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Date:      Sat, 02 Feb 2002 12:58:38 -0800
From:      Kent Stewart <kstewart@owt.com>
To:        messmate <messmate@free.fr>
Cc:        freebsd-questions-en <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   Re: First install
Message-ID:  <3C5C52FE.2020208@owt.com>
References:  <20020202205218.63d5298d.messmate@free.fr>

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messmate wrote:

> hello all,
> I'm a complete newbie to FreeBSD, as a Linux user.
> I downloaded the floppy install packs as kern and mfsroot to simulate
> my first install.
> After reading (and downloaded) the 'book' and all I found about FreeBSD doc,
> 1. I understood that only 1 slice (named partition in dos or linux) can be handled 
> in FBSD. In this case when a new fresh install is needed all the mount-points
>  will formatted (or not ??) so there is no way to maintain for ex. a /home or someting
> as /usr/local ??


Once you have a slice, you can partition it as you like. For example, 
I have a /, /usr, /tmp, /var, and /swap. /home is redirected to 
/usr/home. In order to split /usr/obj and /usr/src away from /usr, I 
also have them on their own partition in FreeBSD slices on two other 
HDs. On the same drives, you will find a /usr2 and /usr3. At some 
point, I want to build on one system and do installs on the others. 
There were path problems if I linked /usr2/obj and /usr3/src to the 
/usr/obj and /usr/src. Mounting a /usr/obj and /usr/src maintained the 
same path over the builds.


> 2.  FBSD can't boot AFTER the 1024st cylinder ? (That's my case=2d hd) Lilo can do it !


I have several multi-boot systems where I use NTldr and I am booting 
from a slice that is about 13GB in on a 30GB HD. I don't remember when 
the 1024 cylinder rule ceased to be a problem but it was a long time ago.


> 3. There is no mention about a boot floppy ? (wan't use the MBR for secure)


Don't understand this section. Every HD has an MBR on it. The files 
necessary to create bootable floppies are located on 
ftp://ftp.fr.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/releases/i386/4.5-RELEASE/floppies. 
I don't know if you can boot from your zip drive. A single floppy is 
too small and they are divided up in to kern.flp and mfsroot.flp.


> 4. I don't see all my drives on my first simulation, like the cdrom, zip, soundcard/modem = isapnp 
> and my mouse won't work. (a simpel microsoft serial on com1) no other config of it won't work also.


You should have been able to configure the mouse but that may not work 
with sysinstall during an install. I haven't done one of those since 
4.0 and everything is different now. As far as mice go, I have combos 
of ps/2, serial, and usb mice. They all work. The optical mice, which 
I am slowly switching to, are either ps/2 or usb.


> 5. Downloading all iso-images or doing an install over ftp is for me to expensive. (Tel. cost)
> Is there a way to buy a 4.5 version powerpack ? I'm leaving in France. No way to find it, nor in
>  France nor in the USA. (over the internet)


I can't comment here. There were not any places listed on 
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/mirrors.html 
for France.

There is a mini-iso that will cost less to download. Staying current 
with the software will cost you. Any CDROM you buy will be dated in 
time and falling behind from that moment on. Purchasing a CDROM set is 
not the end of the line. FreeBSD isn't any different than Windows when 
it comes time to do upgrades to cover security fixes or software 
upgrades. The big difference with FreeBSD is the software only costs 
for media or telco time.


> 6. My actual partitions :
> 	hda = windooz and 2 linux partitions. (6.4G)
> 	hdb = linux  partions for a half (20G)


Well, you will need a FreeBSD style primary partition on one of these. 
For buildworld speed, I actually use 3 HDs on all of my systems.


> 7. My hardware :
> 	Pentium 233 MMX
> 	1st HD Quantum Fireball ATA disk drive
> 	2d HD WDC WD200BB-00CVB0  ATA disk drive
> 	IOMEGA ZIP 100 ATAPI floppy drive
> 	CD-ROM AKO ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive
> 	floppy
> 	Soundcard creative SB AWE64  isa PNP Soundblaster audio driver
> 	Modem Gazel isa PNP passive ISDN R647/R648 (hisax)


The sound card will require a modified kernel. You can read about it 
in the handbook. My gateway was a Micron P-200 for a long time. I 
eventually replaced a couple of systems with AMD 1600+ XPs and the 
P-200 was quickly converted to a Celeron 433a. The only thing that 
changed was the times to do builds. The 433a was much faster.

Kent


> 
> Any comment would be very appreciated.
> mess-mate
> 

-- 
Kent Stewart
Richland, WA

mailto:kbstew99@hotmail.com
http://users.owt.com/kstewart/index.html
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