Re: Solved [Re: delete first partition XP and reformat as ufs -> kernel not found]
--- Dan Strick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Mon, 1 Dec 2003, Dorin H <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > If no RTFM is available, point me to the source > files. > > I am not familiar with the FreeBSD kernel sources, > but > > I'll have no problem reading some code. > >> > > This may not be exactly correct. See the section 8 > man page for boot. > (i.e. Do "man boot".) The source is in > /usr/src/sys/boot/i386. > The information is there (boot(8)). Thank you for reminding me that 10 minutes spent reading the whole man page saves some hours of hair-pulling struggle. > > If I understand this and your previous emails on > this subject, > you began with this MBR partition/slice table > arrangement: > > ad0s1 XP > ad0s2 FreeBSD > > and everything worked fine. > Then you changed the MBR partitions to: > > ad0s1 XP > ad0s2 Debian swap > ad0s3 Debian / > ad0s4 FreeBSD > > and FreeBSD would not boot correctly because the > file /etc/fstab, > created during the initial FreeBSD installation > process, still had > "/dev/ad0s2" where it now needed to have > "/dev/ad0s4" because you > renumbered its MBR partition. Then you fixed that > and everything > seemed to work fine until you decided to reuse the > XP partition > for more FreeBSD disk space. So you changed your > MBR partition > table to: > > ad0s1 FreeBSD (addtitional file system space) > ad0s2 Debian swap > ad0s3 Debian / > ad0s4 FreeBSD (the operating system) > > and FreeBSD would no longer boot. This might be due > to boot1 > confusion. Each partition in the MBR has a flag > byte and a type > byte. The 0x80 bit in the flag byte marks the > partition as "active". > Normally at most one partition has the active bit > set. > A non-interactive MBR bootstrap program typically > boots whichever > partition has the active bit set. > I couldn't present it better. And yes, the problem was due to order of partitions marked as bootable: BOOTABLE ad0s1 FreeBSD (not used) ad0s2 Debian swap ad0s3 Debian / BOOTABLE ad0s4 FreeBSD (the operating system) Trying to boot ad0s1 failed of course. At the promp: >> FreeBSD/i386 BOOT Default: 0:ad(0,a)/kernel boot: I did again the experiment: 1. marked ad0s1 as bootable 2. reboot 3. again the promt (from which the slice info is missing ! that tricked me) Supplying this solve the booting problem! | vvv boot: 0:ad(0,4,a)/kernel (Still pending: I have to see how can I make it find the loader.conf also :) ) > The FreeBSD boot1 program, the program loaded by the > MBR bootstrap, > is not hardwired with the number of the MBR > partition in which it was > installed (perhaps it ought to be). > Instead it uses > the first MBR > partition of FreeBSD type with the active bit set. > If no FreeBSD MBR > partition has the active bit set, the boot1 program > chooses the first > FreeBSD MBR partition. This normally works > correctly even if you have > more than one bootable FreeBSD MBR partition because > the FreeBSD boot0 > MBR program normally rewrites the MBR record with > the appropriate > active bit set before it invokes the FreeBSD boot1 > program. > > You say that you are using Debian lilo for your MBR > bootstrap program > rather than the FreeBSD boot0 program. Totally new to FreeBSD boot process, so using Debian LILO felt "safer" at that time. > I don't know > much about lilo, > but I am guessing that it does not set the active > partition in the MBR > partition table before it boots a partition. Then > the boot1 program > tries to load the boot2 program from ad0s1 instead > of ad0s4. I will try investigate the problem. Though I remember reading something like this somewhere... I can't find the source to mention it here. > > Workaround: you can make ad0s4 the only active > FreeBSD partition with > the fdisk program. If nothing else changes that, > boot1 will correctly > boot ad0s4. Yes, the workaround is correct. It was the solution. Thank you for your explanations, /Dorin. PS. It is so nice to be able to compile again the ports stuff on my machine :) (ad0s1a = /usr/ports, ad0s1d=/usr/src ;) ) __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Solved [Re: delete first partition XP and reformat as ufs -> kernel not found]
