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Date:      Wed, 13 Dec 2006 10:12:03 -0800 (PST)
From:      Alex Toth <alex@purificator.net>
To:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   pxe jumpstart sysinstall doesn't see disk
Message-ID:  <262847.65339.qm@web54107.mail.yahoo.com>

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I'm setting up a pxe boot/jumpstart (using 6.1-RELEASE) and
sysinstall won't recognize the drive (SATA on a Dell 1425).

The pxe install starts off fine, up through the point where
sysinstall gets its DHCP information (per my custom install.cfg,
relevant portions copied below).  If I install off CD everything
works; sysinstall sees ad4 and can work its magic on it, but
using the *same* sysinstall (pulled from the CD image), the
*same* mfsroot (with the addition of the install.cfg), and
the *same* kernel, it doesn't work for the net install.

As I mentioned above, after getting an IP address via DHCP
sysinstall bombs with this message:
+----------------------------- Message -----------------------------+
|No disks found!  Please verify that your disk controller is being  |
|properly probed at boot time.  See the Hardware Guide on the       |
|Documentation menu for clues on diagnosing this type of problem.   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------(100%)--+

When I try to go through an interactive install at that
point I get the same message from any avenue that tries
to pull up disk partitioning.

At that point I drop to a shell where I can see /dev/ad4*, 
and can newfs /dev/ad4.  I start a second instance of
sysinstall which has the same problem, but creates a 
sysinstall.debug that says it sucessfully detected ad4.

I've read through the FreeBSD handbook's section on jumpstart,
Doug White's "quick and dirty" guide, and a few others
(including the rather old but very helpful
http://www.tnpi.biz/computing/freebsd/pxe-netboot.shtml).
Unfortunately, they all stop at sysinstall and assume
it works from then on.  At this point I'm short on 
troubleshooting ideas and would appreciate help --or
experience-- to get me back on track.

This is the end of the sysinstall.debug, including the
probe lines that find ad4:
DEBUG: deviceTry: Making raw device for /dev/cuad15 [28, 143]
DEBUG: deviceTry: final attempt for /mnt/dev/cuad15 returns -1
DEBUG: Found a disk device named ad4
DEBUG: Found a DOS partition ad4s2 on drive ad4
DEBUG: mkdir(/tmp/.doc)
DEBUG: mkdir(/tmp/.doc..)
DEBUG: Executing command `/usr/bin/gunzip < /stand/help/INSTALL.TXT >
/tmp/.doc/doc.tmp'
/usr/bin/gunzip: not found
DEBUG: Command `/usr/bin/gunzip < /stand/help/INSTALL.TXT >
/tmp/.doc/doc.tmp' returns status of 127
DEBUG: Executing command `/usr/bin/gunzip < /stand/help/INSTALL.TXT >
/tmp/.doc/doc.tmp'
/usr/bin/gunzip: not found
DEBUG: Command `/usr/bin/gunzip < /stand/help/INSTALL.TXT >
/tmp/.doc/doc.tmp' returns status of 127
DEBUG: Executing command `/usr/bin/gunzip < /stand/help/INSTALL.TXT >
/tmp/.doc/doc.tmp'
/usr/bin/gunzip: not found
DEBUG: Command `/usr/bin/gunzip < /stand/help/INSTALL.TXT >
/tmp/.doc/doc.tmp' returns status of 127
DEBUG: Executing command `rm -rf /tmp/.doc'
DEBUG: Command `rm -rf /tmp/.doc' returns status of 0


Here are the network and disk sections of my install.cfg.
Yes, I'm intentionally using the second interface (em1) and
on a Dell 1425 with a single SATA drive:  ad4.


################################
# Which installation device to use 
nfs=10.0.0.9:/tftpboot/FreeBSD
netDev=em1                             # N.B.  dell 1425 gig e
tryDHCP=YES
mediaSetNFS
################################

     * snip *

################################
# Now set the parameters for the partition editor on disk 0.  
disk=ad4                                # N.B.  dell 1425
partition=all
bootManager=standard
diskPartitionEditor
#diskPartitionWrite
################################

################################
# All sizes are expressed in 512 byte blocks!
#
# 2G /, 2G swap, 8G /var 8388608, /usr gets the rest
#
ad4s1-1=ufs 4194304 /
ad4s1-2=swap 4194304 none
ad4s1-3=ufs 16777216 /var
ad4s1-4=ufs 0 /usr
# Let's do it!
diskLabelEditor
#diskLabelCommit




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