402 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
402 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
===============
|
|
Troubleshooting
|
|
===============
|
|
|
|
Table of Contents:
|
|
|
|
Repairing an Existing FreeBSD Installation
|
|
|
|
Common Installation Problems, Q&A
|
|
|
|
Common Hardware Problems, Q&A
|
|
|
|
Repairing an Existing FreeBSD Installation
|
|
------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
FreeBSD releases 2.2.1 and later feature a "Fixit" option in the top
|
|
menu of the boot floppy. To use it, you will also need either a
|
|
fixit.flp image floppy, generated in the same fashion as the boot
|
|
floppy, or the 2nd CDROM from Walnut Creek CDROM's FreeBSD
|
|
distribution.
|
|
|
|
To invoke fixit, simply boot the kern.flp floppy, choose the "Fixit"
|
|
item and insert the fixit floppy or CDROM when asked. You will then
|
|
be placed into a shell with a wide variety of commands available (in
|
|
the /stand and /mnt2/stand directories) for checking, repairing and
|
|
examining file systems and their contents. Some UNIX administration
|
|
experience *is* required to use the fixit option!
|
|
|
|
Common Installation Problems, Q&A
|
|
---------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Q: I go to boot from the hard disk for the first time after installing
|
|
FreeBSD, the kernel loads and probes my hardware, but stops with
|
|
messages like:
|
|
|
|
changing root device to wd1s1a
|
|
panic: cannot mount root
|
|
|
|
What is wrong? What can I do?
|
|
|
|
Q: What is this 'bios_drive:interface(unit,partition)kernel_name' thing
|
|
that is displayed with the boot help?
|
|
|
|
A: There is a longstanding problem in the case where the boot disk is
|
|
not the first disk in the system. The BIOS uses a different numbering
|
|
scheme to FreeBSD, and working out which numbers correspond to which
|
|
is difficult to get right.
|
|
|
|
In the case where the boot disk is not the first disk in the system,
|
|
FreeBSD can need some help finding it. There are two common situations
|
|
here, and in both of these cases, you need to tell FreeBSD where the
|
|
root filesystem is. You do this by specifying the BIOS disk number,
|
|
the disk type and the FreeBSD disk number for that type.
|
|
|
|
The first situation is where you have two IDE disks, each configured as
|
|
the master on their respective IDE busses, and wish to boot FreeBSD from
|
|
the second disk. The BIOS sees these as disk 0 and disk 1, while
|
|
FreeBSD sees them as wd0 and wd2.
|
|
|
|
FreeBSD is on BIOS disk 1, of type 'wd' and the FreeBSD disk number
|
|
is 2, so you would say:
|
|
|
|
1:wd(2,a)kernel
|
|
|
|
Note that if you have a slave on the primary bus, the above is not
|
|
necessary (and is effectively wrong).
|
|
|
|
The second situation involves booting from a SCSI disk when you have
|
|
one or more IDE disks in the system. In this case, the FreeBSD disk
|
|
number is lower than the BIOS disk number. If you have two IDE disks
|
|
as well as the SCSI disk, the SCSI disk is BIOS disk 2, type 'da' and
|
|
FreeBSD disk number 0, so you would say:
|
|
|
|
2:da(0,a)kernel
|
|
|
|
To tell FreeBSD that you want to boot from BIOS disk 2, which is
|
|
the first SCSI disk in the system. If you only had one IDE disk,
|
|
you would use '1:' instead.
|
|
|
|
Once you have determined the correct values to use, you can put the
|
|
command exactly as you would have typed it in the /boot.config file
|
|
using a standard text editor.
|
|
Unless instructed otherwise, FreeBSD will use the contents of this
|
|
file as the default response to the 'boot:' prompt.
|
|
|
|
Q: I go to boot from the hard disk for the first time after installing
|
|
FreeBSD, but the Boot Manager prompt just prints `F?' at the boot menu
|
|
each time but the boot won't go any further.
|
|
|
|
A: The hard disk geometry was set incorrectly in the Partition editor when
|
|
you installed FreeBSD. Go back into the partition editor and specify
|
|
the actual geometry of your hard disk. You must reinstall FreeBSD
|
|
again from the beginning with the correct geometry.
|
|
|
|
If you are failing entirely in figuring out the correct geometry for
|
|
your machine, here's a tip: Install a small DOS partition at the
|
|
beginning of the disk and install FreeBSD after that. The install
|
|
program will see the DOS partition and try to infer the correct
|
|
geometry from it, which usually works.
