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    No boot without graphics card (?)

    General pfSense Questions
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    • stephenw10S
      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
      last edited by

      You're running a Nano image on the usb stick? Are you running 64bit?

      Steve

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      • F
        felixbrucker
        last edited by

        im running a regular install (pfSense-LiveCD-2.1-RELEASE-amd64-20130911-1816 was it originally) which got updated through the time, yes it 64bit and i never had problems with it. it feels strange to me that the lack of a simple graphicscard wont boot the os (not only the nics as a press on the power button shuts it down instantly (acpi didnt load i guess) whereas if booted with graphicscard the shutdown routine will shut it down just fine. i just ordered a cheap simple passive gt 210 but for the time there is a spare gaming graphicscard inside gerating heat und consuming power (350w power supply yey)

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        • stephenw10S
          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
          last edited by

          I forget exactly where this applied but it seem relevant here. In 2.2 there is only one kernel for 64bit versions and it does both serial and VGA consoles by default. I suspect yours is trying to write to a VGA device and failing. There may be a loader option to override this behaviour.
          One option would be to switch to 32bit because that is still two different kernels. Of course then you have a 4GB RAM limit etc.
          You should really be running Nano from a USB flash drive to avoid killing it.

          Steve

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          • F
            felixbrucker
            last edited by

            so either i have to get a serial connection (somehow) to manage from time to time or get a vga (which is always connected as it cant boot otherwise) ?

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            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              Ah, OK. So what install type and kernel type were your using with 2.1.5? I assumed you'd been using an embedded kernel previously hence the change.

              Steve

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              • F
                felixbrucker
                last edited by

                uhm it showed 2.15 amd64 freebsd 8.3 if i remember correctly, it was definitely amd64 before, no embedded install as the usb stick is a high performance usb3.0 one with wear leveling and such things

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                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  Ok, but importantly it was a standard, vga enabled, kernel and it booted just fine with or without a VGA card in the box?

                  So perhaps (speculation time!) the new dual console configuration attempts to recognise which consoles are present and is finding in your box there are none. I assume it doesn't have a serial port? Even if it doesn't have a physical serial header it may be possible to enable a serial port in the BIOS to give the console something to write to. If you're upgrading from 2.1.5 you shouldn't need console access anyway. However if that does work you'll be stuffed if you do ever need console access.  ::)

                  Might have to wait for some higher level knowledge here.

                  Steve

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                  • F
                    felixbrucker
                    last edited by

                    it actually has a serial port (but i dont have any cables or such) and yes, normaly i dont need console access, i will look into the bios in a few minztes and check if i can enable a serial console if it isnt and report back

                    yes it was a standard vga enabled kernel (amd64) and it booted fine with graphicscard and without

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                    • stephenw10S
                      stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                      last edited by

                      Ah well if it has a serial port it is probably already enabled in the BIOS. Try disabling it. If the dual console kernel sees that you have a serial console but no VGA console it may be telling you that at the serial console.

                      Steve

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                      • F
                        felixbrucker
                        last edited by

                        jup disabling fixed it, thanks a lot (y)

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                        • stephenw10S
                          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                          last edited by

                          No problem. That's useful info, bound to be a few others caught by that.  :)

                          Steve

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