diff options
author | jkh <jkh@FreeBSD.org> | 1997-03-08 12:58:29 +0000 |
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committer | jkh <jkh@FreeBSD.org> | 1997-03-08 12:58:29 +0000 |
commit | e45d393547db1869e5f26eeceb0cc4d40799a228 (patch) | |
tree | 747373731a471f4151d62e986c28dba2839b2dff /usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/drives.hlp | |
parent | 61ad3a8aa45432ff52ebb990a881de6cdaa49c1f (diff) | |
download | FreeBSD-src-e45d393547db1869e5f26eeceb0cc4d40799a228.zip FreeBSD-src-e45d393547db1869e5f26eeceb0cc4d40799a228.tar.gz |
YAMF22
Diffstat (limited to 'usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/drives.hlp')
-rw-r--r-- | usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/drives.hlp | 77 |
1 files changed, 70 insertions, 7 deletions
diff --git a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/drives.hlp b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/drives.hlp index 27e2e75..946a1b2 100644 --- a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/drives.hlp +++ b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/drives.hlp @@ -1,10 +1,49 @@ +Boot Manager Selection: +----------------------- + +If you wish to switch between multiple operating systems on your +machine, or if you are trying to install FreeBSD on a drive other than +your 1st drive, then you must install a boot manager. In the case +where you wish to boot off an alternate drive, it should also be noted +that you still need to install a boot manager on the FIRST drive! +Even if you do not intend to create a FreeBSD partition on that drive +(e.g. it's being wholly used by something else), the boot manager +still needs to reside on the first disk in order to function as a +"redirector" for the boot process. + +To do this, simply select your 1st drive in the drive selection menu +and when the partition editor comes up, don't make any changes - just +(Q)uit. At the boot manager menu which follows, select the first +option (install a boot manager) and then proceed to setup the other +drive(s) for FreeBSD as normal. + +It should also be noted that "operating systems" such as Windows 95 +will completely overwrite your boot manager without so much as a +polite "may I please destroy your boot manager?" prompt if you make +the mistake of installing them second. If this happens to you after +FreeBSD is already installed, all is not lost! Simply revisit your +FreeBSD distribution directory and look for a tools/ subdirectory, in +which you'll find "bootinst.exe" and "boot.bin". To reinstall, simply +say "bootinst boot.bin" while in the tools/ subdirectory. + + +If you see the boot manager displaying ``F?'' when you try to come up +for the first time and it refuses to change, no matter how often you +whap on the function key assigned to FreeBSD, then you have a geometry +mismatch problem and you should read the next section for important +information on how to prevent that exact problem from happening! + + +Geometry Translation / Sharing the disk(s) with another OS: +---------------------------------------------------------- + If you are going to actually install some portion of FreeBSD on a drive then PLEASE BE VERY CERTAIN that the Geometry reported in the Partition Editor is the correct one for your drive and controller combination! IDE drives often have a certain geometry set during the PC BIOS setup, -or (in the case of larger IDE drives) have their geometry "remapped" +or (in the case of larger IDE drives) have their geometry "translated" by either the IDE controller or a special boot-sector translation utility such as that by OnTrack Systems. In these cases, knowing the correct geometry gets even more complicated as it's not something you @@ -21,9 +60,33 @@ very small DOS partition first, before installing FreeBSD. Once FreeBSD is installed you can always delete it again if you need the space. -It's actually not a bad idea (believe it or not) to have a small bootable -DOS partition on your FreeBSD machine anyway: Should the machine become -unstable or exhibit strange behavior at some point in the future (which -is not uncommon behavior for PC hardware!) you can then at least use -DOS for installing and running one of the commercially available system -diagnostic utilities. +It's actually not a bad idea (believe it or not) to have a small +bootable DOS partition on your FreeBSD machine anyway: Should the +machine become unstable or exhibit strange behavior at some point in +the future (which is not uncommon behavior for PC hardware!) you can +then at least use DOS for installing and running one of the +commercially available system diagnostic utilities. + +IMPORTANT NOTE: + +Any root partition you try to boot from must also reside below the +1024th cylinder. If you're using a translated geometry then this is +probably not a problem, but if you are using a native disk geometry +which exceeds 1024 cylinders then you could have a failure to boot if +you end up installing a root partition (or even just the kernel file +in a root partition) out past cylinder 1024. If you are trying to +share your first disk with FreeBSD and another OS which was installed +previously, you are particularly susceptible to this problem and should +check your disk addresses very carefully. + +If you find that you have insufficient space below cylinder 1024 to +make a root partition for FreeBSD (and again, this ONLY applies to the +root partition - once FreeBSD's kernel is loaded, it doesn't care +about the geometry issues) then you will probably need to install on a +completely different disk (see the boot manager section above) or +resize your existing partitions so that both operating systems can +have boot partitions below cylinder 1024. + +You may blame IBM for the limitations of a 10 bit cylinder address. +"No one will have a disk with more than 1024 cylinders." I'm sure +someone said. |