From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Jul 20 07:05:12 2005 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E217216A41F for ; Wed, 20 Jul 2005 07:05:12 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from ross@axe.homelinux.net) Received: from smtp-out6.blueyonder.co.uk (smtp-out6.blueyonder.co.uk [195.188.213.9]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id ACF7443D4C for ; Wed, 20 Jul 2005 07:05:11 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from ross@axe.homelinux.net) Received: from lucy.axe.homelinux.net ([82.36.124.90]) by smtp-out6.blueyonder.co.uk with Microsoft SMTPSVC(5.0.2195.6713); Wed, 20 Jul 2005 08:05:54 +0100 Received: from [192.168.0.3] (purplehaze [192.168.0.3]) by lucy.axe.homelinux.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 15EF1516C0; Wed, 20 Jul 2005 08:05:09 +0100 (BST) Message-ID: <42DDF7A2.8050206@axe.homelinux.net> Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2005 08:05:06 +0100 From: Ross Kendall Axe User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.5 (X11/20050711) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Alex Zbyslaw References: <42DC1173.6020307@axe.homelinux.net> <20050718142635.E7170@border.crystalsphere.multiverse> <42DC53BE.6040205@axe.homelinux.net> <6.1.0.6.2.20050718190554.11fe1e10@cobalt.antimatter.net> <42DCC88E.1010207@dial.pipex.com> In-Reply-To: <42DCC88E.1010207@dial.pipex.com> X-Enigmail-Version: 0.92.0.0 OpenPGP: url=http://www.rossaxe.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/.pgpkey Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-OriginalArrivalTime: 20 Jul 2005 07:05:54.0959 (UTC) FILETIME=[78B1C9F0:01C58CF9] Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: /boot on a separate partition X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2005 07:05:13 -0000 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Alex Zbyslaw wrote: > Being pragmatic, the problems you are facing are because you have such a > tiny disk in an ancient PC. This puts you in a very small minority of > FreeBSD users. True. > A separate /boot is new to 5.X and I doubt it was done > to help you out of this situation. Developer effort is limited and > since FreeBSD has never used a separate /boot, it's unlikely to get > anyone's attention to do it that way unless there is a very good reason, > and tiny disks are unlikely to be it. I admit, I didn't know the /boot was new in FreeBSD, but then, I am a BSD virgin. As for reasons to support a /boot partition, how about BIOS bugs/quirks? There's no shortage of those. Of course, an open source BIOS would be a better solution to that particular problem. Also, please don't misinterpret my cry for help as a demand for a new feature; I may be new to FreeBSD but I'm reasonably seasoned in the ways of the free software world. > The oldest PC I have that runs FreeBSD (also a Pentium) has a 4 and an > 8Gb disk, and no problem booting off the ends of either. It's who knows > how old, and even charities don't want it because they can't think of > anything useful that anyone could do with it, even if it was the bees > knees when I got it. Pffft. I've got a 486 with a 1/4GB hard disk around here _somewhere_. > Depending on where you are located, you might be able to find something > very cheap (but still better than yours) in classifieds, computer fairs, > 2nd hand shops or the local tip. This particular machine was actually intercepted before it reached the dump. Still, it's powerful enough to make a decent home router. > > Best, > > --Alex > Thanks to all for your input, but I've actually managed to solve the problem in a different way. Turns out the BIOS was disabling LBA because the logical cylinder count was >1024, so mucking about with the geometry fixed it. Still, I'll keep these comments in mind if I ever decide to install FreeBSD on the aforementioned 486 ;-) Ross -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.7 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFC3fei9bR4xmappRARAuc/AKCsWkDqBjuxfnL9o1vPxbEjLe42PACeMElv hvmsCK7XVZ528YHhDe+E7mU= =IQtf -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----