FreeBSD installer dosen't work on an i386 PC

Andreas-T

Andreas-T

Hello,
I've tried to install FreeBSD on an i386 PC, my parents gave me, but when I boot from my USB-Stick the installer starts like normal. After starting Multi- or Single User Mode, it returns following errors: can't find '/boot/entropy' and can't find '/etc/hostid' in the next line. (I am providing an image in the attached files).
This PC is an eMaschines EZ1600, has an 32 Bit CPU and 2 GB Ram.
Is this an hardware-related issue or is it solvable?
Thanks!

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Those entropy and hostid messages don't have anything to do with, well, anything (we really need to shut them up, at least when booting from installation ISO). Real issue is the "BTX halted" and related registers dump above.
 
Link above is for UEFI boot, this is legacy boot. BTX loader halted before before jump to kernel was done. From the cs:ip output there it seems it either jumped to bad location (all 0xff) or kernel was not loaded properly).
As of why I can't think of anything useful. I'd start with the verbose boot to have more information on screen.
 
I would try for the low lying fruit and try legacy console of sc(4). It might not like vt console and crashes.

From loader prompt at Beastie Menu:
set kern.vty=sc
show kern.vty
boot -vs
 
Yes, BTX is halding.
I have tried set kern.vty=sc but it didn‘t really work.
When booting with verbose mode on following happened (see attachment).
It still stops with the same errors as before :-(
Thanks for responding!
 

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BTX halted on int 6, UD - invalid opcode. That would be consistent with the memory full of 0xff where loader jumped.

This is just a wild guess - check the BIOS settings for legacy USB devices. Some BIOS implementations screwed it hard time. If you don't need it try to disable it.
Next option would be CD or pxe boot (and suggestions people mentioned above).
 
I have now tried booting with ACPI off and with an older release (FreeBSD 10) too but it doesn't seem to work. Still BTX hald - with ACPI off. The BIOS doesn't have something like an legacy Boot option. Debian Linux from an USB-Stick is booting and installing fine, with the same settings in the BIOS.
 
Note I didn't say legacy boot but rather legacy USB support. According to BIOS manual online it's in advanced->integrated peripherals.
Did verbose boot show something?
 
I also recommend trying to disable all the integrated peripherals that it's possible to disable in the BIOS. For example I have a machine where DragonFly (an other BSD OS) won't boot with the default BIOS settings, but successfully boots if the FireWire port is disabled.
 
Secure Boot in BIOS (if present) must also be disabled.

Sorry for the stupid question: is the 32-bit OS being installed, not 64-bit?
 
Sorry for my misunderstanding,
I am trying the suggestions as soon as I am getting home tomorrow!
Also it was the 32-Bit version, not the 64-Bit version.
Thanks very much too all!
 
OP should try for a release that is specifically labeled for i386. Start at https://www.freebsd.org/releases, it's a good starting point to figure out which release fits OP's hardware. And yeah, i386 is 32-bit, so OP needs to pay attention to that when selecting what to install.
 
  • Thanks
Reactions: _al
Didn't mean to offend anyone. But everyone can make mistake.
As for N270, I have one (1.png). If I try to boot from CD (2.png) with 64-bit OS, I get (3.png)
Though It doesn't crash to registers...
1.png


2.png


3.png
 
_al In your example FreeBSD detected it can't switch to long mode (64b) and hence ended gracefully. It was expected to do so.

OPs error is an exception (int 6, #UD) as loader jumped to location full of 0xff. It didn't want to do that. At this stage BTX is relying on BIOS functions (V86 mode) to read. One of the possibilities is that the BIOS is messing up something.
 
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Reactions: _al
_martin, thank you for explanation.

Add to my previous post: EeePC901 does not support UEFI:

[lanin@freebsd3 ~]$ sysctl machdep.bootmethod
machdep.bootmethod: BIOS


..and can't be booted from USB-Stick (I couldn't force it)
 
_al said:
_martin, thank you for explanation.

Add to my previous post: EeePC901 does not support UEFI:

[lanin@freebsd3 ~]$ sysctl machdep.bootmethod
machdep.bootmethod: BIOS


..and can't be booted from USB-Stick (I couldn't force it)
Click to expand...
Yeah, you need to burn the non-UEFI, 32-bit FreeBSD iso to a CD, and boot from that CD.

UEFI is only supported on 64-bit machines, AFAICT.

Trying to boot a 64-bit OS on hardware that only supports 32 bits - that just won't work.
 
So I used the i386 images of FreeBSD 13, 12 and 10. With every version I got the same issue.
Legacy USB Support was enabled by default. As soon as I get my hands on an CD I will burn it and try to install with that.
 
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Reactions: _al
astyle said:
Yeah, you need to burn the non-UEFI, 32-bit FreeBSD iso to a CD, and boot from that CD.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's what I did at the time (I bought an EeePC901 with Windows XP preinstalled, instead of which I installed FreeBSD).
The images in post 18 are just to illustrate what I asked in post 13.
 
Oh sorry, my mistake,
legacy USB Support is now disabled. When I get an CD from my father, I will burn it and try to install FreeBSD from it.
 
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