Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 22:23:38 +0000 From: "Teske, Devin" <Devin.Teske@fisglobal.com> To: Conny Andersson <ataraxi@telia.com> Cc: Ian Smith <smithi@nimnet.asn.au>, FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: FreeBSD slices and the Boot Manager Message-ID: <13CA24D6AB415D428143D44749F57D7201FF6013@ltcfiswmsgmb21> In-Reply-To: <alpine.BSF.2.00.1307282131570.1188@alice.nodomain.nowhere> References: <mailman.57.1375012801.93006.freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> <20130729013637.M32053@sola.nimnet.asn.au> <alpine.BSF.2.00.1307282131570.1188@alice.nodomain.nowhere>
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On Jul 28, 2013, at 12:55 PM, Conny Andersson wrote: > Hi Ian, >=20 > Thank you for all of your advices regarding my questions. I have been usi= ng FreeBSD for more than ten years, but I never heard of sade (sysadmins di= sk editor). That is one of the joyful things with running FreeBSD/Unix; the= re is always something earlier unheard of to explore. And, there is always = more than one way to approach a problem. >=20 In this case, sade is (or was) a direct by-product of the death of sysinsta= ll(8). It only exists in 9 or higher. In-fact... sade was (up until recently in HEAD) actual code removed from sy= sinstall(8). NOTE: In HEAD, sade(8) is now a direct path to "bsdinstall partedit" I don't know what the long-term goals are for sade, but it's a nice 4-lette= r acronym that's a nice keystroke saver (at the very least). --=20 Devin >> On Mon, 29 Jul 2013, Ian Smith wrote: >=20 >> In freebsd-questions Digest, Vol 477, Issue 8, Message: 10 >> On Sat, 27 Jul 2013 19:39:30 +0200 (CEST) Conny Andersson <ataraxi@telia= .com> wrote: >> > Hi, >> > >> > I have a workstation with two factory installed hard disks. The first = disk, >> > ada0, is occupied by a Windows 7 Pro OS (mainly kept for the three year >> > warranty of the workstation as Dell techs mostly speak the Microsoft >> > language). >>=20 >> Yes, best humour adherents of the Almighty Bill - keeps them sweet. >>=20 >> > Instead I have configured the BIOS to boot from the MBR on the second = disk >> > as I most of the time (99%) use FreeBSD. The MBR on ada1 was installed= with >> > sysinstall's option "Install the FreeBSD Boot Manager", when I install= ed >> > the FreeBSD 8.3-RELEASE. >>=20 >> Right. sysinstall(8) - or at least the fdisk and bsdlabel modules that >> constitute sade(8) - remains the only safe and sane way to handle MBR >> disks. bsdinstall seems fine for GPT, but its paradigm doesn't play so >> well with trying to do the sorts of manipulations you're talking about >> here. Why noone's tried to update sade(8) for GPT I don't understand; >> it's a far better, more forgiving interface, in my old-fashioned? view. >>=20 >> > (The latest BIOS version 2.4.0 for Dell T1500 does not support >> > UEFI/GPT/GUID.) >> > >> > The second disk ada1, now has three FreeBSD slices: >> > >> > 1) ada1s1 with FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE >> > >> > 2) ada1s2 with FreeBSD 8.2-RELEASE >> > >> > 3) ada1s3 with FreeBSD 8.3-RELEASE >> > >> > I want to install the new FreeBSD 8.4-RELEASE on ada1s1 by overwriting= the >> > now existing two first slices. This means that ada1s3, must become ada= 1s2 >> > instead. Is this possible to do? >>=20 >> Yes and no. Using sysinstall|sade on my 9.1 laptop -- without setting >> sysctl kern.geom.debugflags=3D16 so it can't write any inadvertent chang= es >> to my disk :) -- in the fdisk screen you can delete the first two slices >> freeing their space for a new slice (or two) and you can then allocate >> s1 ok, but the existing s3 is still called s3. Would that be a problem? >>=20 >> If you only created one slice there you'd have s1 and s3, with s2 and s4 >> marked as empty in the MBR shown by fdisk(8). MBR slice order need not >> follow disk allocations, eg s4 might point to an earlier disk region. >>=20 >> sysinstall|sade has undo options for both fdisk and bsdlabel modules; >> it's easy to play with, no chance of damage - even with foot-shooting >> flag set, unless/until you commit to changes. If in doubt hit escape >> until it backs right out, nothing will be written. >>=20 >> > A very important question is if sysinstall's option "Install the FreeB= SD >> > Boot Manager" detects that I have a FreeBSD 8.3 and detect it as slice= 2 on >> > disk 1? So it becomes a boot option when I am rebooting? (Maybe the sl= ice >> > may come up as ad6s2, because AHCI in FreeBSD 8.4 isn't enabled at the= time >> > of the install.) >>=20 >> If you're running 8.4 sysinstall as init, ie booted into the installer, >> and you've told it to install to s1, then it should set s1 as the active >> partition in the disk table and in boot0cfg's active slice table. I've >> never tried it with a second disk so I can't confirm that will all play >> nice, but you seem to have installed 3 versions ok before :) >>=20 >> If not, you can run boot0cfg(8) anytime to set the active slice etc, so >> that shouldn't be a worry. Likely need to set debugflags=3D16 to do that >> on a running system also .. don't forget to set them back to 0 later! >>=20 >> (For anyone) still nervous about sade for setting up MBR disks, play >> with a spare memstick, setup a couple of slices, boot0cfg etc, allocate >> and delete slices and partitions. Jordan got that together >15years ago >> so noone would ever need to do those icky slice/partition maths again. >> My theory: few have been brave enough to dare mess with $deity's work, >> though it just needs some updates for modern realities, not abandonment. >>=20 >> [ Polytropon, it's not 'obsolete' at all; still in 9 anyway. It'll be >> obsolete when there are no more MBR-only systems in use - say 7 years - >> OR when bsdinstall incorporates all the missing good sade(8) features, >> which requires it making a clear distinction between GPT and MBR and >> working accordingly, including cleaning up GPT stuff if MBR chosen. At >> 9.1-R anyway, it doesn't do it so well for MBR. Try installing over an >> existing desired slice partitioning, newfs'ing everything EXCEPT your >> valuable /home partition. Not for beginners, yet simple in sade(8) ] >>=20 >> > If the answer to these questions is yes, then the next two questions a= rise. >> > >> > Can I mount ada1s2a (FreeBSD 8.3) from the newly installed FreeBSD 8.4= and >> > edit my FreeBSD's 8.3-R /etc/fstab according to the new disk layout, a= nd >> > occasionally run FreeBSD 8.3 without problems? Or do I have to do more= to >> > get it to work? >>=20 >> Except it likely will still be called ada1s3a, it should be no problem. >> Once boot0cfg(8) is working right, you can boot from any bootable slice; >> it 'knows' but doesn't care what (if any) OS is on any other slices. >>=20 >> > The idea behind this kind of 'reverse' disk layout of mine is to have >> > FreeBSD 8.4 as my new default OS. And have FreeBSD 8.3 untouched for >> > configuring FreeBSD 8.4 and booting into it when ever needed. If I can= do >> > this as described above, I will have plenty of space on the disk for t= he >> > future and a new FreeBSD release. >>=20 >> Sure. Another option would be a much smaller new s2 after the bigger s1 >> as a 'transit lounge' between slices, I use such for config backups etc. >>=20 >> Speaking of which, given that you're all safely backed up, nothing can >> go wrong, right? :) >>=20 >> cheers, Ian > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.o= rg" _____________ The information contained in this message is proprietary and/or confidentia= l. If you are not the intended recipient, please: (i) delete the message an= d all copies; (ii) do not disclose, distribute or use the message in any ma= nner; and (iii) notify the sender immediately. In addition, please be aware= that any message addressed to our domain is subject to archiving and revie= w by persons other than the intended recipient. Thank you.
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