# So, FreeBSD11/AMD64 memstick is UEFI only?



## BachiloDmitry (Mar 7, 2015)

Do I get this right: from now on (or from some time ago really) FreeBSD 11-CURRENT memsticks for AMD64 would never boot on hardware that does not support UEFI BIOS? Only i386 memsticks will not require EFI boot, right?


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## Terry_Kennedy (Mar 8, 2015)

BachiloDmitry said:


> Do I get this right: from now on (or from some time ago really) FreeBSD 11-CURRENT memsticks for AMD64 would never boot on hardware that does not support UEFI BIOS? Only i386 memsticks will not require EFI boot, right?


I believe I read (elsewhere on these forums) that the separate UEFI and legacy images were just a temporary thing for 10.1, and that in the future they would be combined into a single image. I believe that post also said that the 10.1 UEFI images were actually universal, but didn't get enough testing that the release team was willing to say that they definitely worked everywhere.


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## BachiloDmitry (Mar 8, 2015)

Ok, I see, thanks for the reply.
But in reality the things go this way: There are two types of 10.1 amd64 images - regular memstick and amd64-uefi-memstick.img.
On the old PC, whose BIOS has no idea about UEFI (I tested on two) I checked both images - UEFI and non-UEFI. The regular one boots and the UEFI one does not. Furthermore I have an Atom D525 motherboard which hangs ultimately if such flash stick is even inserted in USB port. It can hang whenever you insert it - during POST, during built-in RAID HDD detection, even when FreeBSD kernel is loading. It would not hang only if any OS is already fully loaded and taken control of USB stack. If non-UEFI image is burned on that stick - everything works OK. I tested with 1GB JetFlash and with 32GB Transcend, the behavior is the same, and I can't think of it being a hardware problem. But that's actually is off-topic, the other motherboard just ignores the stick if it's burned with UEFI image, no hangs, just nothing happening. If the image of 10.1 is non-UEFI - it boots and installs. The behavior is predictable and nothing is wrong with that.

And then there are images of 11-CURRENT. They all are called just amd64-memstick.img. And the behavior is the same as with 10.1-UEFI. Then, out of curiosity, I checked this image with my more modern laptop, its BIOS is UEFI-aware. And if I enable just 'boot from usb-flash' -  the stick is ignored. If I enable 'UEFI boot from USB flash' - then it boots to "FreeBSD/EFI bootloader" and starts to load, almost immediately falling into fatal trap (12 or other number, I don't remember now). But that's another story. The point is all 11-CURRENT images seem to be UEFI-only, I checked 20150223 and 20150217 images.

So there I am, no modern image of FreeBSD for memstick runs on any of my machines.

And 11-CURRENT i386 images still seem to be non-UEFI-only, so they boot on any of those PCs, I can install and use the system.

No FreeBSD/amd64 for me anymore.


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## Chris_H (Mar 17, 2015)

Well I just performed a fresh install on an old [non UEFI] spare I had lying around from a 2015-02-23 DVD (boot only, and disk1). I had no trouble with the booting, nor the install. So if you seem to be having trouble with the images (memstick) variety. There's nothing to writing a DVD image to a memstick/flashdrive. They even provide instructions in the README, and in the install instructions within the FreeBSD documentation. All in all, it just requires a little more time up front.

--Chris


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## BachiloDmitry (Apr 8, 2015)

Chris_H said:


> Well I just performed a fresh install on an old [non UEFI] spare I had lying around from a 2015-02-23 DVD (boot only, and disk1). I had no trouble with the booting, nor the install. So if you seem to be having trouble with the images (memstick) variety. There's nothing to writing a DVD image to a memstick/flashdrive. They even provide instructions in the README, and in the install instructions within the FreeBSD documentation. All in all, it just requires a little more time up front.
> 
> --Chris


I've been burning FreeBSD images on CDs and DVDs for eleven years now, it just seems to me that it's time to stop using this old media when we can have something faster, smaller and not requireing a separate drive (which is now not common at all by the way).


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## Chris_H (Apr 9, 2015)

BachiloDmitry said:


> I've been burning FreeBSD images on CDs and DVDs for eleven years now, it just seems to me that it's time to stop using this old media when we can have something faster, smaller and not requireing a separate drive (which is now not common at all by the way).


Sure, fair enough. But seems to me, if you're having difficulty using one type of (install) medium, and someone indicates that the other (install) medium works. That one might choose the alternate method to install.
But suite yourself. I was only attempting to provide a (working) solution.

--Chris


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## protocelt (Apr 9, 2015)

BachiloDmitry said:


> I've been burning FreeBSD images on CDs and DVDs for eleven years now, it just seems to me that it's time to stop using this old media when we can have something faster, smaller and not requireing a separate drive (which is now not common at all by the way).


I agree USB flash media is convenient for installing however, while it may be true a lot of laptop computers and small appliances as of late don't come with CD/DVD drives, I don't think that holds true for desktop and workstation PCs yet.


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## scottro (Apr 10, 2015)

Last week, I installed an 11.0 snapshot, using the memory stick image on a non UEFI machine, so I would have to say that the OP's (original poster's) information doesn't seem to be correct.  
CDs and DVDs are still convenient for many people. USB connected drives are still common and getting cheaper all the time.


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