Can't decently install 24.14

[prutz0r]

I'm slowly going crazy here. I use a AOpen DE3450( J3455, 4gb RAM, 64gb SSD). Starting after the install it's just one big mess:

• Booting takes up to 8 minutes.
• Auto boot countdown doesn't run and work - no boot without user input
• Logging into the console is impossible. Doesn't matter if I use a custom password or the stock opnsense on after a new install. Also created a new user with sh as login shell and added to admin group but no result. Done 2 installs now just to be sure.
• Webinterface differs in speed between pages from "ok-ish" to not usable; no logs load. No boot log either, that I was hoping to find for trouble shooting. No access in console either as I mentioned...

A load of error messages at boot.

DHCPv4/DHCPd client exits at signal 6.

Error in start script 25-syslog
Fatal python error: init_interp_main: can't initialize time (might the cause be the absence of an active internet connection? WAN is not hooked up)
Following: OverflowError: timestamp too large to convert to C _PyTime_t

Error in early script 90-carp
Fatal python error: init_interp_main: can't initialize time (might the cause be the absence of an active internet connection? WAN is not hooked up)
Following: OverflowError: timestamp too large to convert to C _PyTime_t

And many more. All these errors, no access to console, 8 minute boot time and half functioning GUI (tried on a Windows machine and Linux, both with differing browsers) and therefor no access to logs makes me about to give up. I hope any of you guys have an idea of what's going on.

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Signal 6, random weird crashes - hardware problem. Either a defect of some sort or an incompatibility of your platform with the FreeBSD 13 kernel.

Things to try:

Reset BIOS settings to manufacturer defaults.
BIOS update available?
Power saving states - disable them all at first.
Run memtest.
Does some Linux distro run?
Does a stock FreeBSD 13.3 run?

HTH,
Patrick

[prutz0r]

Signal 6, random weird crashes - hardware problem. Either a defect of some sort or an incompatibility of your platform with the FreeBSD 13 kernel.

Things to try:

Reset BIOS settings to manufacturer defaults.
BIOS update available?
Power saving states - disable them all at first.
Run memtest.
Does some Linux distro run?
Does a stock FreeBSD 13.3 run?

HTH,
Patrick

Thanks for your input. I installed stock FreeBSD 13.3 and I can boot and login. It's booting alright. I'm not at all familiar with FreeBSD, somewhat with Linux and it's command line. Is there anything I can do at the command line of FreeBSD 13.3 (there is no GUI booting up) to test if there are any problems?

[cookiemonster]

problem could be storage or another hardware like memory.
Those errors and failure to login could suggest a broken installation, which in turn could be memory or storage.
You could try running ubench or stress (these are freebsd packages) but I find those tend to just max out the hardware to a crash, so without understanding what is happening, it could lead to misdiagnostics.
Run memtest from a usb stick first if you can.
Try to validate the storage. You could do that from this vanilla freebd.  Some heavy use of disk like large file transfers, etc.
Look for clues in dmesg.

[prutz0r]

problem could be storage or another hardware like memory.
Those errors and failure to login could suggest a broken installation, which in turn could be memory or storage.
You could try running ubench or stress (these are freebsd packages) but I find those tend to just max out the hardware to a crash, so without understanding what is happening, it could lead to misdiagnostics.
Run memtest from a usb stick first if you can.
Try to validate the storage. You could do that from this vanilla freebd.  Some heavy use of disk like large file transfers, etc.
Look for clues in dmesg.

Thanks a lot. Tonight I took a different route and if this doesn't work out I'll try yours.

• I did memtest - passed.
• Installed Lubuntu, worked without problems.
• Installed pfSense, no errors and boots quick enough. I also get into the shell main menu.

It must be said that before I ran the before mentioned, I changed 1 S4/S5 power option in the bios. Tommorow I will check how the pfSense web gui runs and if the devices routes without a problem. If so I'll give OpnSense another install and try and let you guys know how it works out. And if it still doesn't work I can try what you suggested.

[cookiemonster]

It would be useful if not done yet, to run the checksums on the downloaded files. It checks not only that the images haven't been tampered with (unlikely but all serious projects do it to protect their users), but also checks for a corrupted download. Only takes a few minutes.
Additionally this:

Logging into the console is impossible. Doesn't matter if I use a custom password or the stock opnsense on after a new install. Also created a new user with sh as login shell and added to admin group but no result. Done 2 installs now just to be sure.

What happens, do you get a login prompt?

[prutz0r]

It would be useful if not done yet, to run the checksums on the downloaded files. It checks not only that the images haven't been tampered with (unlikely but all serious projects do it to protect their users), but also checks for a corrupted download. Only takes a few minutes.

Thanks, good tip. Will do that.

Additionally this:
What happens, do you get a login prompt?

Yes I do. But I keep getting wrong username/password error.

[prutz0r]

It would be useful if not done yet, to run the checksums on the downloaded files. It checks not only that the images haven't been tampered with (unlikely but all serious projects do it to protect their users), but also checks for a corrupted download. Only takes a few minutes.
Additionally this:

Logging into the console is impossible. Doesn't matter if I use a custom password or the stock opnsense on after a new install. Also created a new user with sh as login shell and added to admin group but no result. Done 2 installs now just to be sure.

What happens, do you get a login prompt?

Checksums checks out Also, pfSense works flawlessly, also providing an internet connection. Next step: install OpnSense again and see what it does.

[prutz0r]

Ok, it's a complete mystery to me, but I have just reinstalled OPNsense. No errors at boot, no problems logging into local shell and GUI is responsive....later on I will try routing. Hope it works, then I got myself a 20 dollar J3455 OPNsense box. Realtek and not Intel but worth a shot for the money.

[prutz0r]

It worked but not 100% reliably. Sometimes connections just didn't work. So I'll be looking for different hardware. Thanks for your support all.