PROBLEM:
We are having a problem booting DELL R740xd and R640 (14 Generation systems) manufactured starting in July 2019 using a previously working standard FreeBSD 10.3 system disk. R740xd systems built BEFORE July 2019 still boot FreeBSD 10.3 properly.
SYMPTOM:
The system goes through the DELL POST screens, then starts reading the kernel into memory. (UEFI and BIOS boot both fail with the same errors.)
The boot error shows as: “module_register: cannot register pci/em from kernel; already loaded from if_em.ko Module pci/em failed to register: 17”
The same message repeats for pci/lem, pci/igb, pci/mrsas.
The system goes through RAID recognition properly, locating the VD0 drive. (only boot drive installed)
We know that FreeBSD 10.3 will not even boot an installer USB drive. (crashes with the SAME errors) FreeBSD 10.4 also crashes.
The FreeBSD image is completely standard – no modifications to the install image.
And to emphasize, FreeBSD 10.3 was working fine until this last July build of the DELL PE R740 and R640.
FreeBSD 11.0 does NOT boot. FreeBSD 11.1, 11.2, and 11.3 DO boot and install to SSD correctly. But we are three/four months away from running our system with a newer version FreeBSD. We are evaluating FreeBSD 12.1 as our next version of FBSD, however, until that work is done (FreeBSD 12.1 is officially released) we need FBSD 10.3 to continue to boot on these servers.
We ‘know’ that DELL does NOT support FreeBSD. That is why we are asking for help from the Community.
FACTS
DELL documentation confirms a change on the motherboard in the DELL R740xd and DELL R640 in July of 2019, but they will not confirm what the change was.
We have tested every removable component, down to the CPUs. ALL components from the newly manufactured servers DO work in the older motherboard manufactured before June 2019. Components from the working old system will NOT boot FreeBSD 10.3 in the NEW system.
We are hoping the community can help us identify the issue and direct us to a possible solution for FBSD 10.3 until FBSD 12.1 is released.
Any help or advice would be welcome.
We are having a problem booting DELL R740xd and R640 (14 Generation systems) manufactured starting in July 2019 using a previously working standard FreeBSD 10.3 system disk. R740xd systems built BEFORE July 2019 still boot FreeBSD 10.3 properly.
SYMPTOM:
The system goes through the DELL POST screens, then starts reading the kernel into memory. (UEFI and BIOS boot both fail with the same errors.)
The boot error shows as: “module_register: cannot register pci/em from kernel; already loaded from if_em.ko Module pci/em failed to register: 17”
The same message repeats for pci/lem, pci/igb, pci/mrsas.
The system goes through RAID recognition properly, locating the VD0 drive. (only boot drive installed)
- Loading /boot/defaults/loader.conf
- System goes to FreeBSD Logo page – completes 9 second timeout
- Loads /boot/kernel/kernel
- Loads /boot/kernel/zfs.ko
- Continues loading several other drivers OK
- Loads /boot/kernel/smbus.ko
- Loads /boot/kernel/aesni.ko (advanced Encryption)
- Stops at BLUE “Booting…”
- Starts to load FreeBSD 10.3-RELEASE-P29
- Shows clang version 3.4.1
- And then starts with the errors above
- Then stops dead with “kernel trap 12 with interrupts disabled”
We know that FreeBSD 10.3 will not even boot an installer USB drive. (crashes with the SAME errors) FreeBSD 10.4 also crashes.
The FreeBSD image is completely standard – no modifications to the install image.
And to emphasize, FreeBSD 10.3 was working fine until this last July build of the DELL PE R740 and R640.
FreeBSD 11.0 does NOT boot. FreeBSD 11.1, 11.2, and 11.3 DO boot and install to SSD correctly. But we are three/four months away from running our system with a newer version FreeBSD. We are evaluating FreeBSD 12.1 as our next version of FBSD, however, until that work is done (FreeBSD 12.1 is officially released) we need FBSD 10.3 to continue to boot on these servers.
We ‘know’ that DELL does NOT support FreeBSD. That is why we are asking for help from the Community.
FACTS
DELL documentation confirms a change on the motherboard in the DELL R740xd and DELL R640 in July of 2019, but they will not confirm what the change was.
We have tested every removable component, down to the CPUs. ALL components from the newly manufactured servers DO work in the older motherboard manufactured before June 2019. Components from the working old system will NOT boot FreeBSD 10.3 in the NEW system.
We are hoping the community can help us identify the issue and direct us to a possible solution for FBSD 10.3 until FBSD 12.1 is released.
Any help or advice would be welcome.