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    Installation/boot off USB

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
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    • C
      CaptainWTF
      last edited by

      I use win32 disk imager to load an amd64 memstick img to the flash stick,

      Current setup is a AMD e-350 APU. Specifically AsRock E350M1 w/ 4gb ram & a Intel dual gigabit PCIE NIC.

      I got the thing to load up last week and was browsing the web UI, Now when I try to load it up

      The last thing it says is

      re0: link state changed to DOWN
      em1: link state changed to UP.

      Then it just hangs there. Nothing has changed, Have removed the nic to see if it was causing the problem.

      I've tried default boot, boot off usb device, boot in safe mode. No go.

      Does the same thing.

      Any ideas?

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      • stephenw10S
        stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
        last edited by

        If you're booting from USB you may have to this:
        http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Boot_Troubleshooting#Booting_from_USB
        Though if the system has already loaded NICs it's probably past that point.

        The interfaces reporting up or down may happen while the system is waiting for something else. Though they appear last on the console it may not be the thing that's interrupting the boot.

        Try disabling anything you don't need in the bios

        You could try the 32bit version. Try a 2.1 snapshot version if you're not already.

        Steve

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        • C
          CaptainWTF
          last edited by

          Will try this next, Thanks!

          Will post my findings when I've time to figure it all out. Busy day @ work today.

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          • C
            CaptainWTF
            last edited by

            @stephenw10:

            If you're booting from USB you may have to this:
            http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Boot_Troubleshooting#Booting_from_USB
            Though if the system has already loaded NICs it's probably past that point.

            The interfaces reporting up or down may happen while the system is waiting for something else. Though they appear last on the console it may not be the thing that's interrupting the boot.

            Try disabling anything you don't need in the bios

            You could try the 32bit version. Try a 2.1 snapshot version if you're not already.

            Steve

            @ booting from USB troubleshooting elaborate on these instructions.
            I did used to have a mount root error, Now when I put the image on a USB flash stick it has the image on there but error 15 cannot find file now. I'll try an alternate application to put the live CD distro on it.

            What programs would you reccomend to put the livecd iso on the usb, this machine doenst have CD drive nor do I have a SATA CD/DVD drive for it lol

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            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              Hmm. Well I wouldn't, I'd use the memstick images which are designed for the purpose.
              Trying to boot the CD ISO image from a USB stick is not as easy as it sounds (or potentially not at least). Most programs for doing this expect a Linux kernel/boot-loader.
              If you need to use the CD can you use a USB CD drive?

              Steve

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              • C
                CaptainWTF
                last edited by

                I do have a USB drive @ work, I made a cd. I get the mountroot error on that.

                Also does this repeatedly now.

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                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  Hmm, OK.
                  Well like I said whist it has stopped at the mountroot error and is waiting for input to proceed it's still reporting other things. In this case it's seeing a USB mouse being connected and disconnected. Do you have a mouse/trackpad connected to the system at all?

                  That mountroot error is usually solved by introducing the delay described in the boot troubleshooting docs. However I'm not quite sure what you're booting from when you see that. If it's a USB stick containing a CD image it may well be looking in the wrong place. What do you get if you enter '?' at the mountroot prompt?

                  Steve

                  P.s. It's very difficult to read those screenshots because they're so large. I tried to do it yesterday on my phone but had give up!  ;)

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                  • C
                    CaptainWTF
                    last edited by

                    That boot delay fixed my issue, got the unit up & running I'm running the installation now. I appreciate the help! :D

                    Now its time to get it up and running and put it to the test!

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                    • K
                      kejianshi
                      last edited by

                      I was able to make a full CD live disk install on a usb stick some time ago and it worked fine.  I'm pretty sure I used an linux utility in the ubuntu repos to do it.  Its been a while.  (Actually - must have been a windows pen drive utility because unetbootin doesn't work)

                      I'm wondering…  You didn't do a full install?

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