# How to get complete boot message



## hwagemann (Oct 11, 2015)

Hello,

I have issues with networking and NFS access So I want to read complete boot messages until login prompt, but in /var/log/messages  I don't find complete content of it. During boot procedure I see following, referring to network card:

```
re0: link state changed to DOWN
```
and some lines later:

```
re0: link state changed to UP
```

I guess this curious effect has to do with failing NFS mount, see this thread:
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/trouble-with-nfs-mount.53486/

But a look into /var/boot/message only shows me lines with:

```
re0: link state changed to UP
```

So where can I see complete boot output? I need this for troubleshooting.

Kind regards,
  Holger


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## Deleted member 45312 (Oct 11, 2015)

hwagemann said:


> Hello,
> So where can I see complete boot output? I need this for trouble shooting.  Holger



You can use <ScrollLock> key from console, and navigate with arrow keys.


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## Deleted member 45312 (Oct 11, 2015)

hwagemann said:


> I've issues with networking and nfs access So I want to read complete boot messages until login prompt, but in /var/log/messages  I don't find complete content of it. During boot procedure I see following, refering to network card:
> 
> ```
> re0: link state changed to DOWN
> ...



I solved this by setting link speed of my network interface in /etc/rc.conf :

```
ifconfig_re0="inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 255.255.255.0 media 1000baseTX mediaopt full-duplex"
```
Speed negotiation with my switch caused toggling UP/DOWN my network interface.


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## Crivens (Oct 11, 2015)

You can also use `dmesg`.


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## Deleted member 45312 (Oct 11, 2015)

Crivens said:


> You can also use `dmesg`.


I don't see any messages about my NIC state with `dmesg`.


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## protocelt (Oct 11, 2015)

You can get much more verbose boot information by pressing the number 6 key twice, then the enter key at the FreeBSD boot screen during boot. Running `% dmesg` should give you more detailed output after the machine has booted.


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## Deleted member 45312 (Oct 11, 2015)

protocelt said:


> You can get much more verbose boot information by pressing the number 6 key twice, then the enter key at the FreeBSD boot screen during boot. Running `% dmesg` should give you more detailed output after the machine has booted.


Why not 3 times ? It's Beastie after all 

That said, no more NIC state in `dmesg` output.


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## hwagemann (Oct 11, 2015)

Hello dlegrand,

thanks for your hints, but supplemented entry for network card in /etc/rc.conf does not help.

But I can scroll boot messages, and there is some output, referring to my network, which is not good:

```
...
Setting hostname: gerbil.linux.pc
re0: link state changed to UP
re0: link state changed to DOWN
Starting Network: lo re0
lo0: blub blub blub
re0: blub blub blub
...
status: no carrier
...
```
And some lines deeper:

```
Mounting NFS .... RPCPROG_NFS: RPC: Portmapper failure - RPC: Unable to send
```

On my computer with intel chip on network card everything is fine with nfs access under FreeBSD, it seems, that realtek chip on network cards make some problems with FreeBSD. Under Linux I've not such issues on computer from my wife.

Referring to computer from my wife I see following options now:
1. Replacing FreeBSD with an arch based Linux like Antergos
2. Buying a new pci network card with intelchip and give FreeBSD another try
3. Live with annoying bug, using bg option in /etc/fstab for nfs mountpoints and wait some minutes after finished boot procedure until nfs shares become ready.

Kind regards,
  Holger


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## wblock@ (Oct 12, 2015)

There are lots of not-quite-identical Realtek cards.  Most work adequately.  Some need offloading disabled, like -tso or maybe -rxcsum.  There are Realtek cards built into a couple of motherboards I use, but I usually add Intel cards.

For a typical user PC, almost any card that can be plugged into a PCI or PCIE slot should work well enough.


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## hwagemann (Oct 12, 2015)

Hello wblock@,

so do you think this card would be okay?
https://www.alternate.de/Intel(R)/P...tzwerkadapter/html/product/48830?tk=7&lk=8518

Kind reards,
  Holger


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## ivosevb (Oct 12, 2015)

Uncomment console logging in /etc/syslog.conf for full boot messages


```
# uncomment this to log all writes to /dev/console to /var/log/console.log
# touch /var/log/console.log and chmod it to mode 600 before it will work
#console.info           /var/log/console.log
```


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## wblock@ (Oct 12, 2015)

hwagemann said:


> Hello wblock@,
> 
> so do you think this card would be okay?
> https://www.alternate.de/Intel(R)/PRO-1000-GT-Desktop-Adapter-Netzwerkadapter/html/product/48830?tk=7&lk=8518



Yes.  Or https://www.alternate.de/Intel(R)/Gigabit-CT-Desktop-Adapter-Netzwerkadapter/html/product/49027?event=search if a PCIE slot is available.

But I would try changing settings on the Realtek first.


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## phoenix (Oct 14, 2015)

dlegrand said:


> Why not 3 times ? It's Beastie after all
> 
> That said, no more NIC state in `dmesg` output.



`# more /var/run/dmesg.boot`
`# dmesg -a`

You can also enable Verbose booting from the loader menu at boot time, which will dump a lot more info into the kernel message buffer (which gets dumped to dmsg).


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## Deleted member 45312 (Oct 15, 2015)

phoenix said:


> `# more /var/run/dmesg.boot`
> `# dmesg -a`
> 
> You can also enable Verbose booting from the loader menu at boot time, which will dump a lot more info into the kernel message buffer (which gets dumped to dmsg).



Yes, but no.


```
re0: link state changed to UP
```
 appears on the console but not into the kernel message buffer, verbose booting or not.


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