FreeBSD + GPT (+ZFS) + GRUB2 works OK. With GRUB2-EFI it can be made to work, but takes some tuning.
Hi!
It seems nobody knows a solution. Actually it's the same problem with my FreeBSD installed on my SD memory card. My laptop has an ordinary BIOS and partitioned in MBR and is triple boot and works well. But when I want to boot it from my SD which has a GPT partitioning it stalls and can not find boot loader. I tried to install FreeBSD as MBR, but it gave me error and I couldn't change it.
Anyway, have you tried to change your BIOS to UEFI?
I don't know about SD card, I could never make it boot at all.
With HDDs or USB sticks it's easier. Though I've been using GPT for a long time, for it's easier to handle.
First: switch your UEFI settings to legacy mode ("BIOS" mode). Then, given that your disk is GPT, follow one of the numerous guides on how to MANUALLY install bootcode onto a GPT disk. That is done by first choosing "Shell" option from your FreeBSD installer-CD (or USB stick or whatever media you're using). Then from the shell you execute your commands like this:
Code:
gpart bootcode -b /boot/pmbr -p /boot/gptzfsboot -i 1 ada0
This command implies you have partition #1 of type
freebsd-boot on your
/dev/ada0 and your system partition is of type
freebsd-zfs. If it is
freebsd-ufs, you'll need the option
-p /boot/gptboot instead of
-p /boot/gptzfsboot into the command above. To know exactly what your disk in question is use
gpart show command.
Take a look at
this guide for example, just instead of
freebsd-zfs you can use
freebsd-ufs partition type etc. Yet I think the standard installer should have handled partitioning well enough. Just use the command above to fix the bootloader.
There shouldn't be any need to set "active partition" with this setup, I think.
