# Can't boot FreeBSD after successful installation.



## bsdnoob (Jul 9, 2019)

*This is a cross post as I haven't got any solution and  I'm badly in need of one.*

I've installed Slackware 14.2 in /dev/sda1 and x86Solaris 10 U6 in /dev/sda3 (sda2 is Linux swap)and boot menu was Solaris grub but, later deleted Solaris partition and installed FreeBSD12 (for i386) on the same partition.

I created separate partitions for /boot (1G), / (1G), /var (2G), /tmp (1G), swap (3G) and / (23G) in FreeBSD and the installation was seemed to be OK as there was no error msg.

But FreeBSD couldn't boot so I had to use Slack's installation disc to boot slack and used lilo -v to add slack in lilo table. Here lilo throws the following errors:

Warning: LBA32 addressing assumed
Reading boot sector from /dev/sda1
Using BITMAP secondary loader
Calling map_insert_data
Mapping bitmap file /boot/slack.bmp
Calling map_insert_file

Boot image: /boot/vmlinuz -> vmlinuz-huge-smp-4.4.172-smp
Added Linux  *

Boot other: /dev/sda3, on /dev/sda, loader CHAIN
Added FreeBSD

Writing boot sector.
/boot/boot.0801 exists - no boot sector backup copy made.
One warning was issued.

I also make /dev/sda1 as active in lilo using fdisk with a command. Now there are two partitions are marked active, /dev/sda1 for slack and /dev/sda3 for FreeBSD.

In lilo boot menu the following error message appears when FreeBSD is selected.

FreeBSD/x86 boot
Default: 0:ad(0,a)/boot/loader
boot: loader: not a config directory 

FreeBSD/x86 boot
Default: 0:ad(0,a)/boot/loader
boot: _ <*here cursor blinks*>

I think it comes from a leftover of Solaris' grub but I'm not sure.

Here is the lilo.conf entry for slack and freebsd:

# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
  root = /dev/sda1
  label = Linux
  read-only
# Linux bootable partition config ends
  other=/dev/sda3
    table=/dev/sda
    label=FreeBSD

I use 486 with 1.5G memory and 180G ide type HDD.

How will I be able to boot FreeBSD?

P.S FreeBSD 4x to 8x installation was much much better. Nowadays everything seems to be foreign.


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## SirDice (Jul 9, 2019)

bsdnoob said:


> I created separate partitions for /boot (1G),


Assuming a traditional MBR partitioning with bsdlabel(8) partitions, this is your problem. Don't put /boot on a separate filesystem.



bsdnoob said:


> FreeBSD 4x to 8x installation was much much better.


Having used FreeBSD from around 3.0 onward, there's really not much difference. It never installed a separate /boot.


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## bsdnoob (Jul 9, 2019)

SirDice said:


> Assuming a traditional MBR partitioning with bsdlabel(8) partitions, this is your problem. Don't put /boot on a separate filesystem.
> 
> 
> Having used FreeBSD from around 3.0 onward, there's really not much difference. It never installed a separate /boot.



Plz see the following pic.
Figure 2.14. Review Created Partitions





I never created boot before. You are right because it's a general instruction to allocate 512KB for boot but, the space was not sufficient evern fo 500MB so I created 1Gig for /boot.
I installed it several times and first I used auto (no separate boot partion) but the problem was the same. The error messages were the same. Any guess.


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## Beastie (Jul 9, 2019)

bsdnoob said:


> Plz see the following pic.
> Figure 2.14. Review Created Partitions
> 
> 
> ...


That's a GPT boot partition (freebsd-boot), which is totally different from what you said you did, that is, creating a separate partition for the /boot directory.


bsdnoob said:


> I created separate partitions for */boot (1G)*, / (1G), /var (2G), /tmp (1G), swap (3G) and / (23G) in FreeBSD and the installation was seemed to be OK as there was no error msg.




As you can see in the screenshot, there's a single partition (ada0p2) that is allocated for the entire /.

If at first you didn't create a separate partition for /boot and you already had an error, it must have been another issue. One thing is certain, never create a separate partition for the /boot directory.
Now try removing all existing partitions and repeat the setup.


