FreeBSD install hangs while copying data
 

I'm installing FreeBSD 5.3 on my old 486 machine (200mhz, 2GB HD, 64MB of RAM), and I came across a peculiar problem. After I get through the installation config, it begins to copy the files over. However, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way through it hangs while copying. Originally the install was via FTP so I grabbed the ISOs and tried to install from them instead, but I have the same problem.

Another strange point is that it doesn't always hang at the same part while copying....sometimes it gets almost halfway while other times it has barely even started copying. It seems to me like the HD can't keep up with the speed of the CD-ROM or the FTP server, and, rather than wait for it to finish copying the files the installation just stops.

Any ideas as to what might be causing this or how to fix it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Have you taken a peek at the debug screen (ALT-F2) to see what kind of messages, if any, it is giving?

Not yet, I'll take a look, but it's late here (CST) so I'll check tomorrow. Thanks!

I wasn't even able to get into the debug screen by pressing alt-f2. It seems as though it's copletely frozen and the only option is a hard reboot.

However, would I be able to take the hard disk out of the old machine, put it in a different one, install it using the other machine, then bring the hard disk back over (assumeing the problem is the machine)? Or would this change the instalation because the different hardware would cause differences in the install?

That is completely okay. The kernel detects the hardware in the machine at boot. It is possible it might leave something on that you need to turn off (acpi just won't work on one of my computers) but that would be something you noticed.

Hmm, that is an idea. Have you tried to boot the install without acpi?

I remember on this computer that it would work but when accessing disks or processing something it would generate timer errors so quickly that the machine would appear to hang horrible. I mean... it took around 10-15 minutes to see the response to a keystroke.

This was on older hardware so it might work for you. If not, then installing to the harddrive from another machine should work. Although it would be nice to know what is causing the problem so it doesn't still exist when the computer is running.

"Have you tried to boot the install without acpi?"

Yeah, I tried that, still had the same problem. :-\

I transfered the drive over to another one of my machines and ran the install on it, and it worked flawlessly. Not quite sure what went wrong on the other one, but the good news is I'll never have to install it from scratch on the "bad" pc again :)