'Page Fault' error when installing freebsd

I am new to bsd, have been running RH linux for a few months. Anyways, I go through a normal installation of freebsd...get rid of conflicts, install...but after it creates the filesystem (which it confirms), I get

syncing 1111111111...giving up
it says panic: page fault error: reboot in 15sec.

When I reboot without the installation cd, it says:

>>FreeBSD/i386 BOOT
Default: 0:ad(0,a)kernel
boot:

a '-v' yields "No /kernel"

I have no clue what to do here...but I am pretty sure I screwed something up while installing because I never got to the extended config menu (interfaces etc)

Any help, even a little would be appreciated,
Thanks
Kevin

>> after it creates the filesystem (which it confirms)

Show us the exact unedited confirmation and the exact stage.

Here is the exact ( as far as I know ) text:


All filesystem written successfully //delays for about 20 seconds
//when it still says 'all files...' at the bottom, this message pops up:

Emergency: starting holographic shell vty4
//this just blinks for about a second so I may have missed something

Panic page fualt
//it says this right under 'all filesystem...'

Syncing 1111111111111111111
giving up on 1 buffers
automatic reboot in 15 seconds

//**

Someone at school said that two devices may be conflicting and to change the bios. He said that it would probably be two pci devices, but in the kernel configure window, all devices have their own port so I don't know what else I can do.

In my other pc, I can get to the bios with 'del' but I don't know how to do it with this computer ( any clues? ).

Also, I am running an old compaq with 166mhz, 32ram, 2.5gb

Help is again appreciated
Kevin

>> All filesystem written successfully

That indeed confirmed and next step is to extract the packages from whatever install media type you selected (from CD in your case). This is the initial stage for installer to read your CD.

So how did you start your installation initially? Boot from CD or the two floppies?

There are quite a few possibilities but I need more details from you. For now a wild guess could be your incorrect motherboard CMOS setup. Usually about the speed mode incorrectly set to UDMA.

I started the installation from cd. I have read the documentation online and in my book for installing. Everything is quite logical to me, and in the documentation I have read, it shows that after you confirm 'Are you sure you want to ...we can take no responsibility', it starts creating the filesystem. In my book (the one that comes with freebsd if you buy the actual package), it says that after this happens you should be able to reboot and start configuring everything but you should be prompted for a login and interface parameters which I have not.

Also, if the CMOS on my motherboard is incorrect, is there any way I could change it?

Thanks a lot,
Kevin

>> after this happens you should be able to reboot

Not quite. After creating the filesystem (which was successful in your case) the installer will need to extract packages to the filesystem in order to really claim successful, and in the 2nd stage.

>> if the CMOS on my motherboard is incorrect.....

Yes just press Delete or F1 and change the setting accordingly. What should be the correct values is up to you to find out. Normally, it's suggested that you disable everything you don't use. For example, when using PS2 mouse/keyboard and DSL, there's no reason to enable any Serial Port at all. No printer, just disable LPT port as well. This step is just essential no matter it's for win98 or linux. Of course, when it comes to FreeBSD it's very sensitive to your hardware setting.

Anyway, try to select FTP install and see if it makes any difference, then move on and troubleshoot your CMOS.
For FTP install, of course, you can boot the installer from two floppies or even from your CD, it's just a matter of the source of the packages the installer retrieves from.

Hopefully freebsd's suggestions will help you fix your problems. If all else fails, try replacing your memory stick. I recall a while ago, I had a similar problem, I was using some noname/el cheapo memory.

As soon as I replaced it with some decent RAM, all the problems vanished. It could also be your motherboard/chipset and/or your hard drive (as freebsd suggested), you prolly need to try like optimal or fail safe settings on your BIOS if the ftp install still fails.

Good Luck!