Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 21:03:47 -0400 From: Fernan Aguero <fernan@iib.unsam.edu.ar> To: jim@freebsd.org Cc: rpratt@ezwv.com, freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Subject: Update install documentation? Message-ID: <20010405210347.G4066@iib005.inti.gov.ar>
next in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Hi! I recently installed FreeBSD for the first time, being a Linux user for the past two years. My first attempt crashed with a hardware conflict that I could not solve (see my posts on freebsd-questions, 05-Apr-2001). As suggested by Randy Pratt (rpratt@ezwv.com) in his "Install Preview for FreeBSD 4.2" (http://people.FreeBSD.org/~rpratt/42/index.html) I got into the visual configuration editor (kernel devices) and resolved all conflicts. Then procceeded to the device probing, several times, to find that no matter what I changed, my NIC will not be configured correctly. After this I decided that, given the lack of suggestions on the mailing list I would try to remove the card and insert it into another slot. But before doing that I tried to change a BIOS option. In my BIOS, there is an option to tell the BIOS that you are using a Plug and Play OS (PnP). It was configured as YES. The BIOS on screen help said that the other option (NO) would make the BIOS itself to set the configuration options for the hardware. I had always thought (after reading the Handbook, section 10.2 on disks) that FreeBSD does not use the BIOS, and so it would make no sense to change anything in it ... FreeBSD would not care. It seems that this is not the case (perhaps my fault to have understood that in the beginning...). After changing that option the installation worked OK (as expected). Now, I think that the documentation would benefit from an update. Perhaps mentioning how to handle BIOS options or some recomendations about it would benefit newbie users. Also, I think that the step by step guide written by Randy should be mentioned in the book (I saw it in the FreeBSD web site but is not in my handbook). Particularly the suggestion to try the configuration and probing several times (without actually installing anything) was very helpful to me. I would not have thought I could have done it that way ... after all I am a newbie! I hope the suggestion will make for a better install guide. Keep up the good work! Documentation is some of the areas in which FreeBSD excels. I am really impressed. I hope that a suggestion like the one I made does not make you think otherwise. Fernan PS: please feel free to correct me if some or all of what I said was plain wrong. It could well be that I just fixed my problem without knowing what I was doing. -- Fernan Aguero Bioinformatics IIB-UNSAM fernan@iib.unsam.edu.ar ICQ 100325972 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20010405210347.G4066>