From owner-freebsd-questions Thu Sep 20 21:52:52 2001 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mail12.speakeasy.net (mail12.speakeasy.net [216.254.0.212]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C5C5037B406 for ; Thu, 20 Sep 2001 21:52:47 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 96853 invoked from network); 21 Sep 2001 04:52:40 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO mgm) ([216.27.148.137]) (envelope-sender ) by mail12.speakeasy.net (qmail-ldap-1.03) with SMTP for ; 21 Sep 2001 04:52:40 -0000 Message-ID: <01aa01c14259$4e3fa140$89941bd8@speakeasy.net> Reply-To: "jason" From: "jason" To: "Nathan Mace" , "freebsd-questions" References: <000d01c13f18$213b8b80$89941bd8@speakeasy.net> <20010916214223.57b1081a.mace_nathan@uchaswv.edu> Subject: Re: Missing Operating System Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 00:53:02 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG > it sounds to me like it isn't installing a bootloader. did > you tell it to install on the MBR? maybe it's in the post- > install configs? During the Partition portion of the setup (before the downloading begins) it asks what sort of MBR to install. The first is the FreeBSD bootloader which puts up a menu for you to multiboot differernt OSs on the same machine. When I tried that option it boots up to: F1: FreeBSD Default: F1 Then is refuses to respond to any keyboard activity. The second option is Standard MBR. Which I am to understand just boots FreeBSD only. Selecting this option leads to the "Missing Operating System" Message on reboot. The Third option is Don't Change MBR which leaves the MBR intact the way it was before the install. I see no reason to even try this one. > of course there's not way to tell without > that long d/l AGAIN. do you have access to a > CD-writer? instead of d/ling it 50 billion times why not > get an iso image? that way it won't take so long if you > ever have to re-install CD burner YES, but on another machine. This computer due to the fact I can't access the BIOS is unable to accept any drives that are not lready configured in the BIOS. Its a compaq and the BIOS is accessed through a special FAT16 booting partition placed on the HD at the factory. This was lost the first time I formatted the drive and I have been unsuccessful in finding a way to get it back. So I am stuck with one 520MB HD, 32MB RAM, and the onboard NIC. Any attempt to add or change anything results in BIOS mismatch error and may cause machine to not boot properly or boot as if the new divice doesnt exist. > > nathan > Appreciate the response! Any other suggestions? Jason Cribbins MGM Communications LLC "kibserv project" > On Sun, 16 Sep 2001 21:29:00 -0400 > "jason" wrote: > > > 4 times in a row now I have had the same trouble. I have a old Pentium 100 > > box with 500MB SCSI drive which is not upgradeable because due to BIOS > > issues. > > > > I had a minimal BSD install and Sendmail running before but somehow screwed > > up Sendmail to the point it would not run anymore. I was trying to find a > > way to make sendmail relay for certain individuals who have accounts without > > having using their own email programs. > > > > Because things were so bad I decided to start over from scratch but am > > unable to boot the OS. Here is what I am doing: > > 1-Booted on Floppy created with latest flp files on the freebsd ftp site. > > 2-Selected auto for the partitioning and file system creation. > > 3-Selected minimal for install type. > > 4-Selected ftp.freebsd.org as install media source. > > 5-Selected Commit. > > > > It takes hours to download and install over my 144k IDSL line and when > > completed it asks if I want to view any post install options. I say no and > > exit the installer. > > It reboots and after the memory check it states "Missing Operating System" > > and freezes. > > > > I have done this 3 times now and have had the same result. The version it > > is trying to install is 4.3-Release (at least that's what it tells me. > > > > any ideas? > > > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message