|
|
|
|
The following tip is no longer recommended, but is left here
|
|
for reference:
|
|
|
|
If you are setting up a truly dedicated FreeBSD server or work-
|
|
station where you don't care for (future) compatibility with DOS,
|
|
Linux or another operating system, you've also got the option to use
|
|
the entire disk (`A' in the partition editor), selecting the
|
|
non-standard option where FreeBSD occupies the entire disk from
|
|
the very first to the very last sector. This will leave all geometry
|
|
considerations aside, but is somewhat limiting unless you're never
|
|
going to run anything other than FreeBSD on a disk.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Known Hardware Problems, Q & A
|
|
------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Q: mcd0 keeps thinking that it has found a device and this stops my Intel
|
|
EtherExpress card from working.
|
|
|
|
A: Use the UserConfig utility (see HARDWARE.TXT) and disable the probing of
|
|
the mcd0 and mcd1 devices. Generally speaking, you should only leave
|
|
the devices that you will be using enabled in your kernel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: FreeBSD claims to support the 3Com PCMCIA card, but my card isn't
|
|
recognized when it's plugged into my laptop.
|
|
|
|
A: There are a couple of possible problems. First of all, FreeBSD does
|
|
not support multi-function cards, so if you have a combo
|
|
ethernet/modem card (such as the 3C562), it won't work. The
|
|
default driver for the 3C589 card was written just like all of the
|
|
other drivers in FreeBSD, and depend on the card's own configuration
|
|
data stored in NVRAM to work. You must correctly configure FreeBSD's
|
|
driver to match the IRQ, port, and IOMEM stored in NVRAM.
|
|
Unfortunately, the only program capable of reading them is the
|
|
3COM supplied DOS program. This program must be run on a absolutely
|
|
clean system (no other drivers must be running), and the program will
|
|
whine about CARD-Services not being found, but it will continue.
|
|
This is necessary to read the NVRAM values. You want to know the
|
|
IRQ, port, and IOMEM values (the latter is called the CIS tuple by
|
|
3COM). The first two can be set in the program, the third is
|
|
un-settable, and can only be read. Once you have these values, set
|
|
them in UserConfig and your card will be recognized.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: FreeBSD finds my PCMCIA network card, but no packets appear to
|
|
be sent even though it claims to be working.
|
|
|
|
A: Many PCMCIA cards have the ability to use either the 10-Base2 (BNC)
|
|
or 10-BaseT connectors for connecting to the network. The driver is
|
|
unable to 'auto-select' the correct connector, so you must tell it
|
|
which connector to use. In order to switch between the two
|
|
connectors, the link flags must be set. Depending on the model of
|
|
the card, '-link0 link1' or 'link0 -link1' will choose the correct
|
|
network connector. You can set these in sysinstall by using the
|
|
'Extra options to ifconfig:' field in the network setup screen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: The system finds my ed network card, but I keep getting device
|
|
timeout errors.
|
|
|
|
A: Your card is probably on a different IRQ from what is specified in the
|
|
kernel configuration. The ed driver does not use the `soft' configuration
|
|
by default (values entered using EZSETUP in DOS), but it will use the
|
|
software configuration if you specify `?' in the IRQ field of your kernel
|
|
config file.
|
|
|
|
Either move the jumper on the card to a hard configuration setting
|
|
(altering the kernel settings if necessary), or specify the IRQ as
|
|
`-1' in UserConfig or `?' in your kernel config file. This will
|
|
tell the kernel to use the soft configuration.
|
|
|
|
Another possibility is that your card is at IRQ 9, which is shared
|
|
by IRQ 2 and frequently a cause of problems (especially when you
|
|
have a VGA card using IRQ 2! :). You should not use IRQ 2 or 9 if at
|
|
all possible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: I have a Matsushita/Panasonic drive but it isn't recognized by the
|
|
system.
|
|
|
|
A: Make certain that the I/O port that the matcd driver is set to is
|
|
correct for the host interface card you have. (Some SoundBlaster DOS
|
|
drivers report a hardware I/O port address for the CD-ROM interface
|
|
that is 0x10 lower than it really is.)
|
|
|
|
If you are unable to determine the settings for the card by examining
|
|
the board or documentation, you can use UserConfig to change the 'port'
|
|
address (I/O port) to -1 and start the system. This setting causes the
|
|
driver to look at a number of I/O ports that various manufacturers
|
|
use for their Matsushita/Panasonic/Creative CD-ROM interfaces.
|
|
Once the driver locates the address, you should run UserConfig again
|
|
and specify the correct address. Leaving the 'port' parameter set to -1
|
|
increases the amount of time that it takes the system to boot, and
|
|
this could interfere with other devices.
