I don't actually have any cookies, sorry. This is a problem I've had for a while and rather than describe it I thought it would be easier to record the problem. This happens only on boot of 9.0/9.1 and I imagine any further releases to come. This does not happen on 8.3 but for obvious reasons I want to move on. It happens only on this desktop, my other machines are 9.0. I tried the USB install via DD'd .IMG file and it booted perfectly and works like a charm but when you get to partitioning my SATA HDD does not exist, only my USB drive. When booting via DVD it says something about not being able to mount it.

I did notice that in the release notes for 9+ it says they improved SATA support which is ironic since that version happens to reject my SATA drive. Any help would be greatly appreciated. From what I've read up some people have said replacing their disc drive fixed the issue but how would that resolve the one about my SATA drive not being detected? I don't want to buy a new SATA drive. Linux distributions have been a breeze so if it really is my HDD with bad sectors and shit then why would it work at all for 8.3 and Linux distributions?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd2JwtjOohY

Seems like a specific problem with 9.x, Using OpenBSD I have come across so many random and unknown issues it's quite hard to label them all. So you are saying it can't mount the HDD when booting from dvd and it's not available when booting for usb?

It can't mount the installation media when using DVD and through USB the only issue I have is that the HDD does not exist when partitioning just the USB but other than that it works fine. I've got OpenBSD working fine on an ancient desktop dated somewhere between the 80's and 90's and I've ordered a usb to ethernet port since there is only the modem/dialup port. On the actual desktop I want FreeBSD running, yeah no progress yet.

(13-01-2013, 03:00 PM)NeoTerra Wrote: Try plugging your HDD and DVD drive into different SATA ports on your motherboard. It could also be that your motherboard isn't cooperating with FreeBSD. It's more likely a problem that there is something with FreeBSD install (they changed it from 8.3 -> 9), so you might want to make a thread on the FreeBSD forums and send in an email to their mailing list.

I know it's on their end because all Linux distro's work fine and any version before 9.0 works fine for FreeBSD and other BSD systems work fine. I installed OpenBSD on a vintage desktop and I think I'll probably do the same here. I have debian on it at the moment, I just have to figure out how to use fdisk to format one slice rather than use the entire disk because I intend to keep Windows there for my colleagues and family to use since they don't have a clue how to use BSD or Linux.