FreeBSD on a DockStar - doesn't mount root

[Torfinn Ingolfsen]

Hello, 

On Sun, 06 Feb 2011 23:31:01 +0100
Hans Petter Selasky <hselasky at c2i.net> wrote:

> On Sunday 06 February 2011 23:17:20 Torfinn Ingolfsen wrote:
> > On Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:55:37 +0100
> > 
> > Milan Obuch <freebsd-arm at dino.sk> wrote:
> > > Did you try typing several dots to test whether some more time to mount
> > > root device helps? I would try it, sometimes it helps... Just some more
> > > time for background tasks (one dot means one second, It I am not
> > > mistaken).
> > 
> > I'm not really sure how it is suposed to be, I tried
> > .....ufs:/dev/ufs/kirkwoodroot
> > 
> > and that didn't have any effect.
> 
> Maybe you need to set the scsi delay sysctl, to give the drive more time to 
> probe. Search the mailing lists :-)

Thanks to Milan I now know how to perform the "dot trick" - thanks! :-)
It seems to my mountroot prompt is a bit different, it doesn't mention
'.' as a "command" for the prompt, and it says it is trying to mount
from it:
mountroot> ?

List of GEOM managed disk devices:
  
Loader variables:
vfs.root.mountfrom=
vfs.root.mountfrom.options=

Manual root filesystem specification:
  <fstype>:<device>  Mount <device> using filesystem <fstype>
                       eg. ufs:/dev/da0s1a
                       eg. cd9660:/dev/acd0
                       This is equivalent to: mount -t cd9660 /dev/acd0 /

  ?                  List valid disk boot devices
  <empty line>       Abort manual input

mountroot> .
Trying to mount root from .
Loader variables:
vfs.root.mountfrom=
vfs.root.mountfrom.options=

Manual root filesystem specification:
  <fstype>:<device>  Mount <device> using filesystem <fstype>
                       eg. ufs:/dev/da0s1a
                       eg. cd9660:/dev/acd0
                       This is equivalent to: mount -t cd9660 /dev/acd0 /

  ?                  List valid disk boot devices
  <empty line>       Abort manual input

mountroot> ?

List of GEOM managed disk devices:
  
Loader variables:
vfs.root.mountfrom=
vfs.root.mountfrom.options=

Manual root filesystem specification:
  <fstype>:<device>  Mount <device> using filesystem <fstype>
                       eg. ufs:/dev/da0s1a
                       eg. cd9660:/dev/acd0
                       This is equivalent to: mount -t cd9660 /dev/acd0 /

  ?                  List valid disk boot devices
  <empty line>       Abort manual input

mountroot>
Unfortunately, it doesn't help. I have tried waiting ten minutes -
still no devices to boot from.

So it seems like this isn't a "delay" type problem.
-- 
Torfinn