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Date:      Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:34:43 +0200
From:      Ghirai <ghirai@ghirai.com>
To:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Cc:        "Alphons \"Fonz\" van Werven" <a.j.werven@student.utwente.nl>
Subject:   Re: [FreeBSD] 6.3-R diskhandling
Message-ID:  <20080126163443.dcdf9202.ghirai@ghirai.com>
In-Reply-To: <479B3BCE.3050808@student.utwente.nl>
References:  <479B3BCE.3050808@student.utwente.nl>

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On Sat, 26 Jan 2008 13:55:26 +0000
"Alphons \"Fonz\" van Werven" <a.j.werven@student.utwente.nl> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I have a recent model Toshiba laptop here, dual-booting Windows Vista and
> Slackware Linux (not my call, so no flames please). When I got the 
> go-ahead to replace Linux with FreeBSD 6.3-RELEASE, the following
> happened:
> 
> The partitioner complained that the found geometry 232581/16/63 is invalid
> and it's using a more likely geometry instead. Closer inspection reveals
> that this "more likely" geom (14593/255/63) is actually the real geometry,
> so question 1 is: where did FreeBSD get this other weird-ass geometry
> from?
> 
> When installing the boot manager, it hosed Windows' bootability. I could
> mount and access the Windows partition from within FreeBSD just fine so
> the partition itself seemed to be okay, but it just wouldn't boot. When I
> selected it in the bootmanager menu, it showed a screen saying Windows
> can't boot and I should use the recovery disk to repair Windows. Since
> everything on the machine that was even remotely important had just been
> backed up and Windows was due for a reinstall anyway, I just reinstalled
> it and no harm was done, but I still wonder what happened. How come
> FreeBSD's boot manager stopped Windows from booting?
> 
> The reinstall of Windows wiped away everything else, so I can retry
> installing FreeBSD. But given the troubles described above, what's the
> best way to do it? Currently, I'm considering the following:
> 1. Boot this Live Linux CD I have lying around here and which finds the
>     correct geometry for the disk right away.
> 2. Make a backup of the MBR.
> 3. Create a partition (slice) for FreeBSD.
> 4. Boot the FreeBSD install disk and run through sysinstall (partitioning
>     the slice Linux just created) but don't let it install a boot loader.
> 5. Boot the Live Linux again and install LILO from there.
> But if you have any other suggestions I'm all ears of course.
> 
> Oh, and a final question: the Windows installer creates a partition table
> in which partitions (slices) don't end on cylinder/track boundaries. Is
> this a big deal? Linux notices it but doesn't seem bothered much by it and
> FreeBSD appears to act likewise. But I thought I'd better ask, just to be
> sure.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Alphons
> 

This article might help: http://www.clearchain.com/wiki/FreeBSD_%26_Windows_Vista

-- 
Regards,
Ghirai.



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