Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 11:41:29 -0500 (EST) From: Joe Oliveiro <joe@advancewebhosting.com> To: Chris Shenton <cshenton@OutBounderInc.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: 4.2R install on HP Vectra won't boot: no bootmgr, cursor hangs Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0101161140510.1285-100000@joe.pythonvideo.com> In-Reply-To: <lf3dejo3xa.fsf@Samizdat.uucom.com>
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I know some BIOS's prevent programs from writing to the MBR. You might want to check your bios for some sort of virus protections and if it does hand it and is enabled disable it. Microsoft: "Where would you like to go to today" Linux: "Where would you like to go tomorrow" FreeBSD: "Hey,when are you guys going to catch up" On 16 Jan 2001, Chris Shenton wrote: > I've been installing and using FreeBSD since 2.2.x -- on a variety of > current and obsolete HW -- but this one has me puzzled. > > I installed FreeBSD 4.2-RELEASE onto an old HP Vectra (with Pentium > Classic P54c chip at 75MHz), 40MB RAM, 1GB IDE disk, onboard ether and > video. The install went smoothly. When it's done, it reboots, does > the ROM self-test, then the cursor just hangs at the top of the > screen. It never presents the boot manager. It can boot from floppy > fine. > > So I tried tedious variations on the install: > > - One FreeBSD partition in compatibility mode, with BootMgr > - One DOS and one FreeBSD partition (compatibility mode) with BootMgr > - One FreeBSD partition in "dangerously dedicated" mode (no compatibility) > - Installed 4.1-RELEASE (compatibility, bootmgr) > > I don't know enough about the low-level boot process but I'm guessing > something isn't writing the bootmgr to the drive? Or it's writing a > broken bootmgr? > > The box at one time used to run NT, with different disks. The disks I > salvaged for this had at one time in their previous lives had other > OSes on them. Before install, I tried booting off them to see what > they had: one showed bootmgr with DOS and FreeBSD selections (too > small a slice); the other showed it trying to boot Solaris-x86 (no > bootmgr). > > After all the FreeBSD install variations, I get *nothing* showing up > except the blinking cursor. So it seems the Vectra was able to read > the old MBR on the old disks but not the FreeBSD-installed one... or > maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. > > Clues welcomed. Thanks. > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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