Solved Landing in BIOS again and again

P

pieside

Hi everybody,

I've just bought a new computer and successfully installed FreeBSD 10 on it. Now, I'm not able to start FreeBSD and I'm landing on BIOS again and again. On BIOS startup options, I have only one possibility to start from which is duplicated:

P1: WDC WD10EZEX-08M2NAO
P1: WDC WD10EZEX-08M2NAO

When chosen, each one of them restart the computer and launch me to the BIOS again. What do you think about that? Do you think is it a hardware issue?

Thank you for your reading.
 
Hi @pleside, would you be able to provide some more information?

  • How did you install FreeBSD 10.0? With a CD or USB disk perhaps?
  • Did you need to press a key or change the BIOS settings to start the FreeBSD installer?
  • Is FreeBSD the only operating system installed on the computer?
  • Have you checked BIOS options relating to UEFI (FreeBSD 10.0 requires "legacy" boot, possibly labelled something like "legacy option ROM", "Windows fast boot" must be off and "Secure boot" must also be off)?
  • What is your computer and BIOS version?
  • When you start the computer do you see any evidence of the FreeBSD boot loader starting?
  • Can you still boot to the installation media?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
pieside said:
I've just bought a new computer and successfully installed FreeBSD 10 on it. Now, I'm not able to start FreeBSD and I'm landing on BIOS again and again. On BIOS startup options, I have only one possibility to start from which is duplicated:

P1: WDC WD10EZEX-08M2NAO
P1: WDC WD10EZEX-08M2NAO

When chosen, each one of them restart the computer and launch me to the BIOS again. What do you think about that? Do you think is it a hardware issue?
Click to expand...
Try booting from the distribution media (CD, DVD,or USB memory stick) and seeing if you can mount the partitions on the hard drive (use the "fixit" installation option, or whatever the new installer calls it). If the partitions are all there and contain the expected things, your BIOS isn't seeing a partition table or boot block that it likes. If this is a modern system, it may want to see UEFI information on the disk. As an earlier reply mentions, we'll need more info on the problem to diagnose this further.
 
This looks like a modern UEFI boot selector. Make sure your UEFI is configured with CSM enabled and using legacy boot.
 
Thank you for the time you took (everybody) to answer me. Hereafter did I answer to your questions.


  • [*]How did you install FreeBSD 10.0? With a CD or USB disk perhaps?
    Click to expand...
    I did install FreeBSD 10.0 with a USB stick.

    [*]Did you need to press a key or change the BIOS settings to start the FreeBSD installer?
    Click to expand...
    Yes, I did need to change the BIOS settings to start from the USB stick.

    [*]Is FreeBSD the only operating system installed on the computer?
    Click to expand...
    Yes it is.

    [*]Have you checked BIOS options relating to UEFI (FreeBSD 10.0 requires "legacy" boot, possibly labelled something like "legacy option ROM", "Windows fast boot" must be off and "Secure boot" must also be off)?
    Click to expand...
    In the advanced mode -> Boot -> CSM, is there several options. First, CSM is enabled. Second, I've modified the 'Boot Device Control' option from 'UEFI and Legacy OPROM' to 'Legacy OPROM only'.
    In the Boot -> Secure Boot menu -> OS Type, I've modified the value from 'Windows UEFI mode' to 'Other OS'. I have no possibility to change the value of 'Secure Boot State' which is 'Enabled'.

    [*]What is your computer and BIOS version?
    Click to expand...
    The BIOS version is H87-Plus Asus, 0704. Do you need more information about the computer ?

    When you start the computer do you see any evidence of the FreeBSD boot loader starting?
    Click to expand...
    Absolutely not.

    Can you still boot to the installation media?
    Click to expand...
    Yes, I can but a change has to be made: USB initialization from 'Partial' to 'Full'.
 
It sounds like you have done all the right things in the BIOS to request a legacy boot rather than UEFI (I for one am looking forward to FreeBSD supporting UEFI).

I had a look at the Asus support page for the H87-Plus. For the latest BIOS version, 0806, the description is:
H87-PLUS BIOS 0806
Fixed some SATA devices could not boot up issue.
Click to expand...

Can you try updating your BIOS to that version to see whether your issue is resolved?
 
BIOS update done

The BIOS update was successfully done. I've reinstalled FreeBSD 10.0 but the issue is still the same. From my first post, there is change though. Now I have only and only one possibility to start from (there is no duplication).

Do you know why is it not possible to change the 'Secure Boot State' option from 'Enabled' to 'Disabled' ?
 
Hmmm... a disappointing result! Secure boot is only relevant for UEFI, so I suspect it doesn't matter that you can't change it when you're using legacy boot as it won't be used.

Do you have a hot-key you can press on start up to select a boot device? If so what happens when you select your hard disk? If you boot to the installation media and select "LiveCD", are you able to mount the devices containing the FreeBSD system you just installed? Have you tried manually reinstalling the boot loader with gpart(8)? I've assumed some familiarity with FreeBSD, @pieside, so do ask if you need more details on commands you need to answer those questions.
 