|
|
|
|
The double-speed Matsushita CR-562 and CR-563 are the only drives
|
|
that are supported.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: I booted the install floppy on my IBM ThinkPad (tm) laptop, and the
|
|
keyboard is all messed up.
|
|
|
|
A: Older IBM laptops use a non-standard keyboard controller, so you must
|
|
tell the keyboard driver (atkbd0) to go into a special mode which works
|
|
on the ThinkPads. Change the atkbd0 'Flags' to 0x4 in UserConfig and
|
|
it should work fine. (Look in the Input Menu for 'Keyboard'.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: When I try to boot the install floppy, I see the following message
|
|
and nothing seems to be happening. I cannot enter anything from
|
|
the keyboard either.
|
|
|
|
Keyboard: no
|
|
|
|
A: Due to lack of space, full support for old XT/AT (84-key) keyboards
|
|
is no longer available in the bootblocks. Some notebook computers may
|
|
also have this type of keyboard. If you are still using this kind of
|
|
hardware, you will see the above message appears when you boot from
|
|
the CD-ROM or an install floppy.
|
|
|
|
As soon as you see this message, hit the space bar, and you will see
|
|
the prompt:
|
|
|
|
>> FreeBSD/i386 BOOT
|
|
Default: x:xx(x,x)/boot/loader
|
|
boot:
|
|
|
|
Then enter `-Dh', and things should proceed normally.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: I have a Matsushita/Panasonic CR-522, a Matsushita/Panasonic CR-523 or
|
|
a TEAC CD55a drive, but it is not recognized even when the correct I/O
|
|
port is set.
|
|
|
|
A: These CD-ROM drives are currently not supported by FreeBSD. The command
|
|
sets for these drives are not compatible with the double-speed CR-562
|
|
and CR-563 drives.
|
|
|
|
The single-speed CR-522 and CR-523 drives can be identified by their
|
|
use of a CD-caddy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: I'm trying to install from a tape drive but all I get is something like:
|
|
sa0(aha0:1:0) NOT READY csi 40,0,0,0
|
|
on the screen. Help!
|
|
|
|
A: There's a limitation in the current sysinstall that the tape MUST
|
|
be in the drive while sysinstall is started or it won't be detected.
|
|
Try again with the tape in the drive the whole time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: I've installed FreeBSD onto my system, but it hangs when booting from
|
|
the hard drive with the message: ``Changing root to /dev/da0a''.
|
|
|
|
A: This problem may occur in a system with a 3com 3c509 Ethernet adaptor.
|
|
The ep0 device driver appears to be sensitive to probes for other
|
|
devices that also use address 0x300. Boot your FreeBSD system by power
|
|
cycling the machine (turn off and on). At the ``Boot:'' prompt specify
|
|
the ``-c''. This will invoke UserConfig (see Section 1. above). Use
|
|
the ``disable'' command to disable the device probes for all devices
|
|
at address 0x300 except the ep0 driver. On exit, your machine should
|
|
successfully boot FreeBSD.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: My system hangs during boot, right after the "fd0: [my floppy drive]"
|
|
line.
|
|
|
|
A: This is not actually a hang, simply a very LONG "wdc0" probe that
|
|
often takes a long time to complete on certain systems (where there
|
|
usually _isn't_ a WD controller). Be patient, your system will boot!
|
|
To eliminate the problem, boot with the -c flag and eliminate the wdc0
|
|
device, or compile a custom kernel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: My system can not find my Intel EtherExpress 16 card.
|
|
|
|
A: You must set your Intel EtherExpress 16 card to be memory mapped at
|
|
address 0xD0000, and set the amount of mapped memory to 32K using
|
|
the Intel supplied softset.exe program.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: When installing on an EISA HP Netserver, my on-board AIC-7xxx
|
|
SCSI controller isn't detected.
|
|
|
|
A: This is a known problem, and will hopefully be fixed in the future.
|
|
In order to get your system installed at all, boot with the -c
|
|
option into UserConfig, but _don't_ use the pretty visual mode but
|
|
the plain old CLI mode. Type
|
|
|
|
eisa 12
|
|
quit
|
|
|
|
there at the prompt. (Instead of `quit', you might also type
|
|
`visual', and continue the rest of the configuration session in
|
|
visual mode.) While it's recommended to compile a custom kernel,
|
|
dset(8) now also understands to save this value.
|
|
|
|
Refer to the FAQ topic 3.16 for an explanation of the problem, and
|
|
for how to continue. Remember that you can find the FAQ on your
|
|
local system in /usr/share/doc/FAQ, provided you have installed the
|
|
`doc' distribution.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: I have a Panasonic AL-N1 or Rios Chandler Pentium machine and I find
|
|
that the system hangs before ever getting into the installation
|
|
now.
|
|
|
|
A: Your machine doesn't like the new i586_copyout and i586_copyin code
|
|
for some reason. To disable this, boot the installation boot floppy
|
|
and when it comes to the very first menu (the choice to drop into
|
|
kernel UserConfig mode or not) choose the command-line interface
|
|
("expert mode") version and type the following at it:
|
|
|
|
flags npx0 1
|
|
|
|
Then proceed normally to boot. This will be saved into your kernel,
|
|
so you only need to do it once.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: I have this CMD640 IDE controller that is said to be broken.
|
|
|
|
A: Yes, it is. There's a workaround available now and it is enabled
|
|
automatically if this chip is used on your system.
|
|
For the details refer to the manual page of the disk driver (man 4 wd).
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: On a Compaq Aero notebook, I get the message "No floppy devices found!
|
|
Please check ..." when trying to install from floppy.
|
|
|
|
A: With Compaq being always a little different from other systems, they
|
|
do not announce their floppy drive in the CMOS RAM of an Aero notebook.
|
|
Therefore, the floppy disk driver assumes there is no drive configured.
|
|
Go to the UserConfig screen, and set the Flags value of the fdc0 device
|
|
to 0x1. This pretends the existence of the first floppy drive (as a
|
|
1.44 MB drive) to the driver without asking the CMOS at all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: When I go to boot my Intel AL440LX ("Atlanta") -based system from the
|
|
hard disk the first time, it stops with a "Read Error" message.
|
|
|
|
A: There appears to be a bug in the BIOS on at least some of these boards,
|
|
this bug results in the FreeBSD bootloader thinking that it is booting
|
|
from a floppy disk.
|
|
This is only a problem if you are not using the BootEasy boot manager.
|
|
Slice the disk in 'compatible' mode and install BootEasy during the
|
|
FreeBSD installation to avoid the bug, or upgrade the BIOS (see Intel's
|
|
website for details).
|
|
|
|
Q: When installing on an Dell Poweredge XE, Dell proprietary RAID controller
|
|
DSA (Dell SCSI Array) isn't recognized.
|
|
|
|
A: Configure DSA to use AHA-1540 emulation using EISA configuration utility.
|
|
After that FreeBSD detects DSA as Adaptec AHA-1540 SCSI controller, with
|
|
irq 11 and port 340. Under emulation mode system will use DSA RAID disks,
|
|
but you cannot use DSA specific features such as watching RAID health.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: My Ethernet adapter is detected as an AMD PCnet-FAST (or similar) but
|
|
it doesn't work. (Eg. onboard Ethernet on IBM Netfinity 5xxx or 7xxx)
|
|
|
|
A: The 'lnc' driver is currently faulty, and will often not work correctly
|
|
with the PCnet-FAST and PCnet-FAST+. You need to install a different
|
|
Ethernet adapter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: I have an IBM EtherJet PCI card, it is detected by the 'fxp' driver
|
|
correctly, but the lights on the card don't come on and it doesn't
|
|
connect to the network.
|
|
|
|
A: We don't understand why this happens. Neither do IBM (we asked them).
|
|
The card is a standard Intel EtherExpress Pro/100 with an IBM label
|
|
on it, and these cards normally work just fine. You may see these
|
|
symptoms only in some IBM Netfinity servers. The only solution is to
|
|
install a different Ethernet adapter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: When I configure the network during installation on an IBM Netfinity
|
|
3500, the system freezes.
|
|
|
|
A: There is a problem with the onboard Ethernet in the Netfinity 3500
|
|
which we have not been able to identify at this time. It may be
|
|
related to the SMP features of the system being misconfigured. You
|
|
will have to install another Ethernet adapter and avoid attempting
|
|
to configure the onboard adapter at any time.
|
|
|
|
Q: When I install to my Mylex RAID controller and reboot, I get a register
|
|
dump, or the system is extremely slow in booting.
|
|
|
|
A: Due to incompatibilities between the Mylex BIOS and the FreeBSD
|
|
bootloader, the Mylex BIOS must be disabled. This means that you
|
|
cannot boot from a RAID array at this time.
|
|
|
|
Q: When I install to my AMI RAID controller and reboot, the kernel
|
|
cannot mount root, even though the AMI controller was detected.
|
|
|
|
A: On some systems, the AMI controller doesn't work as the driver expects
|
|
when it has been booted from. This results in the array being
|
|
unreadable. The only current workaround is to boot from another disk.
|
|
|
|
[ Please send hardware tips for this Q&A section to jkh@freebsd.org ]
|