# Fresh/Full Installation of FreeBSD 8.2 - Can't Find Kernel After Boot



## moss (Sep 7, 2011)

Hello,

After installing FreeBSD with a minimal installation configuration, and no boot manager (writes to MBR), the FreeBSD installation loads fine, but when I complete a full installation, with all packages, the ports collection etc., I get the error "Can't find kernel."  What could be the problem here? I'm fairly new to FreeBSD.


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## SirDice (Sep 7, 2011)

How did you install it? On what? External harddrive?

What type of hardware? IDE, SCSI, SATA?


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## moss (Sep 7, 2011)

It was installed on a Dell Precision Workstation 420, on a Fujitsu MAJ3812MP SCSI hard disk, using an Adaptec-7899 scsi controller (supported by FreeBSD under hardware notes), using an 8.2 freebsd cd installation disc.


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## moss (Sep 7, 2011)

Oh, and I should clarify that originally, I had installed it using a full installation and installing the FreeBSD boot manager, and I received the "Can't find kernel" error.  After that I installed a minimal configuration and installed no boot manager (only writing to the master boot record), where the installation ran smoothly and I was able to boot fine.  The third time, I installed a full configuration with all packages and collections, using no boot manager, again with MBR being written, where I now receive a "cannot load kernel" error.


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## moss (Sep 7, 2011)

Odd, I posted a message responding to your question but it was never posted. I installed freebsd 8.2 onto a Dell Precision Workstation 420, that uses an Adaptec 7899 SCSI controller, with a SCSI hard disk (Fujitsu MAJ3182MP, 18.2 GB) using a Plextor SCSI CD-ROM (FreeBSD cd-rom installation disc "FreeBSD-8.2...disc1.iso".


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## wblock@ (Sep 7, 2011)

Could you post the exact message it shows?


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## moss (Sep 7, 2011)

Ok, I re-installed it, installed all packages and ports, configured my network, setup user accounts, and now I'm setting up a desktop environment (compiling for the last several hours).  Taking forever. I must have used the FreeBSD installer incorrectly, bouncing back and forth between menu options, and it probably overwrote or didn't write to things.


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## moss (Sep 24, 2011)

It looks like the issue was not resolved.  After trying the installation again, it cannot read from the cd drive.  It reads from the cd drive initially, after committing a minimal installation. But once it asks me if I would like to re-enter the installation menu for a chance to change any options, and I hit no, it has an issue reading from the cd drive even though it successfully read from the cd and wrote to the disk prior to that. Ultimately, it ends up not installing the kernel and not being able to boot after rebooting.


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