From owner-freebsd-questions  Mon May 19 04:12:13 1997
Return-Path: <owner-questions>
Received: (from root@localhost)
          by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) id EAA15254
          for questions-outgoing; Mon, 19 May 1997 04:12:13 -0700 (PDT)
Received: from gatekeeper.barcode.co.il (gatekeeper.barcode.co.il [192.116.93.17])
          by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id EAA15245
          for <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>; Mon, 19 May 1997 04:12:07 -0700 (PDT)
Received: (from smap@localhost) by gatekeeper.barcode.co.il (8.8.5/8.6.12) id OAA13586; Mon, 19 May 1997 14:12:02 +0300 (IDT)
X-Authentication-Warning: gatekeeper.barcode.co.il: smap set sender to <nadav@barcode.co.il> using -f
Received: from localhost.barcode.co.il(127.0.0.1) by gatekeeper.barcode.co.il via smap (V1.3)
	id sma013582; Mon May 19 14:11:22 1997
Message-ID: <33803522.4767@barcode.co.il>
Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 14:10:26 +0300
From: Nadav Eiron <nadav@barcode.co.il>
X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (X11; I; SunOS 5.5 sun4m)
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: jules.winnfield@cableinet.co.uk
CC: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject: Re: Help Please...
References: <337FA519.DC59F50@cableinet.co.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Sender: owner-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
X-Loop: FreeBSD.org
Precedence: bulk

R J Thompson wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I recently downloaded a copy of FreeBSD 2.1.7.1, I am new to UNIX and
> thought I'd like to have a look at what FreeBSD can do for me.
> 
> I installed the software, as described in the Install.txt file, and also
> installed the boot manager, as I am running Windows 95 as well as
> FreeBSD.
> 
> However, at the moment I have a problem, when FreeBSD boots it is
> reporting that it cannot mount the root directory, the actual error
> message is: "Panic: Cannot Mount Root".
> 
> Then it reboots the computer.
> 
> I have little idea as to what is going on here, is there a problem with
> the way I installed the software or is my system configuration set
> wrong?

Try giving
1:wd(2,a)/kernel

at your Boot: prompt. If this works for you, you may have to build a
custom kernel. Search around the mail archives for the exact options, as
this question has been asked and answered a zillion time before.

> 
> I have 2 hard disks split into 4 partitions.  DOS/Win95 is on the first
> partition of the first drive, FreeBSD is on the second partition of the
> second drive.  This partition is about 500 meg in size.
> 
> Also, can you install only the binary files from a floppy disk
> installation, as I couldn't find a way to install anything else than the
> binaries from floppy disks.

You can (I think), but it's much easier to install additional things
over ftp (or whatever other mean) after the system is up and running.

> 
> I'd be greatful for any help you can offer regarding the problems I'm
> having.
> 
> Many Thanks
> 
> Richard   (jules.winnfield@cableinet.co.uk)
Nadav