Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 17:07:09 -0400 From: Barry Kirchgessner <barrykk@home.com> To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Newbie can't get past "boot:" prompt on new machine Message-ID: <3B101AFD.F3671AA1@home.com>
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I have received a reply that points out that the NIC I'm using, the DFE-530TX+, is not currently supported. It is listed as supported on the OpenBSD compatibility list, as is my SCSI card and Promise Ultra100 controller. So I will give that OS a shot; though, while I'm waiting for their CD I'll try to install Linux on this machine, as I have to get some housekeeping done -- the machine I'm using to write this is failing and I want to get its data onto the new machine ASAP. Sorry for any efforts expended in puzzling over my problem, but I've now decided (after several more attempts and getting the news about the NIC) to put off trying to install FreeBSD until all my hardware is fully supported. (I thought I had done that, but apparently confused myself over the various compatibility lists I had been investigating. And the DFE-530TX *is* mentioned on the latest FreeBSD list -- I missed that the "+" was missing.) Again, thank you for any efforts; I'll likely be back -- skimming through the mailing list I see a much better speed and thoroughness of support than is generally available with commercial OSs. And I'm not even seeing any private responses (such as I received) to the various questions. --Barry > If anyone could help here, I would appreciate it. > > I purchased the shrink-wrapped FreeBSD 4.0 book/CDs a few months back, > and am now trying to install it. I will give such info on my problem as > I believe might be relevant, but I can't type everything here, so let me > know what more might be needed. > > After being told by the Installation program that everything is a > success, I exit, remove the CD, and the system goes to a point where I > get a "No /boot/loader" message and a "boot:" prompt. Nothing I type > there works, most things return a "No " in front of what I typed echoed > back. The default offered by the system is: "0:ad(0,a)/kernel", and > typing that again returns "No /kernel". I typed everything that looked > potentially useful in the "boot" man page. > > I have tried to reinstall several times. Once I got "Missing Operating > System", and discovered that FreeBSD was ignoring the info in the MB > BIOS. So I straightened out the Geometry (it really should tell you what > it's doing there, instead of relying on you to hit "G" and check for > yourself), but I get a system again that goes to the "boot:" prompt and > no further. > > The hardware configuration starts with 8 conflicts. My NIC and SCSI card > are not there by name, so I remove all listed cards from the top of the > screen. (Nothing's connected to the SCSI now; in a few days there will > be HD inside and a tape drive and scanner externally connected.) > > Hardware: > The motherboard is the Tyan S1598 Trinity 100; carries an AMD K6-2 500 > chip > The SCSI card is a Kouwell 9100U with an Initio INIC-940P chip (again, > presently not connected to anything) > The NIC is a D-Link DFE-530TX+ > (its chip is labeled DL10038 though elsewhere it is described as > being > the Realtec RTL8139B [http://www.scyld.com/network/ethercard.html]) > An Intel i740 AGP video board > No sound board > IBM UltraStar 4.56GB SCSI hard drive, model 9ES DDRS-34560 (not yet > attached) > IBM DeskStar 46.11GB EIDE UltraATA/100 hard drive, model 75GXP > DTLA-307045 > IBM DeskStar 34.21GB EIDE UltraATA/66 hard drive, model 34GXP > DPTA-373420 > ACER 16X x 40X ATAPI DVD driver > ACER 10X x 4X x 32X ATAPI CD-rewriter drive > Mitsumi 1.44 floppy > > I'm waiting on an adapter to run the 68-pin SCSI drive on a 50 pin > cable, and I'm impatient to get the box working, even if it means > installing from scratch again in a week. > > In the hardware configuration screen I had 8 conflicts. After removing > all SCSI and NIC entries from the top of the screen, I had none left. I > also removed the "PC-card controller" from the Miscellaneous category. > > I have installed several times. I tried "dangerously dedicated" first: > this machine is to be an always-on file and print (and scan and backup) > server, and I do not want more than one OS on it. But I have also tried > with the standard MBR and a free slice where a boot manager could go. > > I set 2 partitions on drive 0, "/"(120MB) and "/usr" (all the rest). on > drive 1 is a swap partition and a file system I'm calling "/CDs", for > now. > > I selected ALL packages for installation at the first screen that asks > about what to install (/bin & so on). I have selected from the later, > optional packages (offered after X11 configuration) some times, but as > this ain't working I've skipped that part in later tries. > > At first I tried to fathom the "leaf-node" and NFS questions, but on > later tries, I've just selected "No" for most of these. (I'm just > learning what "recompile the kernel" and "file system" mean, so it's a > bit disconcerting to be asked questions at this stage of installation > phrased in a highly technical fashion, and without the promised "F1" > help.) > > Anyway, I'm new to Unix (I have, however, installed Linux on a laptop > with success), though I have some DOS, Windows, and OS/2 experience. So > I'm not sure if this boot prompt is to be got past by typing something > at it (I doubt it, the texts lead me to believe I should be getting to a > login prompt automatically, the bootstrapper appears to be not finding > something it needs -- program called "loader"?), or if I should hit the > 'ol "any" key while booting from the CD, get to the command line and do > something -- but what? > > The BIOS is set to boot from CD-ROM, C, A. > The IDE drives are all attached to the motherboard, hard drives on > primary, CD-ROMs on secondary. A Promise ATA100 PCI board might be added > later, but the hardware that's not working is enough for now. :) > > Any ideas? > > Thanks in advance; sorry for the long post, but I hope to avoid an extra > round of diagnostic questions if I can. > > --Barry To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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