FreeBSD 10.1 PPC64 on XServe G5 hangs at Openfirmware Loader [likely an example of a long standing problem]

[Mark Millard]

I've included a reminder (a past exchange) that makes this report sounds like a long standing problem with powerpc64 10.x-STABLE .iso's burned to CDs for PowerMac G5's.

As I remember 10.0-RELEASE's .iso worked and is eventually how I bootstrapped. 10.1-RELEASE did not work when I tried it. (See https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-ppc/2014-November/007328.html .)

I've never had 10.x-STABLE .iso's work in a PowerMac G5. (I've no XServe access, just access to some desktop PowerMac G5's.) My tries do not go all the way back to the first 10.0-STABLE .iso, however. As I remember I started trying in 2014-Apr or so. Eventually I stopped checking each new 10.0-STABLE but did check some as time went on.


From: Nathan Whitehorn <nwhitehorn at freebsd.org>
Subject: Re: Running FreeBSD-ppc/ppc64 on emulators? [.iso based CD boot problems exist for PowerMac G5's too]
Date: July 26, 2014 at 11:40:28 PM PDT
To: Mark Millard <markmi at dsl-only.net>, freebsd-ppc at freebsd.org

Interesting. It seems loader is broken. I just tried with a 10.0-STABLE image and can reproduce the problem -- 11 oddly is OK. What really perplexes me is that the powerpc and powerpc64 loaders are identical, since loader is built 32-bit in either case. Super weird. I'll try to get it fixed. Thanks for the problem report and reminder!
-Nathan

On 07/26/14 23:33, Mark Millard wrote:

To make clear about the "/" in the line:

and stops while displaying "/" from its progress indicator. The fans then gradually spin up.

This "progress indicator" is the repeating sequence -, \, |, /. It always stopped with / as I remember. But I've no clue for if that is from the repeating sequence or is the leading / from /boot/kernel/kernel. At this point I'm limited to reporting just the visual result, not the internal stage it is tied to.

===
Mark Millard
markmi at dsl-only.net

On Jul 26, 2014, at 7:53 PM, Mark Millard <markmi at dsl-only.net> wrote:
First I quote what I wrote about when the hangups occur on the G5's (combining quotes from the two messages so the overall notes are easier to understand):

For a C-key style boot it hangs shortly after displaying

loading /boot/defaults/loader.conf

and stops while displaying "/" from its progress indicator. The fans then gradually spin up.

In other words: It hangs just before it would normally display the line that includes the text: /boot/kernel/kernel

The original messages were:

http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-ppc/2014-June/007029.html
and
http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-ppc/2014-June/007056.html

Even the /b prefix from /boot/kernel/kernel did not show up even though /boot/defaults/loader.conf did show up just fine.



As for trying 11-CURRENT: I've not tried 11-CURRENT for anything yet. And, unfortunately, I'm now away from the PowerMacs for weeks so I will not be doing new experiments for several weeks. I can try once I get back.

All the 9.2/9.3-STABLE's that I tried worked. And 10.0-RELELASE worked. Any 10.0-STABLE from before about Apr-27 I've never tried: Late April is about when I started the experiments with PowerMacs.

Also: I had no troubles with 10.0-STABLE for powerpc on PowerMacs. PowerPC64 on PowerMac G5's is where I had problems. (I do not have other kinds of PowerPC equipment available.)



===
Mark Millard
markmi at dsl-only.net

On Jul 26, 2014, at 2:23 PM, Mark Millard <markmi at dsl-only.net> wrote:
This boot issue from .iso's (burned to CDs) is not specific to emulation (assuming it is the same problem in both places).

I'm afraid that it sounds like PowerMac G5's hang the same way/place whenever I've tried a fairly modern PowerPC64 10.0-STABLE .iso burned to a CD. I was able to boot 10.0-RELEASE's .iso burned to a CD. I've not tried emulation.

Having an initial FreeBSD running I tend to use the MANIFEST and .txz files with "bsdinstall auto" to make new from-scratch (not buildworld/buildkernel) installations when I want such.

My notes on the G5 boot issue for the .iso's burned to CD's were reported in: (I'm not near the PowerMacs, unfortunately)

FreeBSD 10-STABLE powerpc64 r266807 CD PowerMac7, 2 (and 7, 11) boot hangs very early in the process

Has anyone booted a G5 PowerMac from a recent 10.0-STABLE .iso burned to CD? A multi-processor one?

===
Mark Millard
markmi at dsl-only.net





===
Mark Millard
markmi at dsl-only.net