Solved Lost partitions just after booting to installation disk

R

Reiter

I have a hp pavilion dv6 2170ee notebook (an intel core i7 64 bit system of course) So I downloaded amd64 dvd1 iso image and burned it to a dvd. I checked the SHA256 checksum too and it was fine.

Here's what happens:

1- I choose "dvd rom" from bios star-up menu and just after reading the dvd rom a message shows up saying that "this system is not a 64 bit architecture" or "this architecture is not supported" (or something like that - I can't remember.) So I reboot the system pressing ctrl-alt-delete.

2- When I reboot the notebook while the HP logo is on the screen, the system freezes and HDD light turns to orange from white (white is the usual color) and stays orange and I can hear a clinking sound from the hard drive; now I have two ways to turn off the system either I power off the machine by pushing the power off button or closing the lid.

3- When I turn on the notebook again it doesn't find any hard drive! I just have to manually take it out and by some kind of sata converter connect it to another computer. The most strange part is that I notice the whole partition table is lost! No partitions... nothing. So I quick format it on the other machine (since all partition table is lost) to get the HDD back to work.

I also checked this page:
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/53582/

This scary problem stops me from using FreeBSD.
What's the solution? Have I chosen the wrong image? Should I use i386 and ignore 64 bit capability of my laptop?( I haven't used freebsd on my laptop before) Which image should I get?
 
Does your machine boot from a usb stick? If it does, you could try the memstick image instead, and see if that works any better.
Do you have the latest firmware (BIOS / UEFI) for your machine installed?
 
Reiter
PATA drives are fairly delicate, and as a result, notoriously "flakey" in portables. As they are forced to make
the overall size of them smaller, while still keeping higher capacities. Connections can also be a problem in
portables. Does removing, and replacing the drive in your laptop change things? The MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) may have been reached. Your BIOS should show that the drive has the so-called "smart" capability, and allow the BIOS to monitor that. Letting you know if the MTBF has been reached, or that it is about to be reached.

HTH

--Chris
 
1- I did update the bios, but that didn't change anything. Not even a new single menu option.

Update: Here is an image I took just before everything crashes:
saXBQm.png


2- About the UEFI : HP has a "System Diagnostics UEFI" and that's it. Some testing buttons.
1658.jpg

As you see, it just leaves the user with some testing buttons. I don't have that "BIOS Management" button down there; for me it's missing.

2- It's a SATA drive. When I go to UEFI "System Information" there is a "SMART: Enabled" caption for HDD's information (that I can't change.) I can't change that in bios either... The bios options are so limited, it just leaves me with some simple booting options and not anything advanced.

3- I guess whatever the problem, it surely has something to do with the uefi settings that I can't change... or "SMART" option.

4- Does this problem have something to do with the MBR and GPT? I mean the partition table is affecting the prebooting process...
 
"Clinking sound from the hard drive"

That's already enough reasons to try another drive to verify or rule out a drive failure. Report back when you have done so.

There are other possibilities for the behaviour such as BIOS/UEFI firmare bugs but the most obvious ones should be investigated first.
 
The most weird thing is that it shows "this system is not a 64 bit architecture" message!
I know the CPU is Intel Core I7 64 bit. But why this message shows up?
 
That's probably a BIOS or UEFI firmware restriction that sets the CPU in a mode that makes FreeBSD identify it as i386 instead of amd64. Custom made (by "custom made" I mean designed with a very specific target audience in mind) machines like that HP are notorious for such stuff, they are really tailored for MS Windows only and often the only OS that works on them is the OEM version from the manufacturer.
 
kpa, you are right; that Is a hard drive failure.
I replaced the hard drive and the system is back.
 
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