Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 06:36:07 -0800 From: John L <jpl@olywa.net> To: FreeBSD docs <freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: [Fwd: A 'not quite a newbie' install note..] Message-ID: <36B46A56.18347390@olywa.net>
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Hello again-
about my previous message quoted below- I was using a typo
'1:wd(1,a) kernal' to boot. It does boot up fine. I have to change to
shell I think, no dir in the prompt and subdirs and files look the same
using 'ls'.
Thanks again- john leclerc
John L wrote:
> Well the guide said to actually write you so-
>
> I previously gave up on a very bad redhat5.1 release, with more
> UPDATE downloads than the entire FBSD system (and still I didn't know
> how to configure and recompile the kernel). After this I was very
> impressed with freebsd, and look forward to giving you some money for
> some product after it gets going.
>
> My difficulties with an FTP install- the 'novice installation' could
> not recognize my USRobotics modem on COM4. This was tough to figure
> out, as it would work somewhat by forcing the port location from Term.
> But ultimately, to set both the interrupt and port, one must work from
> the 'expert' mode- but there are NO device descriptions here! So,- you
> guess or go back and forth and boot over and over. I also booted over
> and over to get in the 'Term' mode while figuring this out, and this
> involves re-inputing all the setup data every time. Very time
> consuming. Once setup, it did download at least 50 meg over a 33.8Kbps
> ppp connection, and fully install, (in spite of some missing components
> at FTP site 6. It switched smoothly to the main site, but that's bad for
> your traffic.).
>
> My complements overall on this very ambitious function. The
> RedHat folks long ago abandoned the idea of realistically being able to
> do this with a modem- the way I just did it!
>
> I had a very bad experience with redhat LILO, because I just left
> it
> installed when I reformatted over the redhat partition. When Linux went
> away, LILO broke, and I couldn't boot windows or Linux. I had to
> reinstall win95 OSR2 (which I did), or try to figure out if LILO could
> be configured from a Linux floppy. To AVOID this, I specifically choose
> NOT to alter the MasterBootRecord during the FBSD install. Maybe this
> was a big mistake, but it was a valid menu option option. To save the
> worry, I would just boot FBSD from a floppy, and switch around the drive
> numbers if I ever decided to boot windows by floppy instead.
>
> To my dismay, FBSD install just plain corrupted the MBR and
> windows wouldn't start even from a DOS floppy boot- 'partiton data
> corrupted'- a very bad sign on powerup. Fdisk would read the partitions
> after an start up error, but would not make changes. (Once again,
> reinstall windows and sit there and hit 'don't replace newer files' for
> over an hour during the install. It's amazing that I could reinstall
> just win95 without losing a byte of data or even altering the desktop
> AND that it fixed a corrupt MBR, which has little to do with an OS
> install). I can't get FBSD up either, because apparently this install
> disk doesn't work as a normal boot disk, and though there is an option
> to list some file and boot specifying the kernel name, the list scrolls
> off screen. I can't find any way to <cntrl>S or break the listing to
> actually view it. It's way too fast on this machine, which is only
> running at 75Mhz. Simply using '1:wd(1,a)' from the install disk isn't
> enough to boot the hard drive! Isn't there a default kernel
> name/location? Now I'm looking for an ordinary floppy boot image, if
> there is such a thing for FBSD. Also I find the references to 'boot
> disk' a bit confusing coming from the DOS world. 'Boot' means just boot
> the operating system or hard drive. This is a 'bootstrap install',
> that's a little different. You wouldn't boot FBSD with this only this
> disk, I hope, because I found no way to go to a prompt or exit the
> installation without rebooting.
>
> I write because I really want to help make this already good
> product even easier to understand. Redhat was so horrid that I just
> decided that though it was somewhat working, it was just plain
> unpleasant to work in. And the FBSD install was really MUCH less
> painful even with my fatal error.
>
> anyway, thanks- john leclerc jpl@olywa.net
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