FreeBSD i386 正常開機會顯示大量核心偵測資訊，最後進入登入提示。可用 Scroll Lock + PgUp/PgDn 翻閱，或事後輸入 dmesg 查看。以下為典型開機訊息範例（略去版本資訊）：

Copyright (c) 1992-2002 The FreeBSD Project...
CPU: AMD-K6(tm) 3D processor (300.68-MHz 586-class CPU)
...
real memory = 268435456 (262144K bytes)
avail memory = 256311296 (250304K bytes)
...
pcib0:  on motherboard
pci0:  on pcib0
...
ed0:  ...
ad0: 8063MB  at ata0-master using UDMA33
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Mounting root from ufs:/dev/ad0s1a
swapon: adding /dev/ad0s1b as swap device
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/dev/ad0s1a: FILESYSTEM CLEAN; SKIPPING CHECKS
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Starting final network daemons:
creating ssh RSA host key...
creating ssh DSA host key...
setting ELF ldconfig path...
starting standard daemons: inetd cron sshd usbd sendmail.
...
FreeBSD/i386 (k6-2.example.com) (ttyv0) login:

首次開機產生 RSA/DSA 金鑰較慢，後續開機較快。若 X 已設定，登入後輸入 startx 即可進入圖形環境。