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## SirDice (Jul 10, 2019)

Yes, it's very important to distinguish between GPT or MBR as they boot slightly different. The freebsd-boot partition only exists on GPT and has, despite its name, nothing to do with the /boot directory. The freebsd-boot partition contains a binary image from gptboot(8) or gptzfsboot(8) depending on the rest being UFS or ZFS. The freebsd-boot partition does not contain a filesystem, the contents of the bootcode (gptboot(8)/gptzfsboot(8)) is written directly to disk.

Note that the freebsd-boot partition must not exceed 545 KB. The default size of 512K is more than enough. 

In either case (GPT or MBR) /boot should not be a separate filesystem.


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## bsdnoob (Jul 10, 2019)

Beastie said:


> That's a GPT boot partition (freebsd-boot), which is totally different from what you said you did, that is, creating a separate partition for the /boot directory.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you. I realized my mistake just after the moment I'd sent SirDice the pic. It's a gpt scheme. Now I'm going to install it again without /boot.


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## bsdnoob (Jul 10, 2019)

SirDice said:


> Yes, it's very important to distinguish between GPT or MBR as they boot slightly different. The freebsd-boot partition only exists on GPT and has, despite its name, nothing to do with the /boot directory. The freebsd-boot partition contains a binary image from gptboot(8) or gptzfsboot(8) depending on the rest being UFS or ZFS. The freebsd-boot partition does not contain a filesystem, the contents of the bootcode (gptboot(8)/gptzfsboot(8)) is written directly to disk.
> 
> Note that the freebsd-boot partition must not exceed 545 KB. The default size of 512K is more than enough.
> 
> In either case (GPT or MBR) /boot should not be a separate filesystem.


I got it. Thank you very much. I'm going to reinstall it. Thanks again.


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## 6502 (Jul 10, 2019)

bsdnoob said:


> I use 486 with 1.5G memory and 180G ide type HDD.


486 with 1.5G RAM... What is the mainboard?


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## Sevendogsbsd (Jul 10, 2019)

Wow, I didn't even know the 486 could address that much memory. Back in the day, I think the most you could get stuffed in a 486 board was 16 meg, which ran about $700 US.


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## bsdnoob (Jul 11, 2019)

Beastie said:


> That's a GPT boot partition (freebsd-boot), which is totally different from what you said you did, that is, creating a separate partition for the /boot directory.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





> _Now try removing all existing partitions and repeat the setup._


I reinstalled it without /boot.
*Thank you very much for your kind help.*


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## bsdnoob (Jul 11, 2019)

SirDice said:


> Yes, it's very important to distinguish between GPT or MBR as they boot slightly different. The freebsd-boot partition only exists on GPT and has, despite its name, nothing to do with the /boot directory. The freebsd-boot partition contains a binary image from gptboot(8) or gptzfsboot(8) depending on the rest being UFS or ZFS. The freebsd-boot partition does not contain a filesystem, the contents of the bootcode (gptboot(8)/gptzfsboot(8)) is written directly to disk.
> 
> Note that the freebsd-boot partition must not exceed 545 KB. The default size of 512K is more than enough.
> 
> In either case (GPT or MBR) /boot should not be a separate filesystem.


Now it's booting without any problem though lilo gives a warning as it doesn't find a valid boot record but it's working. 
I reinstalled it without /boot.
*Thank you very much for your kind help.*


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## bsdnoob (Jul 11, 2019)

6502 said:


> 486 with 1.5G RAM... What is the mainboard?


It's of Intel and I'm the stupid one. I mistakenly wrote 486 but it's p4. I'm sorry. I'd use long ago but still now it becomes a slip of tongue.


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## bsdnoob (Jul 11, 2019)

Sevendogsbsd said:


> Wow, I didn't even know the 486 could address that much memory. Back in the day, I think the most you could get stuffed in a 486 board was 16 meg, which ran about $700 US.


I'm sorry. You're quite right. It's p4, not  486. I mistakenly wrote 486. I'm really sorry.


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