Loader needs to be updated (14-STABLE)

T

trev

Every time I update FreeBSD 14-STABLE from source, the Beastie Menu contains a line stating "Loader needs to be updated".

Having read https://www.freebsd.org/releases/14.0R/relnotes/ this is what I do (/boot/efi is mounted by default):

Code: 
# efibootmgr -v
[truncated]
+Boot0000* FreeBSD HD(1,GPT,5e3e3d6d-f486-11ee-8ac6-a820661e35b1,0x28,0x82000)/File(\efi\freebsd\loader.efi)
                      gpt/efiboot0:/efi/freebsd/loader.efi /boot/efi//efi/freebsd/loader.efi
[truncated]

So this should do the deed:

Code: 
# cp -a /boot/loader.efi /boot/efi/efi/freebsd/loader.efi
# cp -a /boot/loader.efi /boot/efi/efi/boot/bootx64.efi

Reboot and... the Beastie Menu contains the same message about the loader needing to be updated.

What am I missing?
 
Developers are aware of the issue.

1725749329115.pngPart of what was linked from discussion on 22nd August (if you blink, you might miss what's in the first shot):

Not only in stable/14, also in releng/13.4.0:

Cath O'Deray said:
… loader-related warnings?

BOOT LOADER IS TOO OLD. PLEASE UPGRADE.

Loader needs to be updated
Click to expand...

I don't believe that the loader in the third release candidate is outdated.

I should disregard the warnings, until the situation is clarified.

1725750682664.pngSuggested: list the issue as open, in FreeBSD 13.4-RELEASE Errata.
 
I've got a 13.3/13.4 RC system I'm trying to sort out (not winning yet, but it's a system I've mucked around with a lot) with the Loader message.

RC2 improved the instructions in the loader.efi man page but there's a minor typo (in the updated man loader.efi page)


# cmp /boot/efi/EFI/FREEBSD/LOADER.EFI /boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/BOOOTX64.EFI

BOOOOOOT at the end of the line.
 
Related info on recent freebsd-current ML.

And this warning would be made because too many users forgets to upgrade boot code/loader on upgrading ZFS pools. Usually old boot codes/loaders works quite fine enough for UFS, but for ZFS, when read-incompatible feature is enabled/activated on pool upgrade, once any write happenes to the pool, older-than-ZFS bootcodes/loaders no longer work for the pool.

This shoud be because such a strong warning is introduced.
 
THE SHOUTING IS EXCESSIVE​

and​

Code: 
*************************************************
*************************************************
*****                                       *****
*****     THE SURROUNDINGS REDUCE THE       *****
*****     LIKELIHOOD OF THE TEXT BEING      *****
*****     READ WITHIN THE SPLIT-SECOND.     *****
*****                                       *****
*************************************************
*************************************************

1725911488246.png
 
Yep still an issue with FreeBSD 13.4-STABLE #2 stable/13-867aaad5c-dirty: Thu Sep 26 19:45:14 AEST 2024.

The machine is a 2012 Mac mini.
 
I installed FreeBSD remotely using mfsBSD (13.2) and deployed a ZFS image (FreeBSD 13.4) from another server.

During the boot process, I see the message "Loader needs to be updated" but the system still boots without any issues.

I use legacy boot (not EFI).

Do you have any idea why this message appears?

Is this a bug?
 
CyberCr33p said:
I installed FreeBSD remotely using mfsBSD (13.2)
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with mfsBSD, but FreeBSD 13.2 was released more than eighteen months ago, and reached end of life in June:

1729820439736.png


The message that the loader needs to be updated is a reliable indicator that an update is needed. Not a bug.
 
Last edited:
The FreeBSD version in use is 13.4. I initially used mfsBSD 13.2 to run the following commands while I was importing the ZFS snapshot that I took in another server:


gpart bootcode -b /boot/pmbr -p /boot/gptzfsboot -i 1 nvd0
gpart bootcode -b /boot/pmbr -p /boot/gptzfsboot -i 1 nvd1


Now, I have executed these commands again while booted into FreeBSD 13.4, but I still see the same message: "Loader needs to be updated"
 
Cath O'Deray said:
… I should disregard the warnings, until the situation is clarified. …
Click to expand...

IIRC part of the clarification involved virtual machines. Whether the VM context was bhyve-specific, I have no idea (I was confused at the time … the mention of VMs was enough for me to pause testing in VirtualBox guests).

13.4 aside: if anyone sees an inexplicable prompt to update the loader, maybe add a comment here. Thanks.
 
Just updated FreeBSD 13.2 (latest updates) to 13.4 and boot screen tells me to update boot loader.
"Loader needs to be updated"
- Seems related to above -

FreeBSD 13.4 p2, BIOS boot and UFS filesystem on vmware workstation 17.5
Also have FreeBSD 14.1, p6 BIOS with ZFS filesystem on vmware workstation 17.5 no issues with boot loader, but was new install

one other thing, on both systems the uname -a px version is one lower than the freebsd-version px version ..
 
kaviar said:
one other thing, on both systems the uname -a px version is one lower than the freebsd-version px version ..
Click to expand...

uname -a reports the kernel version. This should be the same as running freebsd-version -k

freebsd-version -u shows the userland version

When I check FreeBSD version numbers I use freebsd-version -uk to get both userland and kernel versions at the same time.
 
vmb said:
uname -a reports the kernel version. This should be the same as running freebsd-version -k

freebsd-version -u shows the userland version

When I check FreeBSD version numbers I use freebsd-version -uk to get both userland and kernel versions at the same time.
Click to expand...

That seems to be correct, thanks for clearing that up.
 
This is what I did:

Code: 
# user: root
# Mount the efi partition, it's probably already in fstab and getting mounted on /boot/efi. But if you have multiple disks you will have to mount each individual disk separately.
# Do this on the running system, preferably before or right after the zpool upgrade command to upgrade the pools. Or update the boot code right after an update/upgrade of the OS.

cp /boot/loader.efi /boot/efi/efi/freebsd/loader.efi
cp /boot/loader.efi /boot/efi/efi/boot/bootx64.efi
 
jb82 said:
How exactly? Is it in the Handbook?
Click to expand...
Sort of, check this .

Otherwise there is a tool written by one of our forum member that can help you, I didn't try it yet but I might give it a shot sooner:
Emrion

Thread 'Utility that tries to figure how to update the FreeBSD loaders'

Hello all,

I worked on this subject these days and finally released this sh script. I would like to know what is your feeling about this idea and possibly your feedback after trying it.

github.com

GitHub - Emrion/uploaders: A proof of concept concerning the automatic update of FreeBSD loaders

A proof of concept concerning the automatic update of FreeBSD loaders - Emrion/uploaders
github.com github.com

Content of README:
This sh script is a proof of concept that an automatic update of FreeBSD loaders is possible.

Update of the loaders is linked to the evolution of zfs features, but not only. Even if no new features are added and the zpool(s) not upgraded, from time to time, some weird problems arise if you don't update. Not to speak about the correction of...
Click to expand...
  • Thanks
  • Like
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top