FreeBSD 5.1-RELEASE on IBM ThinkPad T30

[Kevin Oberman]

> Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 14:44:45 -0500
> From: stanislav shalunov <shalunov at internet2.edu>
> Sender: owner-freebsd-mobile at freebsd.org
> 
> I'm trying to install FreeBSD 5.1-RELEASE on a new IBM ThinkPad T30 type
> 2366-8AU with BIOS version 2.01 (1IET58WW) dated 2002-08-06 and embedded
> controller version 1.01.  I can boot from either boot.flp (burned onto
> a CD) or 5.1-RELEASE-i386-disc1.iso only if I issue the following two
> commands to the boot loader:
> 
> set hw.pci.allow_unsupported_io_range="1" 
> set hw.cbb.start_memory="0x20000000"
> 
> If I do not issue these commands, but simply let it start booting,
> the boot process freezes hard (the last message varies).
> 
> I could install FreeBSD on the hard disk (leaving Windows XP there as
> well on a 6GB partition in the beginning of the disk, just in case).
> When I boot the system, I see the usual prompt:
> 
> F1   ??
> F2   FreeBSD
> 
> Default: F1 
> 
> If, at this point, I press F1, Windows XP will successfully boot (and the
> default will be F1 next time).  Pressing F2 causes the machine to pause:
> the cursor continues to blink, control-alt-delete works, even F1 works,
> but the machine just sits there with a blinking cursor and does not
> even start to boot FreeBSD.  Should I reboot the machine while it is
> waiting like that, the default next boot cycles will be F2 (but again,
> no attempt to actually boot FreeBSD is seemingly made).
> 
> I've used the fixit CD to mount the root partition and change
> /boot/loader.conf to read:
> 
> hw.pci.allow_unsupported_io_range="1"
> hw.cbb.start_memory="0x20000000"
> 
> That didn't change anything.  Not that I had a lot of hope: I don't see
> any evidence the machine gets to read any of the boot config files...
> 
> Am I doing anything wrong?  Any hints?

To would appear that the issue is your boot block. It appears to be
unable to boot the FreeBSD partition/slice. The most likely cause is
that the partition begins at a cylinder beyond 1K. 

The default boot for FreeBSD uses a mechanism that is supported on all
PCs from i386 on, but is limited to booting no further than 1023
cylinders into the disk, regardless of its size. And "modern" system has
a BIOS which supports packet mode booting where there is no limitation
on the location of the boot partition on the disk. You can write a new
boot block that uses packet booting with the FIXIT disk.

Boot the FIXIT CD and start the live file system. Then write a new boot
block with the command:
boot0cfg -B -o packet ad0

Then bot the system normally.

Also, the value of the hw.cbb.start_memory may need to be increased if
you have a lot of memory on your system. If cardbus cards are not seen
with that value, try bumping it to 0x30000000.
-- 
R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer
Energy Sciences Network (ESnet)
Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)
E-mail: oberman at es.net			Phone: +1 510 486-8634