“Error while fetching file:///mnt/usr/freebsd-dist/base.txz : no such file or directory” on FreeBSD 13.1 install

Hi, I’m trying to install FreeBSD 13.1 using a USB flash-drive and I keep getting the following error after partitioning the disk:
Code:
“Error while fetching file:///mnt/usr/freebsd-dist/base.txz : no such file or directory.”
The same error occurs with the other tarballs (kernel, ports, etc.) and the installation cannot continue.

Any suggestion? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.
 
You burned a bootonly image?

bootonly

This supports booting a machine using the CDROM drive but does not contain the installation distribution sets for installing FreeBSD from the CD itself. You would need to perform a network based install (e.g., from an HTTP or FTP server) after booting from the CD.
 
mini-memstick?

mini-memstick

This can be written to a USB memory stick (flash drive) and used to boot a machine, but does not contain the installation distribution sets on the medium itself, similar to the bootonly image. It also supports booting into a "livefs" based rescue mode. There are no pre-built packages.
 
I just downloaded it and I can assure you the files are all there. So either your image is corrupt (did you check the checksum?) or your stick is broken.

Code:
root@hosaka:/vm/.iso # ll /mnt/usr/freebsd-dist/
total 1295560
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel       1046 May 12 11:07 MANIFEST
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel  195363380 May 12 11:07 base.txz
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel   96256544 May 12 11:07 kernel-dbg.txz
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel   51427572 May 12 11:07 kernel.txz
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel   67037100 May 12 11:07 lib32.txz
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel   44546820 May 12 11:07 ports.txz
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel  192751792 May 12 11:07 src.txz
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel   15446816 May 12 11:07 tests.txz
 
I just downloaded it and I can assure you the files are all there. So either your image is corrupt (did you check the checksum?) or your stick is broken.
Thanks for your help. The checksums were OK, as well as the flash drive. Have you tried to select more optional components than the default one when the installation asks whether you want to install any other optional component?
 
It's complaining about missing base.txz, you can't disable that. That file contains the entire base OS. Doesn't have anything to do with third party software either (packages).
 
It's complaining about missing base.txz, you can't disable that. That file contains the entire base OS. Doesn't have anything to do with third party software either (packages).
Yes, I know, but I think it’s a bug. Could you try that?
 
Nothing wrong with the memstick image, boots and installs just fine. No issues, no errors.
 
It's optional components, not packages. And it appears to specifically be the base-dbg and lib32-dbg components. Those are not on the image and have to be downloaded. If that happens you indeed get the rather odd Error while fetching file:///mnt/usr/freebsd-dist/base.txz: No such file or directory. I never enable those components, I don't need them. But enabling the base-dbg and/or lib32-dbg components does indeed appear to trigger a bug. It should just download those two from a remote site, everything else should come from the install media.
 
It's optional components, not packages. And it appears to specifically be the base-dbg and lib32-dbg components. Those are not on the image and have to be downloaded. If that happens you indeed get the rather odd Error while fetching file:///mnt/usr/freebsd-dist/base.txz: No such file or directory. I never enable those components, I don't need them. But enabling the base-dbg and/or lib32-dbg components does indeed appear to trigger a bug. It should just download those two from a remote site, everything else should come from the install media.
Yes, that’s exactly what I find so odd; the installer has to download the optional components if you select them because they are not in the memstick image, OK, but it mysteriously triggers that error trying to fetch the included ones, locally!

P. S. I’ve corrected “packages” by “components”.
 
Just out of curiosity, how did you put the file on the USB. With something like UNetbootin? What is important to know is that not all methods are equally reliable. The most reliable method is through dd. So your best bet is to overwrite your USB with zeros and then format it to FAT32. Then you can write the downloaded file to the USB with the following (root) command:
dd bs=4M if=path/to/freebsd-version-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdx conv=fsync oflag=direct status=progress

I think you should give this a try just to be sure.
 
Irrelevant. The base-dbg.txz and lib32-dbg.txz files just aren't on the images. Has nothing to do with the way the image is written to USB.
 
Just out of curiosity, how did you put the file on the USB. With something like UNetbootin? What is important to know is that not all methods are equally reliable. The most reliable method is through dd.

Given that it's not the problem here, that's true.

So your best bet is to overwrite your USB with zeros and then format it to FAT32.

Both of those are entirely unnecessary. The following dd does everything needed.

Then you can write the downloaded file to the USB with the following (root) command:

dd bs=4M if=path/to/freebsd-version-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdx conv=fsync oflag=direct status=progress

/dev/sdx ? Do I smell a whiff of Linux? The Release Announcement example:

# dd if=FreeBSD-13.1-RELEASE-amd64-memstick.img of=/dev/da0 bs=1m conv=sync

works fine, from *.img or *.iso
 
/dev/sdx ? Do I smell a whiff of Linux? The Release Announcement example:

# dd if=FreeBSD-13.1-RELEASE-amd64-memstick.img of=/dev/da0 bs=1m conv=sync

works fine, from *.img or *.iso
Yes it a command from the Arch Linux wiki. It also works fine on FreeBSD. You have to replace /dev/sdx with /dev/da0 but you can use all the rest of the syntax on FreeBSD just fine.
 
Yes, though noticing that conv=fsync and conv=sync do different things. If you want to use fsync(2) perhaps you should use both, as in conv=fsync,sync ?
 
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