On Mon, 1 Dec 2003, Dorin H <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> > To finish, I was wondering if I can specify in boot2 > prompt which is the correct slice&partition to use for > booting. > > If my assumptions are correct, in expression > > 0:ad(0,a)/kernel > ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ > | | | | | > | | | | - the path inside the partition > | | | | > | | | - partition in slice > | | | > | | - ??? is this the slice #, drive # ??? > | - refers to driver > - refers to the disk unit > > If no RTFM is available, point me to the source files. > I am not familiar with the FreeBSD kernel sources, but > I'll have no problem reading some code. >> This may not be exactly correct. See the section 8 man page for boot. (i.e. Do "man boot".) The source is in /usr/src/sys/boot/i386. >> > PS2. Does anybody has a clue why the FreeBSD > associates the slice # 2 (i.e. ad0s2) for the PT entry > 4? > Initially, I had > MBR PT: > ad0s1 XP > - not used, reserved space > - not used, reserved space > ad0s2 FreeBSD (swap, /) > > I have installed Debian swap and / in entries 2 and 3, > and the FreeBSD associated the (correct) numbers: > > ad0s1 XP > ad0s2 Debian swap > ad0s3 Debian / > ad0s4 FreeBSD (swap, /) > ^^ > > This made the FreeBSD boot process to fail until I > "fixit" the /etc/fstab to mount the correct root > partition. At that time, I was also unable to specify > in boot2 prompt (?) where my / is. > > My opinion is that if the PT entry # corresponding to > the PT entry were used in the first place, this > problem will be avoid. Probably this reflects a > superficial view, but for a simple HDD configuration > this make sense to me. Thanks again for any > opinions/suggestions. >> If I understand this and your previous emails on this subject, you began with this MBR partition/slice table arrangement: ad0s1 XP ad0s2 FreeBSD and everything worked fine. Then you changed the MBR partitions to: ad0s1 XP ad0s2 Debian swap ad0s3 Debian / ad0s4 FreeBSD and FreeBSD would not boot correctly because the file /etc/fstab, created during the initial FreeBSD installation process, still had "/dev/ad0s2" where it now needed to have "/dev/ad0s4" because you renumbered its MBR partition. Then you fixed that and everything seemed to work fine until you decided to reuse the XP partition for more FreeBSD disk space. So you changed your MBR partition table to: ad0s1 FreeBSD (addtitional file system space) ad0s2 Debian swap ad0s3 Debian / ad0s4 FreeBSD (the operating system) and FreeBSD would no longer boot. This might be due to boot1 confusion. Each partition in the MBR has a flag byte and a type byte. The 0x80 bit in the flag byte marks the partition as "active". Normally at most one partition has the active bit set. A non-interactive MBR bootstrap program typically boots whichever partition has the active bit set. The FreeBSD boot1 program, the program loaded by the MBR bootstrap, is not hardwired with the number of the MBR partition in which it was installed (perhaps it ought to be). Instead it uses the first MBR partition of FreeBSD type with the active bit set. If no FreeBSD MBR partition has the active bit set, the boot1 program chooses the first FreeBSD MBR partition. This normally works correctly even if you have more than one bootable FreeBSD MBR partition because the FreeBSD boot0 MBR program normally rewrites the MBR record with the appropriate active bit set before it invokes the FreeBSD boot1 program. You say that you are using Debian lilo for your MBR bootstrap program rather than the FreeBSD boot0 program. I don't know much about lilo, but I am guessing that it does not set the active partition in the MBR partition table before it boots a partition. Then the boot1 program tries to load the boot2 program from ad0s1 instead of ad0s4. Workaround: you can make ad0s4 the only active FreeBSD partition with the fdisk program. If nothing else changes that, boot1 will correctly boot ad0s4. Dan Strick [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Solved [Re: delete first partition XP and reformat as ufs -> kernel not found]
Sorry for replying again, but I succeed to press "send" while editing the previous reply :((( (press tab + space -> send, ooops) I hope I included all the relevant information in my previous reply. To finish, I was wondering if I can specify in boot2 prompt which is the correct slice&partition to use for booting. If my assumptions are correct, in expression 0:ad(0,a)/kernel ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | | | | | | | | | - the path inside the partition | | | | | | | - partition in slice | | | | | - ??? is this the slice #, drive # ??? | - refers to driver - refers to the disk unit If no RTFM is available, point me to the source files. I am not familiar with the FreeBSD kernel sources, but I'll have no problem reading some code. Thank you again, /Dorin. PS2. Does anybody has a clue why the FreeBSD associates the slice # 2 (i.e. ad0s2) for the PT entry 4? Initially, I had MBR PT: ad0s1 XP - not used, reserved space - not used, reserved space ad0s2 FreeBSD (swap, /) I have installed Debian swap and / in entries 2 and 3, and the FreeBSD associated the (correct) numbers: ad0s1 XP ad0s2 Debian swap ad0s3 Debian / ad0s4 FreeBSD (swap, /) ^^ This made the FreeBSD boot process to fail until I "fixit" the /etc/fstab to mount the correct root partition. At that time, I was also unable to specify in boot2 prompt (?) where my / is. My opinion is that if the PT entry # corresponding to the PT entry were used in the first place, this problem will be avoid. Probably this reflects a superficial view, but for a simple HDD configuration this make sense to me. Thanks again for any opinions/suggestions. __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Solved [Re: delete first partition XP and reformat as ufs -> kernel not found]
