.1: <(0x8086)> at usbus6
      uhub6: <(0x8086) OHCI root HUB, class 9/0, rev 1.00/1.00, addr 1> on usbus6
      ugen7.1: <intel>at usbus7
      uhub7: <intel 1="" 9="" ehci="" root="" hub,="" class="" 0,="" rev="" 2.00="" 1.00,="" addr="">on usbus7
      uhub4: 1 port with 1 removable, self powered
      uhub5: 1 port with 1 removable, self powered
      uhub6: 1 port with 1 removable, self powered
      ad6: 305245MB <seagate st9320421asg="" dea2="">at ata3-master UDMA100 SATA 3Gb/s
      Root mount waiting for: usbus7 usbus3
      uhub3: 3 ports with 3 removable, self powered
      uhub7: 3 ports with 3 removable, self powered
      Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ad8s1a
      ROOT MOUNT ERROR:
      If you have invalid mount options, reboot, and first try the following from
      the loader prompt:

      set vfs.root.mountfrom.options=rw

      and then remove invalid mount options from /etc/fstab.

      Loader variables:
      vfs.root.mountfrom=ufs:/dev/ad8s1a
      vfs.root.mountfrom.options=rw

      Manual root filesystem specification:
        <fstype>:<device>Mount <device>using filesystem <fstype>eg. ufs:/dev/da0s1a
                            eg. cd9660:/dev/acd0
                            This is equivalent to: mount -t cd9660 /dev/acd0 /

      ?                  List valid disk boot devices
        <empty line="">Abort manual input

      mountroot></empty></fstype></device></device></fstype></seagate></intel></intel></intel></intel></at></isa></pci-isa></pci></pci-pci></pci></pci-pci></intel(r)></pci></pci-pci></intel(r)></pci></pci-pci></pci></pci-pci></pci></pci-pci></pci></pci-pci></intel(r)></pci></pci-pci></intel(r)></pci></pci-pci></pci></pci-pci></pci></pci-pci></unknown></serial></serial></serial></unknown></simple></simple></simple></simple></unknown></ehci></ehci></ohci></ohci></ohci></ohci></ohci></ohci></ata></ata></intel></serial></ehci></ehci></ohci></ohci></ohci></ohci></ohci></ohci></unknown></network,></unknown></pci></pci-pci></pci></pci-pci></pci></mptable></software></version></soekris ></lahf></nx,lm></sse3,dtes64,mon,ds_cpl,vmx,est,tm2,ssse3,cx16,xtpr,pdcm,mov<br></fpu,vme,de,pse,tsc,msr,pae,mce,cx8,apic,sep,mtrr,pge,mca,c<br>

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • W
        wallabybob
        last edited by

        The hard drive on your system is ad6:
        @martin0641:

        ad6: 305245MB <seagate st9320421asg="" dea2="">at ata3-master UDMA100 SATA 3Gb/s</seagate>

        but when the software was installed to the hard drive the hard drive was ad8:
        @martin0641:

        Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ad8s1a

        I suggest you reboot and at the mountroot> prompt type ufs:/dev/ad6s1a then when get the console prompt select option 8 for Shell then edit /etc/fstab to replace all occurrences of ad8 by ad6

        @martin0641:

        Any thoughts on getting this mounted and, optimally, getting it over to the SSD?

        I think an easier procedure than getting your existing installation over to the SDD would be to

        • download the appropriate memstick image

        • gunzip it and physically write it to  USB stick

        • put the SSD drive in the Soekris, boot from the USB stick and install to the SSD.

        • That your hard drive is a vastly different size from the SSD makes it a bit fiddly to "copy the installation" from hard drive to SSD. (

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • M
          martin0641
          last edited by

          Thanks for the tip, I knew I was missing something silly.  I'll swap that 8 to a 6 and I bet it starts right up.

          Insofar as installing to the SSD, the memstick versions cannot be upgraded correct?  So if I install it that way, I'll be manually upgrading every time the pfSense team patches, which if possible I'd like to avoid since I went for the SSD.

          I was trying to figure a way to write the regular bootable ISO to the hard drive itself, then install it to the SSD after it boots.  I don't imagine theres a way to invoke the installer from an already installed version of pfSense, so I'm still on the lookout for a way to get the a full installation onto the SSD.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • P
            podilarius
            last edited by

            The memstick version is only for install. Once installed you can upgrade as normal.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • J
              jasonlitka
              last edited by

              You can use a mSATA to SATA adapter board to hook the drive to your computer for the initial install.  They're about $25 on Amazon.

              I can break anything.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • dotdashD
                dotdash
                last edited by

                @wallabybob:

                I think an easier procedure than getting your existing installation over to the SDD would be to

                • download the appropriate memstick image

                • gunzip it and physically write it to  USB stick

                • put the SSD drive in the Soekris, boot from the USB stick and install to the SSD.

                • That your hard drive is a vastly different size from the SSD makes it a bit fiddly to "copy the installation" from hard drive to SSD. (

                  The USB boot code is currently not working on the 6501, this should be fixed in a bios update soon.
                  Until then, you're stuck moving drives about and fiddling. (http://soekris.com/net6501_technical_note)

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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