Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 11:37:19 -0600 From: Kevin Kinsey <kdk@daleco.biz> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Cc: Anthony Atkielski <atkielski.anthony@wanadoo.fr> Subject: Re: Install Free BSD without floppy and bootable CD-ROM-drive Message-ID: <421E10CF.2040704@daleco.biz> In-Reply-To: <1641090754.20050224175454@wanadoo.fr> References: <20050224162623.57173.qmail@web53907.mail.yahoo.com> <1641090754.20050224175454@wanadoo.fr>
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Anthony Atkielski wrote: >stheg olloydson writes: > > >>Because you don't have a floppy drive, Mr. Atkielski's suggestion will >>not work. The link he gave you is a good one. Skip section 2.2.7 and >>read section 2.13 instead. It explains how to install if you do not >>have a floppy drive. >> >> > >If you have neither a CD drive or a floppy drive, I don't see how you >can install FreeBSD at all. The only option then is network (or tape), >but to use either of these you have to persuade your existing OS on the >machine to load something from them and turn control over to it (like a >boot). Most operating systems are understandably lacking in mechanisms >to do this (although there is a program under NT that will wipe the >system clean in one move--I don't think it ships any more, since it was >too dangerous). > > Section 2.13 assumes the use of a boot floppy or bootable CD in all cases, unless I'm reading incorrectly, which is possible but doesn't seem likely. You've got to bootstrap a kernel into RAM *somehow* to do the work. This section discusses alternative distribution media, but doesn't explain an alternate booting of a kernel+sysinstall. Without a bootable CD and no floppy hardware, the only alternatives I can think of are: 1. Install FreeBSD on the HDD by moving it to another machine that has a floppy drive, then move it back. 2. If your BIOS supports network booting, it might be possible to get the laptop started "diskless", and then run sysinstall over the network. Sound like a big project to me, though. I've toyed with the idea of starting a diskless LAN (mostly for fun), but haven't had guts to try it yet. 3. Anything else your BIOS might support that you can figure out how to get started with, but I have no idea what devices those might be.... Kevin Kinsey
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