Kernel Panic on install (new setup) - "Panic: BIOS smap did not include a basemem segment!"

[the_freenas_noob]

Hi Everyone,

I'm brand new to FreeNAS, attempting my first build.

I've configured my hardware as follows:

Gigabyte EQ45M-S2 MoBo
2x 1TB 3.5" HDDs
4x 1TB 2.5" HDDs
ServeRaid m1015 Card (LSI chip)
4GB RAM
16GB USB stick
onboard gig-e NIC & VGA

Due to the way my hardware is set up, I have 4 drives connected to the motherboard's SATA ports and 2 connected to the SAS port 0 on the m1015. The BIOS only gives me the option of setting the ports to AHCI or RAID, but I have enabled native IDE on ports 0-3 (where the HDDs are connected). I also tried without setting the native IDE option, and still got the problem below.

Essentially the system seems to start booting OK, but then very briefly shows the setup screen (with the FREENAS text and options 1-5). I almost immediately goes into a kernel panic, with the following message:

Code:

Booting...
KDB: debugger backends: ddb
KDB: current debugger: dds
panic: BIOS smap did not include a basemem segment!
cpuid = 0
KDB: stack backtrace:
[NOT TYPED DUE TO COMPLEXITY]
KDB: enter: panic

And it gives me a

Code:

db>

prompt.

I've found very little Googling this error, so I would really appreciate a steer on how to move forward.

Thanks!

 

[Jason Hamilton]

Just a heads up its recommended that you have at least 8GB of ECC Ram. That could be the starting point for your troubleshooting.

 

[the_freenas_noob]

Is

Just a heads up its recommended that you have at least 8GB of ECC Ram. That could be the starting point for your troubleshooting.

The docs suggested 4GB minimum, 8GB recommended; I'd really like to avoid purchasing more RAM until I know that's the problem... it would be a real issue if I bought 8GB of DDR2 (since this is an older MoBo) and then found that the board is the problem and I couldn't use it!

Could having 4GB of RAM rather that 8 cause a kernel panic?

 

[HoneyBadger]

Hi,

Please check the FreeNAS version in the docs you're referring to - the official ones on docs.freenas.org state for 9.2.1:

If you don't have at least 8GB of RAM with ZFS or 2GB of RAM with UFS, you should consider getting more powerful hardware before using FreeNAS® to store your data. Otherwise, data loss may result.

This could be causing your panic, but at this early of a stage I think you're more likely in need of a BIOS update and/or clearing the settings. It sounds like it's missing something that the BSD kernel is expecting. My second guess is that there's a bad hardware component - can you run memtest86 or similar to check that?

Re: your SATA ports, you want them all to be AHCI - no RAID, no IDE emulation mode.

 

[the_freenas_noob]

I've done some checking, and memtest86 isn't finding any errors.

It appears that I'm using the latest version of my BIOS, but it seems that this update is from 2009 (as I said, this is an older MoBo). Doing some more digging, I've found only a couple of references to this error in FreeBSD forums - they all appear to be related to the basemem variable being passed as 0.

It appears that this code causes the panic if the basemem is 0, and checking on the system (I can still use the boot options menus), it does indeed appear that my basemem is showing as "00000000000".

Is there any way to set this variable?

Thanks!

 

[HoneyBadger]

Don't know about that directly. I did a little digging and probably found the same links as you did - the way it was patched around there at the BSD forums was to just modify the source to say "if basemem=0, assume 640K" - no feedback on if that worked or had horrible ramifications down the line.

I know this is your first build, but that's a pretty old board with no ECC support and probably a Realtek NIC onboard. Any way you could pick up something a little newer (even a Xeon setup from the same era) to cut your teeth on?

 

[the_freenas_noob]

I bit the bullet and invested in a new MoBo - no issues since. Thanks for your help.