Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:28:52 +0200 From: Gyrd Thane Lange <gyrd-se@thanelange.no> To: perryh@pluto.rain.com Cc: doug@safeport.com, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Dual Boot 8.2 and Windows 7 Message-ID: <20110626202852.6765f935@parvati.thanelange.no> In-Reply-To: <4e05220e.GBAaOafCcTgMjymv%perryh@pluto.rain.com> References: <alpine.BSF.2.00.1106231919320.83085@oceanpt.safeport.com> <D7EC3198-B917-4ACB-9BC2-ACE6D5569C07@my.gd> <4D7F86D5012E084A@> <alpine.BSF.2.00.1106240933580.83085@oceanpt.safeport.com> <4e05220e.GBAaOafCcTgMjymv%perryh@pluto.rain.com>
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On Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:47:26 -0700 perryh@pluto.rain.com wrote: > doug@safeport.com wrote: > > > If FreeBSD can be installed in an extended partition, > > that would be a very useful howto. > > _Installing_ it in an "extended partition" is easy enough. > geom(8) understands "extended partitions" (although sysinstall > does not, so you need to install using Fixit# as for other > non-sysinstall cases such as ZFS). > > The problem is _booting_ it. The code in i386/boot2 and > lib/libstand is written to find the / (or /boot) FS on a > BSD partition of an fdisk "primary partition" (aka slice), > or in a GPT partition, and would need additions to handle > fdisk "extended partitions". Some years ago I ran into a similar problem. I ran out of primary partitions (using MBR-speak) and had to move FreeBSD into an extended partition. Here the simple patch I wrote for the FreeBSD boot loader: <http://parvati.thanelange.no/freebsd/boot_loader/boot_loader.diff>; <http://parvati.thanelange.no/freebsd/boot_loader/>; To update your source use: patch -d /usr/src/sys/boot/i386/libi386/ < boot_loader.diff The FreeBSD loader has since a very long time ago attempted to work with MBR extended partitions but a simple logical error has prevented it from succeeding: How it normally works. ----- | 1 | ----- | 2 | -- ----- | | | | ----- <- | 5 | ----- | | -- ----- | | | | ----- <- | 6 | ----- | | ----- How /boot/loader (incorrectly) works. ----- | 1 | ----- | 2 | -- ----- | | | | ----- <- | 5 | ----- | 6 | -- ----- | | | | ----- <- | 7 | ----- | 8 | ----- It has been a long time since I installed my system but I seem to remember that all that is required is to copy the /boot/loader binary from a patched system onto the newly installed one. (I have included a copy of my /boot/loader at the URL above.) The next challenge is to find a boot manager that will pick up FreeBSD in an extended partition. For myself I use a self patched GRUB. (GRUB also nearly worked out of the box, but had a different problem.) You're welcome to have those patches as well if you need them. Lastly I have the following in my kernel configuration file: include GENERIC ... nooptions GEOM_PART_BSD nooptions GEOM_PART_MBR options GEOM_BSD options GEOM_MBR That is because I am not fond of the new mangled device names, but prefer the old ones. Hope any of this helps. Best regards, Gyrd ^_^
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