diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/slice.hlp')
| -rw-r--r-- | usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/slice.hlp | 61 |
1 files changed, 50 insertions, 11 deletions
diff --git a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/slice.hlp b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/slice.hlp index e055ca4..1c1581b 100644 --- a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/slice.hlp +++ b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/slice.hlp @@ -1,15 +1,23 @@ -This is the Main Partition (or ``Slice'') Editor. +This is the Main Partition (or ``FDISK'') Editor. + +Possible commands are printed at the bottom and the Master Boot Record +contents are shown at the top. You can move up and down with the +arrow keys and (C)reate a new partition whenever the highlighted +selection bar is over a partition whose type is marked as "unused." + +You are expected to leave this screen with at least one partition +marked "FreeBSD." Note that unlike Linux, you don't need to create +multiple FreeBSD fdisk partition entries for different things like +swap, file systems, etc. The usual convention is to create ONE +FreeBSD partition per drive and then subsection this partition into +swap and file systems with the Label editor. -Possible commands are printed at the bottom, and the Master Boot Record -contents are at the top. You can move up and down with the arrow keys -and can (C)reate a new partition whenever the "bar" is over a partition -whose type is set to "unused". The flags field has the following legend: - '=' -- Partition is properly aligned. - '>' -- The partition doesn't end before cylinder 1024 - 'R' -- Has been marked as containing the root (/) filesystem + '=' -- This partition is properly aligned. + '>' -- This partition doesn't end before cylinder 1024 + 'R' -- This partition contains the root (/) filesystem 'B' -- Partition employs BAD144 bad-spot handling 'C' -- This is the FreeBSD 2.0-compatibility partition (default) 'A' -- This partition is marked active. @@ -21,8 +29,39 @@ If no partition is marked Active, you will need to either install a Boot Manager (the option for which will be presented later in the installation) or set one Active before leaving this screen. -To leave this screen, type `Q'. +To leave the partition editor, type `Q'. No actual changes will be made to the disk until you (C)ommit from the -Install menu! You're working with what is essentially a copy of -the disk label(s), both here and in the Label Editor. +Install menu or use the (W)rite option here! You're working with what +is essentially a copy of the disk label(s), both here and in the Label +Editor. + +NOTE: The (W)rite option is HIGHLY DANGEROUS and should NOT BE USED if +you're installing a new system! It's only for use in resurrecting +or changing an existing system, and will cause unpredictable things to +happen if you use it in any other circumstances. Don't do it! Wait +for the final commit dialog if you're express/novice installing, or +use the "Commit" menu item if you're custom installing, and do it there. + +If you want to use the entire disk for FreeBSD, type `A'. You'll be +asked whether or not you wish to keep the disk (potentially) compatible +with other operating systems, i.e. the information in the FDISK table +should be kept valid. If you select the default of `Yes', slices will be +aligned to fictitious cylinder boundaries and space will be reserved +in front of the FreeBSD slice for a [future] possible boot manager. + +For the truly dedicated disk case, you can select `No' at the +compatibility prompt. In that case, all BIOS geometry considerations +will no longer be in effect and you can safely ignore any +``The detected geometry is invalid'' warning messages you may later +see. It is also not necessary in this case to set a partition bootable +or install an MBR boot manager as both things are then irrelevant. + +The FreeBSD slice will start at absolute sector 0 of the disk (so that +FreeBSD's disk label is identical to the Master Boot Record) and +extend to the very last sector of the disk medium. Needless to say, +such a disk cannot have any sort of a boot manager, `disk manager', +or anything else that has to interact with the BIOS. This option is +therefore only considered safe for SCSI disks and most IDE disks and +is primarily intented for people who are going to set up a dedicated +FreeBSD server or workstation, not a typical `home PC'. |