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Hi asteriskRoss, it's been a while that I'm not working under FreeBSD because of this problem. So I'm trying to install it again; hoping the UEFI problem would be solved. But this is the status quo for 6 months. This is what I've done today:

  1. I've updated the BIOS to the 2002 version;
  2. Disabled CSM and used legacy boot.
Here are the answers to your questions:

asteriskRoss said:
Do you have a hot-key you can press on start up to select a boot device? If so what happens when you select your hard disk?
Click to expand...

When I select the hard disk, the system restarts and I'm landing back to the BIOS.

asteriskRoss said:
If you boot to the installation media and select "LiveCD", are you able to mount the devices containing the FreeBSD system you just installed?
Click to expand...

I just can mount the system which is installed on the USB stick. I'm not able to mount the devices containing the FreeBSD system I've just installed.

Does anyone in this world have successfully installed FreeBSD on a computer with a H87-Plus Asus motherboard?
 
One more thing you could try that may work. Under Secure Boot, there is an option called Key Management. Click on that. In the next screen, click on Clear Secure Boot Keys. That may force disable Secure Boot. You might then be able to choose the CSM and/or Other OS again and have it work for booting FreeBSD. Please be advised that I don't own that motherboard and this is purely speculation based on quickly looking at the user manual (PDF) for that motherboard. I do not know if this will work and if it does, how it will affect booting Windows should you choose to do so in the future.
 
I'm glad you'll finally be able to use FreeBSD on your machine, pieside. I looked at the thread that wblock@ referenced. For the benefit of someone looking at this thread in the future, was your solution to reinstall with a MBR (rather than GPT) partitioning scheme or to change the active flag on the partition listed in the protective MBR? If the latter, does the active flag need to be set or not set?
 
I've chosen to set the active flag. I've done it after the installation, when the user is prompted to select between two options (Reboot or Live CD). I've selected Live CD, log in root and finally enter gpart set -a active ada0.
 
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Hello here, first posting...

I've bought myself an ASUS am1m-a (5350 kabini) for it's low power-consumption and the ECC support (not mentioned in manual) but it works with memtest86 pro.

Using a ZFS RAIDz1 solution (zfsguru - 10.1-stable) on a exactly the same config but GIGABYTE.

Because of my desire to run it on ECC memory I obtained the ASUS board but I have problems with legacy BIOS support. Already set/unset bootflag and also cleared the possible keys from UEFI BIOS.

No luck, ASUS just explained "we don't support Linux"... reading their main page "Asus advises windows".... so no BIOS update.

Looks like the GPT part is not recognized. Is the BSD-GPT less compatible or something? Anything i could try?

Set/unset bootflag maybe only works after install of OS?
 
Martijn007 said:
Set/unset bootflag maybe only works after install of OS?
Click to expand...
Hi,

I just had this problem with my install and here's how to resolve it.

1. Install FreeBSD as you would normally; take note of what device you're installing it to (e.g. ada0).
2. On the last screen, where you can choose to boot into LiveCD or reboot, boot into LiveCD.
3. At the terminal, do gpart set -a active [device] where [device] is whatever device you installed FreeBSD to.
4. reboot

That should be all you need to do; FreeBSD will start properly.

If you've already installed FreeBSD and are trying to resolve this issue, boot into Single User mode from your installation media (e.g. CD, DVD, memstick, whatever) and do steps 3 and 4 from above.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the info. I just tried it.

After the install as well in single user mode. It just does not work.

It is an ASUS issue it'm afraid.
On a different board with the same specs it does do the job perfectly.

So the legacy support is more compatible on that one. It only does not support ECC... which I would like to use for ZFS integrity.


Does someone have another trick?
 
Martijn007 said:
Thanks for the info. I just tried it.

After the install as well in single user mode. It just does not work.

It is an ASUS issue it'm afraid.
On a different board with the same specs it does do the job perfectly.

So the legacy support is more compatible on that one. It only does not support ECC... which I would like to use for ZFS integrity.


Does someone have another trick?
Click to expand...
Hi

First make sure your UEFI is updated to the latest version. ASUS uses a unified UEFI across their desktop product lines. Before installing FreeBSD, try entering the UEFI and reset to defaults by pressing F5, save, then restart. I don't own that motherboard so of course not tested.

Also as a side note, while the memory controller on most newer AMD CPUs support ECC registered/unregistered memory, most regular consumer motherboards do not including the one you have according to ASUS's spec sheet.

EDIT: Corrected post for bad information. ASUS uses a different unified UEFI for it's desktop motherboards and Notebook/Laptop lines.
 
Asus AM1M-A has ECC support mentioned but not directly on ASUS website. It's mentioned in downloadable manual for that motherboard. I've got same motherboard, bought it for routing. Sadly, FreeBSD becomes unstable once you enable powersaving features (system crashes instantly)
 
The above tip about GPART worked for my ASUS M31AD machine, but not my Lenovo H50. Glad it worked for at least one MOBO - I was getting a little concerned! Just cannot get it to install on the H50 except in legacy and MBR mode. But, it seems to be working well on the ASUS now - many, many thanks!
 
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