# memstick image is not booting OS



## mtbvfr (Jul 27, 2017)

Hi All,

I'm just trying FreeBSD for the 1st time.

My initial impression is one of disappointment.

I downloaded FreeBSD-11.1-RELEASE-amd64-memstick.img.xz and unzipped it and successfully installed it on my USB Flash drive using the dd command.

It appears to boot, initially, but after finishing probing of Block Devices the final output is the following.


```
Consoles: EFI console
```
I am using a Lenovo B590 Laptop with 8GB RAM and Core i5 3230M CPU.

UEFI is enabled but Secure Boot is Disabled. I have Windows 8.1 on 1 of the partitions.

Thanks, MTB.


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## islamux (Jul 27, 2017)

mtbvfr said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I'm just trying FreeBSD for the 1st time.
> 
> ...



Download this
FreeBSD-11.1-RELEASE-amd64-memstick.img
without  `.xz`
then copy it to usb by 
`dd bs=1M if=FreeBSD-11.1-RELEASE-amd64-memstick.img of=/dev/XX`
XX = your usb name


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## mtbvfr (Jul 27, 2017)

islamux said:


> Download this
> FreeBSD-11.1-RELEASE-amd64-memstick.img
> without  `.xz`



It's the same file, as contained in the .xz archive, that I installed to the Flash Drive with the dd command.

What difference will that make?

The Checksums are correct also.


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## islamux (Jul 27, 2017)

mtbvfr said:


> It's the same file, as contained in the .xz archive, that I installed to the Flash Drive with the dd command.
> 
> What difference will that make?
> 
> The Checksums are correct also.


i'dont' konw what's the problem exactly but that's i did only and it worked for me and maybe you.


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## mtbvfr (Jul 27, 2017)

islamux said:


> i'dont' konw what's the problem exactly but that's i did only and it worked for me and maybe you.


Don't waste bandwidth if you can't address the problem which was already noted in the OP.


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## Phishfry (Jul 27, 2017)

EFI booting problems are one of the biggest FreeBSD issues it would seem. I would disable UEFI and enable CSM.

I am still not sure what UEFI gives us that would make this hassle worth it.
EFI Framebuffer really seems fragile and breaks on quite a few computers.

I do a legacy install on every board possible. To do this you must fiddle with the bios.
This includes making UEFI-mode USB drive disabled. Then(after disabling UEFI USB Boot choice) you might notice another mode for the USB memstick. PMAP USB. This mode will allow a legacy install. Some boards the last bios screen(Save Settings) will have a boot override. This will also allow you to pick the PMAP USB mode versus UEFI USB mode.

For a test you could use the 32bit version as it has no EFI.


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## mtbvfr (Jul 27, 2017)

Phishfry said:


> EFI booting problems are one of the biggest FreeBSD issues it would seem. I would disable UEFI and enable CSM.
> 
> I am still not sure what UEFI gives us that would make this hassle worth it.
> EFI Framebuffer really seems fragile and breaks on quite a few computers.
> ...



Hi Phishfry,

Thanks for the feedback.

You would think by now that the BSD community, especially the biggest player FreeBSD, would have this properly analysed and working as a lot of the Linux community has.

Unfortunately, what you are proposing is too much hassle for me.

Hasta luego, MTB.


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## harrispg (Feb 17, 2019)

I also had this issue where the *_*memstick.img*_ after writing to USB from windows would not boot correctly. Only after using a liveCD USB image of Linux (Yumi) to boot from, and using the "*dd if=FreeBSD-.-RELEASE-amd64.memstick.img of=/dev/adb0 bs=1M*" command (_swap adb0 for your USB device_) could I get it to boot correctly and install RELEASE 12.


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## NapoleonWils0n (Feb 17, 2019)

dd didnt work for me either using memstick.img on mac osx
so i used etcher to copy the memstick.img image to a usb stick and it worked perfectly


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## drhowarddrfine (Feb 17, 2019)

fwiw, I put 12.0-RELEASE memstick.img on a usb drive using dd and booted an old notebook without issue but not with UEFI.


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