From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Nov 26 17:26:53 2014 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher AECDH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 8DCACE5C for ; Wed, 26 Nov 2014 17:26:53 +0000 (UTC) Received: from wonkity.com (wonkity.com [67.158.26.137]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (Client CN "wonkity.com", Issuer "wonkity.com" (not verified)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 1F9BA7E7 for ; Wed, 26 Nov 2014 17:26:52 +0000 (UTC) Received: from wonkity.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wonkity.com (8.14.9/8.14.9) with ESMTP id sAQHQpud055654 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 bits=256 verify=NO); Wed, 26 Nov 2014 10:26:51 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from localhost (wblock@localhost) by wonkity.com (8.14.9/8.14.9/Submit) with ESMTP id sAQHQpkg055651; Wed, 26 Nov 2014 10:26:51 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 10:26:51 -0700 (MST) From: Warren Block To: Mike Starr Subject: Re: Fwd: Reinstalling Windows from a corrupt FreeBSD install In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: User-Agent: Alpine 2.11 (BSF 23 2013-08-11) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.4.3 (wonkity.com [127.0.0.1]); Wed, 26 Nov 2014 10:26:51 -0700 (MST) Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18-1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 17:26:53 -0000 On Wed, 26 Nov 2014, Mike Starr wrote: >> *Geom name: ada0* >> *Scheme: MBR* >> *Providers:* >> 1. >> ada0s1 >> 1.5G >> type: !39 >> >> 2. >> ada0s2 >> 581G >> ntfs (windows?) >> >> 3. >> ada0s3 >> 338G >> ebr >> >> 4. >> ada0s4 >> 11G >> FreeBSD This is an MBR partitioning scheme. The first slice is probably a utility or recovery partition for Windows, and Windows is installed in the second slice. The third slice is an "extended" partition. There might be subpartitions inside it. Let's ignore that, it will not matter to FreeBSD. >> *Geom Name: ada0s4* >> *Scheme: BSD* >> *Providers:* >> 1. >> ada0s4a >> 10G (I thought this was where I installed FreeBSD...) >> FreeBSD-ufs >> 2. >> ada0s4b >> 561M >> FreeBSD-swap This is a normal FreeBSD install in the fourth slice. The slice is divided into a 10G data filesystem partition and a 561M swap partition. >> I tried the boot0cfg -B -m 0xf command but it didn't work. But I see what >> you're trying to do--not so change the BIOS (each slice or Geom has its >> own?), but to change the boot manager (so you can choose which Geom to load >> from). I don't know what the difference between a provider and a consumer >> is. I'll poke around with the boot0cfg command a bit more and see what >> happens. >From memory, it would just be 'boot0cfg -B ada0'. However, Windows users might find it using easier to use EasyBCD http://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/ (scroll to bottom, click Register, registration not required). Another option is just to install VirtualBox and install FreeBSD as a VM inside it. Besides making it possible to run multiple systems at the same time, it does not endanger the existing partition table or operating systems.