FreeBSD-9.2-RELEASE-i386-dvd1.iso Trashed my Laptop

B

bassplayer

I have a Toshiba Satellite L35-S2171 laptop and I used this DVD (yes, I checked the md5 and it matched) to try FreeBSD out in Live mode and the first time I booted the DVD the boot process hung on the following line:

Code: 
pcib1: failed to allocate initial memory window: 0xc0000000-0xc00ffffff
pci1: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib1

Then I read to try turning off ACPI which I did on the next boot attempt and then received a kernel panic:

Code: 
Fatal trap 12: page fault while in kernel mode
cpuid = 0; apic id = 00
fault virtual address = 0xffb0
fault code = supervisor write, page not present
...
Automatic reboot in 15 seconds - press a key on the console to abort

So, I rebooted the machine, removed the dvd and then was prompted with the following:

Code: 
Operating System Not Found

So, the operating system that was originally on the laptop is no longer there.


Didn't even get to a prompt to ask if I wanted to install FreeBSD or use the Live DVD... Not fun.
 
Well, there is very small chance that a kernel crash could cause a spurious write on the disk at random location but I don't think this is the case here. It's probably something to do with the BIOS settings getting trashed for some reason.
 
bassplayer said:
Interesting that you say that when the laptop booted just fine before I put the FreeBSD DVD in...
Click to expand...

You probably did something else too. Like maybe change some BIOS settings?

I've been installing FreeBSD for the last 10-15 years and it never botched an install just by booting off the FreeBSD CDs. I have botched installs but only because I did something I shouldn't have (removing the wrong partitions for example).
 
SirDice said:
You probably did something else too. Like maybe change some BIOS settings?

I've been installing FreeBSD for the last 10-15 years and it never botched an install just by booting off the FreeBSD CDs. I have botched installs but only because I did something I shouldn't have (removing the wrong partitions for example).
Click to expand...

No. Didn't even go into the BIOS. Just turned on the laptop and put the DVD in and then experienced what I posted above. I've been installing operating systems for over 30 years and never had a cd or dvd do this before getting to the part where you setup your partitions and it writes the new partition scheme to the drive.

I'm going to go with kpa's reply on this. Never know what's going to happen when a kernal panic happens.

I'll try to fix the MBR to see if that can restore the original OS. I'm just disappointed that I can't boot FreeBSD on this laptop. I want to replace the existing windows xp on it.
 
I very much doubt that the panic was the cause of it. The disk wasn't loaded and even if it was there were no outstanding writes. I've never encountered a panic that would randomly write to random devices. I don't even think that's possible.
 
It's more of a theoretical possibility but the kernel does attach a driver to each disk at start up and if the kernel data structures get corrupted in just the right way the kernel could issue a write to a disk at random location before the execution is halted because some sanity check fails or an illegal instruction is encountered.
 
Here are screen captures of what is displayed when ACPI is on and then when it's off:

First attempt - straight boot:

20131010_222002.jpg


Second attempt - ACPI off

20131010_224030.jpg


Sorry if the pictures are huge. Just wanted to make sure they were readable. :)
 
That is an old machine, released 2006 or earlier. So it could be that the old hard drive, memory, or power supply had a problem which caused the FreeBSD crash and subsequent refusal to boot. That is far more likely than an unexplained write to the disk. Running the SMART long test on the hard drive would be first on my list.
 
wblock@ said:
That is an old machine, released 2006 or earlier. So it could be that the old hard drive, memory, or power supply had a problem which caused the FreeBSD crash and subsequent refusal to boot. That is far more likely than an unexplained write to the disk. Running the SMART long test on the hard drive would be first on my list.
Click to expand...

No, That's not the case. The hard drive is a < 1 yr old 128GB SSD in there with new upgraded to 2GB memory and a new battery power supply replaced in the last year and a half. I also found that the Toshiba Satellite L30-134, which has similar memory, graphics and processor configurations on The FreeBSD Laptop Compatibility List which works with 9.0 release and that was why I went forward to try to install it on my L35.
 
Well I found out what the problem was. SirDice's original post was 100% correct ("It's nothing the FreeBSD install DVD did."). I tried to install openSUSE on the same laptop and was prompted with "No Hard Drives Found."

Well, The SSD drive stopped working. I called Crucial (it's an m4 SSD 2.5 128GB SATA 6GB/s) and was told that the firmware I have on the drive has a bug that causes the drive to stop working at around 5000 run hrs. Since this drive is almost a year old I guess I hit that mark. The technician gave me instruction on how to "wake up" the drive so I can install the updated firmware on it. I'm in the process of doing that now.
 
The "wake up" procedure didn't work, so the SSD is bricked. I have a RMA# to get a replacement, but I put in a regular 80GB hard drive and I am still get the same results as the screen captures above. Ah well, I'll have to put Linux on this laptop instead I guess. Really wanted to try out FreeBSD and use that...
 
The only time I've seen FreeBSD kernel panic on install is on a computer that I strongly suspect to have a fault in the motherboard or the CPU. It's always booted fine on my other machines. Look on the bright side FreeBSD is probably inadvertently warning you that your hardware is going bad, it is 7 years old after all.
 
zspider said:
The only time I've seen FreeBSD kernel panic on install is on a computer that I strongly suspect to have a fault in the motherboard or the CPU. It's always booted fine on my other machines. Look on the bright side FreeBSD is probably inadvertently warning you that your hardware is going bad, it is 7 years old after all.
Click to expand...

That's probably true, but I was able to install Slackware-current on there and it's running just fine. I'd like to get another year out of that laptop if possible before I get my daughter's when she upgrades next year. Hers is only 2 years old right now. :e I'll try FreeBSD again at that time.
 
I have an old P4 desktop system that kernel panics with FreeBSD 9.x due to ACPI. My solution for that is to use FreeBSD 8.x which works perfectly. Out of interest you might try burning an 8.4-RELEASE cd and seeing if that boots at least. Other than that, perhaps give OpenBSD a try. Between that and FreeBSD, one of them usually works great :)
 
I took your advice (@kpedersen) and was able to install GhostBSD 3.1 (FreeBSD 9.1) on this machine with no issues. Took me a few minutes to find out how to get my wifi going as it missed setting my wifi card in /etc/rc.conf before Wifi Networks Manager was able to setup wpa_supplicant.conf. Other than that. Very nice. Love the Gnome 2.x interface.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top