No Boot Device Found.

mikethe1wheelnut said:
..this computer has had windows, then ubuntu, then freebsd, then ubuntu on it. The last ubuntu was on it for at least a year. In the past few days I have tried to put freebsd and ghostbsd on it, with no success. all of these attempts have been with legacy, uefi only gradually coming on my radar.
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If this is a fresh disk and new install, why don't you try UEFI?
 
Argentum said:
If this is a fresh disk and new install, why don't you try UEFI?
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That is definitely on the list of things to try. I can assure you, I have nothing in particular against it. :)

-------------------------------

I have now been (back to) the computer store. Their first question was: "Did you format it?". I said no. I just plugged it in, and expected it to work. (slight irritation that they didn't tell me I would have to do this when I bought it, but no biggie, right?)

The guy told me I would have to format it, put a file-system on it. I managed to get clarification that in order to do this, I would have to put the drive in an enclosure, plug it into the laptop I'm using now. This one will do the formatting. He mentioned a driver I would have to get, IRST. There were some other details I forget now, about checking checking manuals for the computer. I can ask them again if necessary. I bought an enclosure. I can still return it.

Once I left the store, I realized that I'm not actually sure if I formatted it or not. I think that part of the installation procedure for bsd involves choosing a file system and formatting the disc. So I'll have to check that again.

..back to parsing all your posts..
 
Ok, looking back at the handbook again, I conclude that yes, the installation procedure -does-, or is supposed to, format the disk. And..

Argentum said:
If you use ZFS, there is actually no formatting.
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!!

..well, that sounds like the problem to me. (the solution to this particular problem, not the original installation question) ..does the handbook cover installations where the hard-disk is brand-new? ..I still barely know what I'm talking about. (not that I've consulted the handbook much. but youtube tutorials won't be covering anything that corner-case). so now I have to figure out what file system to put on the drive, and how to do it. right? In other words, whether I can do it "on-the-fly" with the installation media, or if I have to use the enclosure to plug it into this computer, etc.
 
Argentum said:
bsdinstall(8) does everything what is needed. If you use ZFS, there is actually no formatting. The storage pool is just created on the partition.
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..now I'm confused.. are you referring to section 2.5 of the handbook? (I found the manual page, wondered if there was a tutorial, searched for it, and it sent me to the handbook) ..that's the installer I'm using.. but apparently zfs won't work for me? because it doesn't format the disk.. so I have to choose ufs instead, then, if I -actually- want zfs (hell if I know what I want), I have to re-do the whole thing with zfs.. Always more research to do. :)
 
mikethe1wheelnut said:
..now I'm confused.. are you referring to section 2.5 of the handbook? (I found the manual page, wondered if there was a tutorial, searched for it, and it sent me to the handbook) ..that's the installer I'm using.. but apparently zfs won't work for me? because it doesn't format the disk.. so I have to choose ufs instead, then, if I -actually- want zfs (hell if I know what I want), I have to re-do the whole thing with zfs.. Always more research to do. :)
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ok, so this is now beyond "basic". I have to research precisely how I want to partition my hard-drive. etc, etc. Again, not a problem, but not today.
 
Wait-a-Sec. I'm losing track of where you are in this process.

Have you confirmed that your SSD is recognized by the setup program (you may be referring to it as the "BIOS")? Try restarting the computer and keep hitting the F12 key over and over. When the boot menu is displayed the last option is probably "Enter Setup". Choose that and look through the setup screens for the SSD you think is installed. If it isn't displayed then you may not have it installed correctly (I have a Latitude E7470 and installed my new M.2 SSD upside down so Setup didn't show it; flipped it around and tried again - presto, the setup showed the SSD.)

Only after you are sure that Setup sees the SSD, proceed with the FreeBSD install. Definitely select the UEFI installation option. It starts up the computer 3x faster than the BIOS method. You do not need to manually format the SSD; the installation media will do that for you.

When the install is finish, one of the options that will be displayed is, "Shutdown" - choose that. After the shutdown, THEN pull out the installation media (probably a USB stick). Then restart the machine. With some luck it will default to booting from the EFI partition on the installed SSD. If it fails, restart the computer, hit F12 over and over to get to the boot menu and choose the obvious (U)EFI OS option. With some luck that will reset the startup options to automatically start FreeBSD from the SSD.

Come back and report your success.
 
Bucky said:
Wait-a-Sec. I'm losing track of where you are in this process.
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Where I am is considering a full retreat back to ubuntu, assuming I can install it on the machine, and using it as an additional backup. I was enthusiastic about learning bsd if I could, spreading the learning curve out over months, but that currently doesn't seem to be the case. If I decide to do this, I would come back again in a few months, fresh, and try again. Another factor is the only somewhat unfortunate fact that I can't seem to find a pdf version of the -current- handbook. Staring at screens.. can't do it for days at a time. My eyes are already killing me. If I could print the documentation, I could read through it properly, absorb it.

The immediate next thing I'm going to try is to re-do the install, this time selecting ufs instead of zfs, given that I have been informed that zfs does not actually format the hard-drive.

