FreeBSD 13 will not boot on iMac 7,1

S

sprock

Hello,

I want to run FreeBSD 13.0 on an old iMac (7,1). I had FreeBSD 12.2-RELEASE running fine but neither the kernel on the install cd nor that obtained by freebsd-update -r 13.0-RELEASE will boot. Specifically the boot process halts with this:

EFI Framebuffer information:
addr,size 0x0, 0x0
dimensions 0 x 0
stride 0
masks 0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x00000000

I appreciate any suggestions on how to proceed.

Thanks,
sprock
 
T-Daemon said:
… Try booting a 13.0-STABLE installer image. …
Click to expand...

sprock more specifically, if FreeBSD in this image will not boot with its defaults, then:
  1. force off the computer
  2. start the computer
  3. escape from the loader menu
  4. at the loader prompt, enter copy_staging auto
  5. at the prompt, enter menu or boot.
Picturing step 4:
1632964906092.png

(If I understand correctly, from <https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=255073#c17> (2021-08-17) and from the commit, the current default in stable/13 is copy_staging enable (old behaviour). Note to self: <https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/log/?h=stable/13&id=f75caed644a5c8c342a1ea5e7a6d5251f82ed0b1&qt=grep&q=staging>.)

A third option:

copy_staging disable


Defocusing from iMacs: <https://forums.FreeBSD.org/threads/dream-setup.82154/post-533966> boot as a possible focus area.
 
Hello Graham,
Thank you for your message.

I did as you suggested and put the latest (Sept. 23rd) STABLE on a USB stick. I have tried both
Code: 
copy_staging auto
and
Code: 
copy_staging disable
but the outcome is the same: namely the boot process hangs.

I am willing to do further testing if you have other suggestions. I might add that 13.0-RELEASE boots (albeit very slowly) on a MacBook Pro that is more recent than the iMac on which it fails, so the issue may have something to do with the specific firmware in the machine.

Thanks again,
sprock
 
sprock said:
… tried both …
Click to expand...

Thanks, did you also try the first of three options?

T-Daemon said:
… Try booting a 13.0-STABLE installer image. …
Click to expand...

– in other words, booting normally without escaping from the loader menu. Allowing the current default. (Do try this, for completeness, although if the old behaviour does not work for your computer with 13.0-RELEASE, I imagine that it will similarly not work with your computer for stable/13.)

Sorry for me not making things clearer when I offered steps for non-default options.


Also, for completeness you might try booting an installer for a snapshot of FreeBSD 14.0-CURRENT:
  1. normally i.e. allowing the current default copy_staging enable
  2. copy_staging auto
  3. copy_staging disable
I suspect that the results will be no different, but I'm curious.
 
Hello,

in other words, booting normally without escaping from the loader menu
Click to expand...
Yes, I tried that also: it fails in the same way. I also played around with
Code: 
staging_slop
from 8M to 1M but that made no difference either.
FreeBSD 14.0-CURRENT:
Click to expand...

I tried all three options for
Code: 
copy_staging
, all three failed in the same way as in my original report.

In a previous version of FreeBSD it was possible to supply EFI framebuffer size and stride in
Code: 
loader.conf
. Has the code to read that information now been removed?

Thanks.
 
sprock said:
Has the code to read that information now been removed?
Click to expand...

At a glance, <https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/log/?qt=grep&q=stride> <https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/log/stand/defaults/loader.conf.5> and so on, I see nothing related.

<https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=loader.conf&sektion=5&manpath=FreeBSD+14.0-current> for 14.0-CURRENT.

I suspect that /boot/loader.conf is irrelevant to your current situation, in that boot does not reach the point where the file is read.
 
Has any work been done on this issue? I tried to install FeeBSD 13.1 today on the same spec machine (iMac7,1) and had the same hang at the EFI framebuffer information.
 
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