Solved Hetzner EX44 line with NVME disks; Could not boot: Error 0x00000001 ( https://ipxe.org/00000001 )

[spag]

Hi, does anyone have any experience installing FreeBSD on the Hetzner EX44 line ?


My experience is no-go so far.

Installed FreeBSD 14.2 from :
- using rescue console; bootonly and mfsbsd no problems with installation

wget https://download.freebsd.org/ftp/releases/ISO-IMAGES/14.2/FreeBSD-14.2-RELEASE-amd64-bootonly.iso
qemu-system-x86_64 \
-cdrom mfsbsd-14.1-RELEASE-amd64.iso \
\
-drive format=raw,file=/dev/nvme0n1,if=virtio \
-drive format=raw,file=/dev/nvme1n1,if=virtio \
\
-display curses \
-boot d \
-m 8G


Then, the
bsdinstall
poweroff
Test if things works:

qemu-system-x86_64 \
-drive format=raw,file=/dev/nvme0n1,if=virtio \
-drive format=raw,file=/dev/nvme1n1,if=virtio \
\
-nic user,hostfwd=tcp::2222-:22 \
-display curses \
-boot d \
-m 8G


The usual process was selecting both disks as mirrored ( vtbd0 and vtbd1 ), ZFS, GPT. The network worked well, and the installation finished fine.
Just in case, on both disks:

gpart bootcode -b /boot/pmbr -p /boot/gptzfsboot -i 1 vtbd0

Unfortunately, whatever I did, I ended up with

Could not boot: Error 0x00000001 ( https://ipxe.org/00000001 )



- installing using KVM remote CDROM -> boot only image is good until there is no network device, and
dmesg
says it is not! , so I did not push for that.

 

[_martin]

Aftrer successfull installation you kept this during second boot:

-boot d \

This is an alias to cdrom. Remove that entry and try again.

 

[spag]

thanks martin. I reinstalled it with GTP(UEFI), and now it works fine. Unfortunately, at the start, the network driver dies in queue. and after boot there is no network.

FreeBSD has two drivers, and one that is built in into a kernel does not support rtl8125 and second that should be able to work unfortunatly even forcing it to get there - it fails to start.

K

Solved Thread 'Realtek RTL8125 on-board not discovered'

Dec 18, 2023

So...I want to install FreeBSD on my shop computer. I use a USB flash drive to install FreeBSD 13.2-RELEASE and everything goes forward just fine.....except....that it doesn't find my on-board NIC, so I have no network.

I realize that the Realtek NICs sometimes have difficulty with FreeBSD....or vice versa...but doing pciconf -lv | grep -A1 -B3 network results in finding that the on-board NIC is a Realtek RTL8125.

I would have thought that the FreeBSD install would have found it as re0, but it didn't.

Why and how do I fix this?

I have ordered a new Intel PCIe gigabit NIC, but it...

• KenGordon
• Replies: 21
• Forum: Networking

in general it is possible to install 14.2 on EX44 but with the UEFI selected - just no network. yet.

 

[_martin]

I'm not sure I'm following. You did ask about qemu and dedicated server at the same time, I'm missing how they are connected. The EX44 description doesn't give much HW details, it's hard to comment on that then.

8125 realtek is supported via net/realtek-re-kmod. You need to fight the chicken 'n egg problem though. The simpliest way would be probably to compile this on other FreeBSD that has access to network, create package and connect it "somehow" to this box. I'm not sure what Hetzner provides here.
If you have console access where you can copy-paste you can always fall back to good 'o hackish way - base64.

 

[spag]

_martin It is all good. I got a second box boot - the IPxe problem still shows up but passes, and the system boots. Then, I had no issues apart from a network that required additional steps, where I made a mistake in a configuration path. - yes, you need a Realtek driver, not the one from OS. - there is a whole thread about it. https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/realtek-rtl8125-on-board-not-discovered.91517/

The problem was exactly when installing freebsd on a dedicated box via rescue console - you can boot freebsd-bootonly.iso there and install thing.

So I have to say - yes, getting the EX44 boxes line running is possible. So far, smooth and fast.

1. Bios switch to GPT (UEFI)
2. Boot into a rescue console
3. install bsd via quemu ( selecting Mirror/ZFS/GPT UEFI on nvme1 disk if needed ) *above commands
4. before power off go to console download a RTL driver and make changes to loader.conf, and sshd_config if needed.
5. poweroff / reboot

If it do not boot up? go back to rescue console / import zfs zroot ; set mountpoint=/mnt ; mount /mnt ; download driver check logs; fix ; set back mountpoint to / ; reboot
No need for KVM