[..Better pause any further attempts to help, I'm not keeping up with the feedback as it is..]
 
mikethe1wheelnut said:
Where I am is considering a full retreat back to ubuntu, assuming I can install it on the machine, and using it as an additional backup. I was enthusiastic about learning bsd if I could, spreading the learning curve out over months, but that currently doesn't seem to be the case. If I decide to do this, I would come back again in a few months, fresh, and try again. Another factor is the only somewhat unfortunate fact that I can't seem to find a pdf version of the -current- handbook. Staring at screens.. can't do
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This is probably my last message in this thread. Seems that almost everything has been written by several people. Seems that the OP stubbornly wishes to use legacy boot for his fresh FreeBSD installation, however it is not clear if the motherboard (MB) has been set up accordingly.
It has also been said that the MB was able to boot Windows and Ubuntu before. Windows is using UEFI boot and GPT partitions. That explains why it worked with given set-up. This is probably the case with Ubuntu also.
At least two people have advised the OP to use UEFI boot or reconfigure the MB.
In this case FreeBSD is not to be blamed.
 
Argentum said:
This is probably my last message in this thread. Seems that almost everything has been written by several people. Seems that the OP stubbornly wishes to use legacy boot for his fresh FreeBSD installation, however it is not clear if the motherboard (MB) has been set up accordingly.
It has also been said that the MB was able to boot Windows and Ubuntu before. Windows is using UEFI boot and GPT partitions. That explains why it worked with given set-up. This is probably the case with Ubuntu also.
At least two people have advised the OP to use UEFI boot or reconfigure the MB.
In this case FreeBSD is not to be blamed.
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I can't quite figure out if my lack of need to get this done quickly is irritating people. Just now, I'm really not in any hurry. And I'm certainly not blaming FreeBSD for anything. How could I, I have little to no experience with it. I should also point out that even if windows was on this computer before, I only know that because I switched to ubuntu/bsd eventually, and what would I have switched -from-? This isn't a mac. I used solidworks quite a bit, so it must have been windows. It's been so long, I barely remember. Regardless, I definitely wasn't the person who put it on, so why should I know or care what it used? This post is first to suggest such a reason. I'll come back to this in due time. Chill people, chill! smell the roses! :) Maybe I haven't shown proper appreciation for the feedback? Thank-You!! :) I'm sorry I'm not as keen on UEFI as you'd like. I checked a single source, and it sounded scary. Just explain to me why it's actually the best thing since sliced bread and should be used by everybody and I shouldn't be afraid of it, and we can all walse ahead together into the sunset! And even if you don't, (you have no obligation to, that's up to me), then I'll happily do it if it becomes clear it really is necessary. :) Again, not in any hurry! :) I mean, sometimes I am, but just now, no. :) ..now, it occurs to me that my previous discouragement might be having an effect on this discussion. Discouragement is normal. But maybe this is an indication that such feelings shouldn't be shared? I'm sorry if they had a detrimental effect on people. Either something works, or it doesn't. If and when you need to take a break, you do so :)
 
mikethe1wheelnut said:
I'm sorry I'm not as keen on UEFI as you'd like. I checked a single source, and it sounded scary. Just explain to me why it's actually the best thing since sliced bread and should be used by everybody and I shouldn't be afraid of it, and we can all walse ahead together into the sunset! And even if you don't, (you have no obligation to, that's up to me), then I'll happily do it if it becomes clear it really is necessary.
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Not necessary but highly advised. I'd been avoiding UEFI because I erroneously thought it was somehow tied to the "trusted platform" stuff that MS is promoting. But I read about UEFI (more than one source) and discovered it is meant as a replacement for the long-in-tooth BIOS of yesteryear. My first venture into UEFI was just two months ago! I picked up a Latitude E7470 for a song and decided to make it a FreeBSD system with a desktop running on it (have been waylaid by another pressing project but will get back to it.)

The efficiency of the UEFI compared with BIOS was very surprising. I'll try to never go back to BIOS again.

Whether you choose the ufs or zfs file systems, they both set up the SSD with the file system structures they need (call that disk formatting if you want.) zfs is preferred by many because it offers a lot of options which ufs does not. ufs is a simpler file system.
 
There are many things that I need to address here. I'm going to try to address a few of them, despite how much my eyes are hurting.

UEFI. Obviously this is a big issue. One of my primary objectives with this whole project of switching operating systems yet again is to learn more about computers. This was never going to happen quickly. Well, I hoped the installation would go quickly except it didn't, for reasons that aren't yet clear, and probably never will be. But you expect the unexpected, which is why you dive in to find out what will happen. Now UEFI is solidly on my radar, and I can start to research it. Trusting or not trusting anybody really has very little to do with it. I get told that there is something new I need to know about. Great! I start researching it, seeing as that's my responsibility, not that of anybody else. I would do this even if my best friend told me I had to switch over. I'd want to know why, I'd be curious. Of course, I am going to find all kinds of people making all kinds of claims about it. That is our modern world of dissinformation. So it will take time to figure out. Curiosity is a fickle friend. If I had a deadline, if I had to have this computer up and running asap, I'd just follow orders as quick as possible, not ask any questions.

The history of this computer: I realize I made a mistake with that. The history I posted is the history of the plastic frame that contains the computer. Which is meaningless. Within the last 2 years, the usb slots got worn out and stopped working, and it seemed like the only solution was to replace the motherboard. The new one comes from parts-people, not sure if that is relevant. Now the hard-drive has also been replaced, so effectively, the old computer is completely gone. I'm pretty sure this new motherboard has only ever seen ubuntu. (and now ghost and freebsd).

The handbook in pdf format. I probably shouldn't have mentioned that. Excessive transparency. All it means is that it'll take me longer to read through. ..I'll get to other things later..
 
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