[GhostDawg]

Hello SEO. I'm a fairly good linux user so I have good knowledge of these types of OSes. I currently have Slackware 8.0 & Debian 3.0 installed on this same HD, along with Win 98 & XP Pro.

I started messing around with booting Freebsd CD today and wanted to see how it will install.

On my 40gb HD, I would like to install Free on partition /dev/hda6, which is in an extended partition.

I didn't understand how to tell Freebsd Fdisk to use that empty partition.

Here is the specs for it:
/dev/hda6=7197088, start point= 932-1827...this is roughly over 7gb in size. This is how it looks using Linux fdisk.

How do I tell Free to use it during the fdisk install section?

I hope this makes sense!

Thnx.

[Kernel_Killer]

Whenever you get to installing it, it will show all your patitions (yes all of them). Just take /dev/hda7, and slice them up the way you like, as long as you have a "/" and a "/swap" part. It will automatically make it a UFS fs, and FreeBSD will install to it.

You are the one do the tri-boot, or was it the quad-boot, right? :D

[GhostDawg]

With Free, I see this: Size=6895 or something similar and I believe it say that is UNUSED. Compared to Linux, that don't seem like 7gb to me!

So, would that be the slice I would install Free into? It would be /dev/hda6.

Yes, I have a couple of versions of Linux installed also, but most of them I use a floppy disk to boot them. You saw that posted on LJR?

Also, will I have a choice of creating a floppy boot disk with Freebsd?

Thnx

[Kernel_Killer]

The "UNUSED" space is any space that isn't on a partition at all. Depending on how much RAM you have, make a SWAP partition first, of course like you would normally; with the UNUSED space, then create a partition to use the rest for "/" (or seperate partitions for seperate directories. However you want).

As for the floppy boot, I have no clue. I'm sure it's very possible, and very easy, but not something I know of. :P

[elmore]

Remember in the BSD family you make one partition, and in that partition you have slices. So I think that's what you've done but it's hard for me to tell exactly. Plus I don;t personally have a lot of experience multi-booting. Minion I know on the other hand has had lots of experience tri-bootling windows, linux and FBSD.

[Kernel_Killer]

Oops. Thanx for pointing that out Elmore.

Depending on how much RAM you have, make a SWAP partition first, of course like you would normally; with the UNUSED space, then create a partition to use the rest for "/" (or seperate partitions for seperate directories. However you want).

s/partitions/slices

Geez... Wth was I thinking. :P

[|MiNi0n|]

Minion I know on the other hand has had lots of experience tri-bootling windows, linux and FBSD.

Yes, but the Linux was a looooong time ago now. Now I boot OBSD, FBSD and Win2k. That being said... it's all the same.

FBSD will generally write a good MBR, one that will likely include all your other OS's. It does have trouble dealing with OBSD but I don't think you're running that are you? Oh... why exactly do you want a boot floppy? Curious.

Anyway, I'd recommend the following for all your multiboot needs, it works incredibly well and you get nice little graphics too :lol: :

http://gag.sourceforge.net/pics.html

[|MiNi0n|]

So, would that be the slice I would install Free into? It would be /dev/hda6.


/dev/hda6? Do you mean to refer to it as that conceptually? That's a Linux slice you're referring to? What I'm trying to get at is that whatever space you want to use for your FreeBSD install needs to be just empty/unformatted/unpartitioned space. You shouldn't expect to be able to install FSBD into a Linux slice such as hda6. If I'm guesssing correctly and that's what you did, simply remove that slice completely and FBSD will automagically pick up that unused area for it's own purposes during install.

[schotty]

Man this board has gone to the Dawgs ...

All right I'll drop the bad humor....


Anyway, as previously mentioned, BSD does something that you may not be used to with Windows and Linux. For example lets say you partition like I do - and have a Linux /, linux /home, linux /boot, linux swap, and some free space left over. Making a Partition table like this:

hda1 /boot
hda2 extended
hda3 swap
hda5 /
hda6 /home

with space still free somewhere.

Now you saved lets say 10GB for BSD. Now its time to boot to the BSD install media. When you setup the drive, you will be asked to create a partition. Do one partition per drive for now. So now we have another partition we created on the disk that is ~10GB.

Inside of that we create several "Slices." This is where the swap, the /, the /home, and whatever else you like creating can go. If this is for a server, I highly reccomend making a /var directory incase of the evil logs growing real fast becaus of some asshole hacker trying to get in. That sucks when you run out of disk space due to just logs (and maybe a shitload of source that you never cleaned up ...)

Then you should be able to go ahead withthe install. If you installed slackware, thats how OpenBSD and ESPECIALLY FreeBSD feels to me at least. I haven't touched NetBSD in YEARS, but IIRC its alot like the OpenBSD install.

Welcome over dude!

[GhostDawg]

Thnx again guys. I was using the linux partitioning scheme as an example. Let's say I want to install it in that slice(my partition 6).

But maybe I'm grasping a little better.

You saying I need to just delete that partition 6 and then boot the Free cd and it should pick up that empty space? I didn't think of that.

I'll have to try that because I'm about ready to drop Free till I read up on it some more.

Thnx.

woolf woolf @ schotty :P

[Kernel_Killer]

When you get to the part to making slices, it will only use UNUSED space which will be the space on hda6, unless it already has a partition on it. If it doesn't have anything on it, or anything you don't want just delete the partition, and then it will become UNUSED space. If you delete a part on accident, no worries, you can tell the partition tool not to save the changes upon quiting.

Go ahead and jump in. Read as you go. What is the worst that could really happen?

[schotty]

so howd it go?

[Kernel_Killer]

GhostDawg. I still think you should go ahead and install, and read as you go, rather than read b4 install. As long as you install on that unused space nothing will be effected.

[schotty]

KK is right. I kinda just dove into BSD myself. It wasnt that rough. Then again, it is really handy to have an extra computer to load up the internet on ;D That way you can pull up installation guides and so forth, and search for any quirks you may run into.

[Kernel_Killer]

Head first baby!! Hit every rock on the way down!!! Sooner or later you'll land on your ass. :D

[v902]

Head first baby!! Hit every rock on the way down!!! Sooner or later you'll land on your ass. :D

:lol: Gotta save that one =)

[GhostDawg]

I thought this thread was dead by now...Ya'll want me to go for it? Hmmm, well I've installed Rootlinux in that spot now and I did have LRs-Linux on another partition, so I dumped that and put Knoppix on.

Since you nice folks are encouraging me on, I think I will try it this comming week. I work Sat, Sun, & Mon nights, and will be off the rest of the week...I'm gonna go for it! :P

[elmore]

Go for it d00d, it is a reccomendation you won't s00n forget. Remember we're here for you every step of the way should you need us.

Don't look back, never look back...

[Kernel_Killer]

*Kernel_Killer looks back

Wh00ps. Well, all looks good behind me. Just a little dust on my arse from the fall. :P

Yeah man! We are here! We will help all we can every step of the way! So Teuesday night? :D

You have more than enough Linux. Time for some BSD. :wink: