From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Nov 12 10:21:13 2003 Return-Path: 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 5258C16A4CE for ; Wed, 12 Nov 2003 10:21:13 -0800 (PST) Received: from smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk (happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk [81.2.69.218]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C0E2643FDF for ; Wed, 12 Nov 2003 10:21:11 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk) Received: from happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk (localhost [127.0.0.1]) hACIKtkr025715 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NO); Wed, 12 Nov 2003 18:21:00 GMT (envelope-from matthew@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk) Received: (from matthew@localhost)id hACIKtpL025714; Wed, 12 Nov 2003 18:20:55 GMT (envelope-from matthew) Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 18:20:55 +0000 From: Matthew Seaman To: Noah Message-ID: <20031112182055.GC24384@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk> Mail-Followup-To: Matthew Seaman , Noah , Jason Stewart , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <20031112154647.M33110@enabled.com> <3FB25926.2000109@rtl.org> <20031112171905.M63476@enabled.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="rqzD5py0kzyFAOWN" Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20031112171905.M63476@enabled.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.5.1i X-Spam-Status: No, hits=-4.9 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=2.60 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.60 (1.212-2003-09-23-exp) on happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk cc: Jason Stewart cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: backup drive bootabel X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 18:21:13 -0000 X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 18:21:13 -0000 --rqzD5py0kzyFAOWN Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Wed, Nov 12, 2003 at 09:20:14AM -0800, Noah wrote: > I will consider it. in the mean time can somebody explain to me how to m= ake > the 2nd drive bootable. I have seen many different ways to do this. can= you > direct me to the most optimal. I want to place a boot section that has no > menu and no options. just load teh kernel and go. These are SCSI drives? So one disk is da0 and the other is da1. =20 There's two ways to work this: i) Make the 2nd disk an identical copy to the 1st one. In this case should the 1st drive go AWOL, you would have to open the case and either remove the first drive or modify the jumpering on the disks to swap their order on the bus. You will need to mark the FreeBSD slice bootable in the disk partition label by running: # boot0cfg -B -b /boot/mbr -s 1 da1 So long as the slice tables and disklabels on da0 and da1 are pretty much the same, either disk should boot up smoothly. ii) Set up the system so that you can boot from either disk at will, without having to fiddle around with the hardware at all. This means that the settings on the two drives cannot be exactly the same: specifically the /etc/fstab file on each disk should reference the filesystems on the same disk: da0 on da0 or da1 on da1. Now, you can boot from either disk by interrupting the boot process by hitting a key while the spinning cursor is showing (| / - \ ...) [That's before the system loads the kernel and prints the message about the 10s countdown] -- it can be tricky to catch the system at this stage especially if booting from a fast device. At the boot: prompt, type: 0:da(0,a)/kernel to boot from da0, or 1:da(0,a)/kernel to boot from da1. If you take this route, you may find it more convenient to set up the machine for dual-boot with the slightly unusual configuration of two copies of the same OS. =20 In this case you'll need to install the FreeBSD boot block, which will mean that you get a prompt at boot time where you can choose which disk to boot from, but unless you start hitting the function keys, after a short delay the system will carry on an boot up from the same disk as the previous boot: # boot0cfg -B -b /boot/boot0 da0 # boot0cfg -B -b /boot/boot0 da1 Cheers, Matthew --=20 Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks Savill Way PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Marlow Tel: +44 1628 476614 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK --rqzD5py0kzyFAOWN Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (FreeBSD) iD8DBQE/snoHdtESqEQa7a0RAnQFAKCOo9faukOtQfjI8exsLetLSm/LkwCgg3LS T0+1643+DzUkFZ0kCDvFRkA= =n/Fp -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --rqzD5py0kzyFAOWN--