> > The problem was that the new XP partition, not ^^^ Oops, mistype: I was talking about the new FreeBSD partition. > > The second stage FreeBSD boostrap program, "boot2", > assumes that the the > slice being booted is the FreeBSD slice with the > active partition flag > set or (if no FreeBSD slice has the active partition > flag) the first > FreeBSD slice. If you have two FreeBSD slices on a > single disk and your > MBR (master bootstrap record) program does not > rewrite the MBR with the > active flag set for the selected slice before it > runs boot2, either > because you have disabled that feature with the > boot0cfg command or > because you are not using the FreeBSD boot0 MBR > program, then boot2 > could very easily try to boot the wrong slice. > > If I understand your email, you must have run afoul > of the fragile > assumptions made by boot2. What program were you > using for the master > bootstrap? Do you know which slice had the active > partition flag? > I am using the Debian lilo in MBR to select which os I should boot. Initially was: ad0s1 XP * marked as bootable ad0s2Swap Debian Debian / FreeBSD (swap, /)* marked as bootable Everything was fine. I needed space for FreeBSD, so went into /stand/sysinstall and delete XP; recreate a new FreeBSD slice, press W to save it into MBR, forgot the pesky "bootable" flag, return to FreeBSD, and before creating any partition in the new FreeBSD slice, now first, I rebooted. In MBR I had: FreeBSD (no slices) * marked as bootable Swap Debian Debian / FreeBSD (swap, /)* marked as bootable In this moment, the FreeBSD doesn't boot anymore. From fixit/live cd, I reset the bootable flag for first slice and the system booted finely well. I was hoping that I can specify in the boot2 prompt the correct partition, on ad0s4 > Dan Strick > [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Re: Solved [Re: delete first partition XP and reformat as ufs -> kernel not found]
On Sun, 30 Nov 2003, Dorin H <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> > Hi there, > Hoping that this will help somebody else: > Deleting the XP boot partition that came first on > disk (the FreeBSD was the last) and changing its type > to FreeBSD FS render my laptop unbootable. > I got the prompt when trying to boot FreeBSD: > > >> FreeBSD/i386 BOOT > Default: 0:ad(0,a)/kernel > boot: > > The problem was that the new XP partition, not yet > labeled, was still marked as bootable, as well as the > real bootable FreeBSD partition. Flipping that flag > off repair the problem! > > QUESTION: > > Where I can find an explanation of the syntax for > previous prompt (boot2 prompt according to handbook) ? > All my attempts to redirect the boot to search in > the correct partition failed. > Thanks a lot, > /Dorin. >> The second stage FreeBSD boostrap program, "boot2", assumes that the the slice being booted is the FreeBSD slice with the active partition flag set or (if no FreeBSD slice has the active partition flag) the first FreeBSD slice. If you have two FreeBSD slices on a single disk and your MBR (master bootstrap record) program does not rewrite the MBR with the active flag set for the selected slice before it runs boot2, either because you have disabled that feature with the boot0cfg command or because you are not using the FreeBSD boot0 MBR program, then boot2 could very easily try to boot the wrong slice. If I understand your email, you must have run afoul of the fragile assumptions made by boot2. What program were you using for the master bootstrap? Do you know which slice had the active partition flag? Dan Strick [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Solved [Re: delete first partition XP and reformat as ufs -> kernel not found]
Hi there, Hoping that this will help somebody else: Deleting the XP boot partition that came first on disk (the FreeBSD was the last) and changing its type to FreeBSD FS render my laptop unbootable. I got the prompt when trying to boot FreeBSD: >> FreeBSD/i386 BOOT Default: 0:ad(0,a)/kernel boot: The problem was that the new XP partition, not yet labeled, was still marked as bootable, as well as the real bootable FreeBSD partition. Flipping that flag off repair the problem! QUESTION: Where I can find an explanation of the syntax for previous prompt (boot2 prompt according to handbook) ? All my attempts to redirect the boot to search in the correct partition failed. Thanks a lot, /Dorin. PS. Please CC me, I am not subscribed to questions list. Thank you! __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
