freebsd stable - Mar 2021 - FreeBSD-13.0-RC1-amd64-disc1.iso unbootable on memstick

Hi.

Are you shure you're using *.memstick.img?

*.iso are for optical drives.
If your memstick can perfectly (or at least enough for CD loader and
kernel) mimic optical drive, maybe with help by firmware, it would be
able to boot.

Otherwise, you should write FreeBSD-13.0-RC1-*-memstick.img with
dd. If you are using enough-sized memstick and amd64 arch PC,
FreeBSD-13.0-RC1-amd64-mrmstick.img should be preferred.

Note that if you downloaded smaller xz compressed image, you shoule
decompress it before writing.

If you are using *-memstick.img, something should need fixed.


On Sun, 7 Mar 2021 01:06:14 -0800 (PST)
"Rodney W. Grimes" <freebsd at gndrsh.dnsmgr.net> wrote:
> Glen,
> 	Things get worse... I could at least boot the BETA4 .iso when
> I wrote it to a memstick.  I can NOT boot the RC1.  I have checked
> the sha512 of my image, wrote it twice, same results, I get:
> 
> CD Loader 1.2
> 
> Bulding the boot loader arguments
> Looking up /BOOT/LOADER... File not found
> Looking up /boot/loader... File not found
> Boot failed
> 
> I have tried 2 different systems, all known to have booted and
> installed many many many FreeBSD's from prior .iso written to
> memstick.
> 
> Regards,
> -- 
> Rod Grimes                                                 rgrimes at
freebsd.org
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd-stable at freebsd.org mailing list
> https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-stable-unsubscribe at
freebsd.org"

-- 
Tomoaki AOKI    <junchoon at dec.sakura.ne.jp>

> Hi.
> 
> Are you shure you're using *.memstick.img?
I am shure I am NOT using memstick, as the subject says
I am using:
	FreeBSD-13.0-RC1-amd64-disc1.iso

> *.iso are for optical drives.
Ah, not since 12.0, these are now "hybrid" type images that
are designed to be written to either a dvd or memstick.
> If your memstick can perfectly (or at least enough for CD loader and
> kernel) mimic optical drive, maybe with help by firmware, it would be
> able to boot.
> 
> Otherwise, you should write FreeBSD-13.0-RC1-*-memstick.img with
> dd. If you are using enough-sized memstick and amd64 arch PC,
> FreeBSD-13.0-RC1-amd64-mrmstick.img should be preferred.
> 
> Note that if you downloaded smaller xz compressed image, you shoule
> decompress it before writing.
> 
> If you are using *-memstick.img, something should need fixed.
I have tested the memstick image it works fine.

I have also done further investigation and this appears to be
a Legacy/bios vs EFI mode issue.  All legacy only machines
fail to boot with the above error, all dual mode machines
must be forced into either EFI only, or dual mode/EFI first
inorder to boot these images.  EFI only machines boot fine.

Is what it looks like is we have lost the ability to boot
the .iso images in bios mode from a memory stick.  I have
NOT done any testing on dvd media.

Further note all of this works fine upto and including BETA4
on all my legacy bios machines, though I do see another
environment that fails at BETA4 and continues to, but that
is rather special, called ventoy:
	https://www.ventoy.net/
that environment is probably looking very much like a
legacy BIOS system as to the way I have my ventoy setup.

> On Sun, 7 Mar 2021 01:06:14 -0800 (PST)
> "Rodney W. Grimes" <freebsd at gndrsh.dnsmgr.net> wrote:
> 
> > Glen,
> > 	Things get worse... I could at least boot the BETA4 .iso when
> > I wrote it to a memstick.  I can NOT boot the RC1.  I have checked
> > the sha512 of my image, wrote it twice, same results, I get:
I have now had Michael Dexter duplicate my findings, if he
sets his machines to either legacy first, or legacy only
he gets the same boot failures that I do when using the
	FreeBSD-13.0-RC1-amd64-disc1.iso
image.
> > 
> > CD Loader 1.2
> > 
> > Bulding the boot loader arguments
> > Looking up /BOOT/LOADER... File not found
> > Looking up /boot/loader... File not found
> > Boot failed
> > 
> > I have tried 2 different systems, all known to have booted and
> > installed many many many FreeBSD's from prior .iso written to
> > memstick.
Now expanded to 4 systems, 2 of which can do dual mode Legacy/EFI.
> > 
> > Regards,
> > -- 
> > Rod Grimes                                                 rgrimes at
freebsd.org
> > _______________________________________________
> > freebsd-stable at freebsd.org mailing list
> > https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable
> > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-stable-unsubscribe at
freebsd.org"
> 
> 
> -- 
> Tomoaki AOKI    <junchoon at dec.sakura.ne.jp>
> 
-- 
Rod Grimes                                                 rgrimes at
freebsd.org