From owner-freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Jan 19 18:40:19 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-doc@hub.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3CF3316A4CE for ; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 18:40:19 -0800 (PST) Received: from freefall.freebsd.org (freefall.freebsd.org [216.136.204.21]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8A3F343D46 for ; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 18:40:16 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from gnats@FreeBSD.org) Received: from freefall.freebsd.org (gnats@localhost [127.0.0.1]) i0K2eGFR031755 for ; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 18:40:16 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from gnats@freefall.freebsd.org) Received: (from gnats@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.12.10/8.12.10/Submit) id i0K2eGSb031754; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 18:40:16 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from gnats) Resent-Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 18:40:16 -0800 (PST) Resent-Message-Id: <200401200240.i0K2eGSb031754@freefall.freebsd.org> Resent-From: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.org (GNATS Filer) Resent-To: freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.org Resent-Reply-To: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.org, Chris Pepper Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 382AC16A4CE for ; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 18:31:43 -0800 (PST) Received: from www.reppep.com (www.reppep.com [66.92.104.200]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EDF7443D1D for ; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 18:31:39 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from pepper@reppep.com) Received: by www.reppep.com (Postfix, from userid 501) id 088F3FE2D; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 21:32:35 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <20040120023235.088F3FE2D@www.reppep.com> Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 21:32:35 -0500 (EST) From: Chris Pepper To: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.org X-Send-Pr-Version: 3.113 Subject: docs/61605: Improve documentation for i386 disk geometry X-BeenThere: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: Chris Pepper List-Id: Documentation project List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 02:40:19 -0000 >Number: 61605 >Category: docs >Synopsis: Improve documentation for i386 disk geometry >Confidential: no >Severity: serious >Priority: medium >Responsible: freebsd-doc >State: open >Quarter: >Keywords: >Date-Required: >Class: doc-bug >Submitter-Id: current-users >Arrival-Date: Mon Jan 19 18:40:16 PST 2004 >Closed-Date: >Last-Modified: >Originator: Chris Pepper >Release: FreeBSD 4.9-STABLE i386 >Organization: >Environment: System: FreeBSD www.reppep.com 4.9-STABLE FreeBSD 4.9-STABLE #13: Thu Nov 13 23:50:39 EST 2003 root@www.reppep.com:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/REPPEP i386 >Description: Documentation for disk geometry (i386) is lacking. As described in i386/61603, sysinstall doesn't always come up with a usable disk geometry. The Handbook documentation on sysinstall is a bit sparse. It should mention that geometry may be guessed wrong, \\tools\\pfdisk.exe on the CD-ROM can be used to pick up workable geometry numbers from within a working DOS environment (but not a normally-running Windows XP, which won't allow the necessary device access -- boot floppy created in XP works, though). http://www.freebsd.org/relnotes/4-STABLE/installation/i386/trouble.html #4.2.2 claims sysinstall will figure out geometry from a preexisting DOS partition, but this didn't work for me -- perhaps because my DOS partition started at sector #63?? I was able to boot FreeBSD from the 5.2 CD-ROM, after installing with sysinstall's bad geometry values. It seems it should be possible to install FreeBSD boot blocks at this point, without running through the whole sysinstall process, but I was unable to find any pointers to how to do so. I checked the FAQ (which says to reinstall from scratch), and the manual pages for fdisk, sysinstall, boot0cfg, and disklabel (4.9) -- is "bsdlabel -B ad0s2" the right way to go?? >How-To-Repeat: Search www.freebsd.org for "sysinstall geometry" seeking information on getting a 5.2 system to bootstrap correctly. Bang head -- do not damage desk. >Fix: Mention sysinstall's good but imperfect geometry guessing in Handbook (http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/install-pre.html 2.2.3) & FAQ (http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/install.html#GEOMETRY). Suggest disklabel/bsdlabel in Handbook & FAQ & http://www.freebsd.org/relnotes/4-STABLE/installation/i386/trouble.html (4.2.2) for fixing non-bootable systems installed with incorrect geometry. Add bsdlabel/disklabel to SEE ALSO under boot0cfg. >Release-Note: >Audit-Trail: >Unformatted: