freebsd-dev/share/doc/handbook/troubleshooting.sgml
1997-02-22 13:06:56 +00:00

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<!-- $Id$ -->
<!-- The FreeBSD Documentation Project -->
<chapt><heading>Troubleshooting<label id="troubleshooting"></heading>
<p>The following tips and tricks may help you turn a
failing (or failed) installation attempt into a success.
Please read them carefully.
<sect>
<heading>Hardware conflict or misconfiguration</heading>
<p><descrip>
<tag>Problem:</tag> A device is conflicting with
another or does not match the kernel's compiled-in IRQ or
address.
<tag>Cause:</tag> While most device drivers in
FreeBSD are now smart enough to match themselves to your
hardware settings dynamically, there are a few that still
require fairly rigid configuration parameters to be
compiled in (and matched by the hardware) before they will
work. We are working hard to eliminate as many of these
last hold-outs as we can, but it is not always as easy as
it looks.
<tag>Solution:</tag> There are several possible
solutions. The first, and easiest, is to boot the kernel
with the <tt>-c</tt> flag. When you see the initial boot prompt
(from floppy or hard disk), type:
<tscreen><verb>
/kernel -c
</verb></tscreen>
This will boot just past the memory sizing code and then
drop into a dynamic kernel configuration utility. Type
`<tt>?</tt>' at the prompt to see a list of commands.
You can use this utility to reset the IRQ, memory
address, IO address or a number of other device
configuration parameters. You can also disable a device
entirely if it is causing problems for other devices you would
much rather have work.
Another solution is, obviously, to remove the offending
hardware or simply strip the system down to the bare
essentials until the problem (hopefully) goes away. Once
you are up, you can do the same thing mentioned
above---compile a kernel more suited to your hardware, or
incrementally try to figure out what it was about your
original hardware configuration that did not work.
</descrip>
<sect>
<heading>When I boot for the first time, it still looks for
/386bsd!</heading>
<p>Cause: You still have the old FreeBSD 1.x boot blocks on
your boot partition.
Solution: You should re-enter the installation process,
invoke the (F)disk editor and chose the (W)rite option.
This will not hurt an existing installation and will make
sure that the new boot blocks get written to the drive.
If you are installing for the first time, do not forget to
(W)rite out your new boot blocks! :-)