# cannot create /dev/null: Unkown error: 268435456



## hilal (Oct 8, 2010)

Hi,

I have installed FreeBSD 8.1 on my old Pentium4 system. I have one disk and I used auto partitioning. Installation went fine but I have a problem in booting up the system.

I checked the output and everything seems fine but something strange happens in the end:


```
Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ad0s1a
/etc/rc: cannot create /dev/null: Unkown error: 268435456
pid 25 (ps), uid 0: exited on signal 11
Segmentation fault
/etc/rc: cannot create /dev/null: Unkown error: 268435456
/etc/rc: cannot create /dev/null: Unkown error: 268435456

Wed May 12 11:20:56 CEST 2010
May 12 11:20:56 init: can't exec getty '/usr/libexec/getty' for port /dev/ttyv0: No such file or directory
May 12 11:20:56 init: can't exec getty '/usr/libexec/getty' for port /dev/ttyv6: No such file or directory
...
May 12 11:20:56 init: can't exec getty '/usr/libexec/getty' for port /dev/ttyv7: No such file or directory
```

Then nothing happens, until I press ctrl+alt+del and system restars

I tried to boot FreeBSD in single user mode and it boots fine.

Can anyone help me figure this out? Thank you for your time in advance.


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## graudeejs (Oct 8, 2010)

If you could show /etc/rc.conf...

you can access it either in single user mode (when FreeBSD boots, there is menu for 10 seconds)
or booting from fixit mode dvd or fixit-cd
(some FreeBSD & Unix knowledge required)


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## hilal (Oct 8, 2010)

```
# -- sysinstall generated deltas -- # Wed May 12 10:32:25 2010
... some comments ...
hostname=".bredbandsbolaget.se"
ifconfig_r10="DHCP"
keymap="swedish.iso"
```
Hope it helps,


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## SirDice (Oct 8, 2010)

hilal said:
			
		

> Installation went fine but I have a problem in booting up the system.


Looking at the errors I seriously doubt the installation didn't have a problem. Those errors aren't caused by any misconfiguration. They usually indicate something is seriously broken. Either the harddisk (bad sectors) or perhaps the machine's memory.


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## hilal (Oct 8, 2010)

SirDice said:
			
		

> They usually indicate something is seriously broken. Either the harddisk (bad sectors) or perhaps the machine's memory.



But I can log in single user mode.

Is there any way I can check that hardware is fine other than replacing memory and harddrive?

Thank you,


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## SirDice (Oct 8, 2010)

hilal said:
			
		

> But I can log in single user mode.


That's because there's nothing loaded at that time. Only the kernel is active, nothing more.



> Is there anyway I can check that hardware is fine other than replacing memory and harddrive?


Tricky to do with a broken system. 

I think the easiest is to try and reinstall everything again from scratch. Pay close attention to what is happening. Sometimes errors pop up and disappear quickly and it will seem like everything is done. 

Try again, see if it fails on the exact same thing. If something else turns out to be broken it'll most likely be memory. Broken memory has the effect of introducing seemingly random errors.


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## hilal (Oct 8, 2010)

Thank you guys!! (I dont know if I should be so happy ) but it seems like my hardware is broken... I tried a new install but got a different problem, tried PC-BSD but got page load fault when loading kernel, and I now tried Ubuntu 10.10RC, it boots but I can't login, X-Window system restart! .... seems like random problems => broken hardware...

I had windows on it before and it was working "fine"...


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