Freebsd 8.0 Server Failing Need New Server

e0je

e0je

Hi All :),

I have a FreeBSD server that I need to upgrade to a new server because the one I am using now isn't cutting it.

I've spend endless hours building this server up and I would rather not have to reinstall a new server, can I just put the HDDs onto a new machine and boot up as long as it has the same architecture?

What type of complications might I anticipate?

Right now I am running FreeBSD 8.1-STABLE with a Generic AMD64 Kernel.

Thanks in Advance
 
If you are running a custom kernel, and the hardware in the new server is not identical to the old server, you should install GENERIC. Then you can move the drive into the new server, boot into single-user mode, and make sure the drives come up with the same names, and that the paths in /etc/fstab remained the same.

Once you are able to boot with GENERIC, then you can go about creating a new custom kernel for the new box.
 
Well I made a image of the HD and when attempting to boot freebsd it says ,

Code: 
ROOT MOUNT ERROR:
If you have ainvalid mount options, reboot, and first try the following from the loader prompt:
       set vfs.root.mountfrom.options=rw
and then remove invalid mount options from /etc/fstab

I tried that and it it booted to the same screen. I also tried doing set vfs.root.mountfrom=ufs:/dev/ad0s1a and ad1s1a ad2s1a ad3sa1a ad4s1a ad5s1a ad6s1a, none worked

my root is on 0s1a as indicated by FreeBSD-8.1-RELEASE-amd64-bootonly.iso, my old fstab had it at ad4s1a.

On the boot mount error screen it suggests I use ufs:/dev/da0s1a but this appears to be a device entry for a usb device nevertheless it still doesn't boot.

in the bios I have the option to swich between sata AHCI or Native IDE, switching between those does not help. Is there any suggestions how I can get beastie to recognize my Sata Drive?
 
At the mountroot question, type a "?" to have it list devices. Drive numbers aren't always single digits, ad10 is possible. It depends on how many SATA and IDE connections you have.

How did you "make an image"?
 
It wasn't really and image, I dumped data from one HD to another.

/** Detailed Explanation it may help.

I have a 2drive ESATA Raid Enclosure with the existing OS installed, I bought another enclosure exactly the same and loaded two new harddrives and plugged it into the old servers on-board stata, set bootable, set slices then formated and dumped data.
**/

Both Enclosures boot off the old system but the new box doesn't recognize the drives correctly, it actually recognizes it as external drives for some reason. I cannot press ? because it doesn't recognize my USB keyboard so I will have to grab a ps2 keyboard from the office, i'll update you in 2hrs with my findings. Seriously thanks for your reply.. :)
 
Um ? doesnt list any devices I think my controller is not detected. I might just go buy a pci card at this point unless you have any other suggestions...
 
Update the new system's BIOS first. Then try enabling AHCI in the BIOS. If you can identify the exact model, someone may know specifics about it.
 
I bought a new SATA pciexpress controller and same issue, it appears that for some reason freebsd is unable to detect any SATA drives on this CPU. I've disabled the onboard sata, usb and audio from the bios hoping it was some sort of PNP issue. No luck, I'm stumped...
 
Fresh Eyes Needed

Ok I tried so many things since because after a lot of thought I tested the idea that it was a chipset issue and it appears it is not.

I pluged a SATA drive directly onto the onboard connection and attempted to install and everything was detected perfectly fine and was able to format and install, unfortunately I need operate BSD on my SATA 2-Drive enclosure and when this drive set up comes into play FreeBSD acts quirky. This is the output during boot up, mind you I unplugged all SATA devices and only left the SATA Drive Enclosure. I cannot paste the output this is manually transcribe so sorry for typos.

Code: 
atapci1:<nvidia nforce mcp77 sata300 controller>
port 0xc480-0xc87,0xc400-0xc703,0xc080-0xc087,0xc000-0xc003,0xbc00-0xbcof mem0xfbf7a000-0xfbf7bfff irq 22 at device 9.0 on pci0
atapci1:[ThREAD]
atapci1: AHCI v1.20 controller with 6 3GPS ports PM Supported
## skip some output. notice there is an error regarding PM PORT. what is PM port?
ata2: <ata channel 0> on atapci1
ata2: error reading pm port
ata2: error getting pm vendor data
ata2: [thread]
###
### skip some output
### Notice below it detects my HD enclosures /etc/fstab because it trys to load from ad6s1a
### but when i press "?" it does not give me any drive info

Trying to mount root from ufs:/dev/ad6s1a
Root Mount Error:
List of GEOM manual disk devices:



Loader Variable:
vfs.root.mountfrom=ufs:/dev/ad6s1a
vfs.root.mountfrom.options=rw


Manual root file system specification:

<fstype><device> mount <device> using file system <fstype>
eg: ufs:/dev/da0s1a

Anyways it appears to be some kind of communcation issue but initially i thought it was my enclosure but my enclosure has been working perfectly fine on another PC running freebsd. I am curious since its being detected as an external enclosure maybe the "?" doesnt list those devices and maybe someone can assist me in located the possible device name, the / slice is xxxs1a, so hopefully i just need to put the correct device in the loader prompt. Also lsdev doesn't list any device letters it just shows the bios drive C: and the slices s1a,s1b,s1(c-g)...
 
Your new fstab numbers/devices probably do not
match when switching the drive from the sata
to the enclosure.
Code: 
mount /dev/ad0s1a
mount /dev/ad1s1a
mount /dev/da0s1a
mount /dev/da1s1a
...
if one of those works, you can
then
Code: 
mount -va
to edit the fstab to match the new devices.
....
Though I've only done it once or twice or thrice
in the last seven years so may be remembering
the wrong precise command or a step or two.
 
Previously I had this device http://www.sansdigital.com/mobilestor/ms2tplus.html set up with RAID0 on my old server, then I dumped the data to a whole new Sans Digital Raid0 (same model), the enclosure works fine on one server however it gives me the above issues on the new server.

The enclosure is connected to an eSATA port which is connected to the sata controller on the mother board, similar to this http://www.sansdigital.com/adapters/cb-san-2pesbkt.html. It should not read as two drives but because its giving me a PM error are you saying its detecting multiple drives?

also where do I type in the mount command? as I cannot get it to shell.... thanks for your support ...

also if I running the freebsd installer it does not detect the drives also .....
 
Mission accomplished....

needed to load the kernel module ahci.ko then then the drive was successfully detected, the drive device was interestingly ada0. thanks for all your help ..
 
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