Solved CAM status: CCB request completed with an error

I hope this is my last post to this forum for awhile: while attempting to install any of my FreeBSD or TrueOS distros on my shop computer, some time after the distro boots and begins loading the rest of the system, once DEVD attempts to start, I get a LOOOONG series of the above errors. Then, when I stop the computer and attempt to restart it, I find that the BIOS has been completely reset.

I suspect that when the distro begins, it is setting up some sort of RAM-based drive, and after working for a bit, it is using up all available RAM then is attempting to use the BIOS, but since I have some 6 GB RAM in that computer, I thought that was enough. Am I barking up the wrong tree here? Is there some other common reason for these messages?

So, what might be the problem? Anyone have a clue?

Ken Gordon
 
Crapola! It turns out the CD-ROM drive in my shop computer is an old one with an IDE interface, not a SATA interface. Geeze. I would have thought that the FreeBSD developers would have thought of this old crap hardware.

So, in order to do what I need to do with my shop computer, I am going to have to buy and install a SATA based CD-ROM drive.

What a PITA. The drive works perfectly for WinDOZE 10, even. Even the latest version of Nero "likes" it.

How do you foul up a modern ? lock them in a room with no key, give them a dial telephone, and instructions in cursive. They would probably starve to death.

Ken Gordon
 
First step: Tell us the actual error, with details. All we know is that the problem is on the disk interface, but that in and of itself tells us nothing. A screen shot or cut and paste form the console would help.

Second: Distro? What's a distro? FreeBSD doesn't have distro. This is not Linux. I presume you are talking about the installer, or can you install successfully and then the problem happens when booting?

To my knowledge, the installers do not set up a RAM-based drive. And Unixes do not use the BIOS after the boot loader has finished. And 6 GiB is more than enough, I'm running with half that or less.
 
Sorry, was writing the post while you were also posting:

Crapola! It turns out the CD-ROM drive in my shop computer is an old one with an IDE interface, not a SATA interface.
That should not be a problem; I've used FreeBSD on old hardware that had IDE disks and IDE CD-ROM drives. If the IDE CD-ROM is not defective, it should work fine.
 
Well, in my opinion, the fact that my CD-ROM drive has an IDE interface IS the problem, but not all by itself. It is coupled with the fact that in order to use any media to install FreeBSD or TrueOS, I have to activate AHCI and Native mode in my BIOS AND turn off the onboard SATA/IDE interface. Doing that makes the CD-ROM drive appear as an added, somewhat odd drive, in the AHCI bootup sequence. Turning OFF "SATA/IDE On Board Controller", allows the boot and install process from the DVD to at least start and continue to the above mentioned errors.

However, when I turn off that above, then Win10 does not sees my CD-ROM drive. I have to go back into the BIOS to turn the OnBoard controller back on in order for Win10 to see and access the drive.

At this point, what I think is happening is that the AHCI BIOS sees the CD-ROM drive long enough for the install process to begin and go to a certain point where FreeBSD makes some sort of changes and at that point the CD-ROM drive is not longer "seen" by the installer program. In order for me to fix it, I am going to have to change my CD-ROM drive to a SATA drive, or "suggest" to the developers of FreeBSD that they address such an issue and fix it...but I won't hold my breath on this.

At this point, I see two possible issues: 1) the BIOS in my old Gigabyte mobo is f***ed up, and since the mobo is old, there is no updated BIOS or 2) the FreeBSD install software does not correctly or completely "see" old hardware.

My only recourse at this point is to change my CD-ROM drive to one with a SATA interface.
KISS.

I don't care what you call it: to me a "distro" is a distribution of some software to potential users. I am 77 years old and too old to bother with unnecessary distinctions. Call it what you want to. I am reasonably sure you know what I mean no matter what I call it.

Thanks,

Ken Gordon
 
Sorry, was writing the post while you were also posting:{/QUOTE]

No problem. Thank you for your help. Much appreciated.

That should not be a problem; I've used FreeBSD on old hardware that had IDE disks and IDE CD-ROM drives. If the IDE CD-ROM is not defective, it should work fine.

Well, in this case, the reason it IS a problem is that I have a mixed setup: i.e., most of the devices in that computer are SATA while only the CD-ROM drive is IDE. I build all the computers in our home, six at last count.

What is happening is that somewhere in the boot/install process, the FreeBSD installer is losing the CD-ROM drive and can no longer access it after that point.

The CD-ROM drive is only discovered by the computer in its own boot process via the AHCI BIOS which, although it finds and identifies the IDE CD-ROM drive, does so with some sort of additional feature in that BIOS. When the CD-ROM drive is seen, it appears in the boot process in color (green) with a question mark beside it, and requires an input of a <RETURN> in order to continue the boot process.

Furthermore, in order to get the FreeBSD install disk to work at all, I have to 1) activate AHCI for the SATA devices, 2) activate "Native Mode" for those devices, and 3) turn OFF the onboard IDE controller. Turning off the onboard IDE controller then prevents my Win10 installation from seeing the CD-ROM drive at all.

Therefore, the simplest solution for me here is to replace the IDE CD-ROM drive with one with a SATA interface.

I am a firm believer in the KISS principle.

Thanks again for the help and advice. I really appreciate it.

Ken Gordon
 
However, when I turn off that above, then Win10 does not sees my CD-ROM drive. I have to go back into the BIOS to turn the OnBoard controller back on in order for Win10 to see and access the drive.
When you install Windows any unused drivers (like AHCI) are disabled. If you switch the IDE/AHCI mode later on Windows won't be able to detect the change as the required driver has been disabled.

This is for Windows 7 but should work the same on 8 and 10.
(The article talks about STOP errors during boot but the underlying issue is the same)
 
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