Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 09:12:56 +0100 From: Clem.Dye@wdr.com To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org, kmc@best.com Subject: RE: Boot to FreeBSD 3.1 on wd1 from NTLDR on wd0? Message-ID: <H0000082019911e3@MHS>
next in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Kevin: I've gone through this process on my test system to prove-out the concept before I rebuild my main system - here's what I've concluded so far. (I stand to be corrected by those who know this whole process better, BTW). If FreeBSD is going to live on a second drive (wd1/whatever) then it appears that you have to use the FBSD boot loader. The F? options will allow you to boot to FBSD or DOS. If you boot to DOS, you'll then get the NT bootloader. There is a 'hack' somewhere (sorry, I don't have the URL) which changes FBSD's boot process to look at the second drive as the boot drive by default, which may be of relevance here, but in any event, means a kernel rebuild, from what I can gather. In order to use NT's bootloader to boot DOS/NT/FreeBSD I took the following approach (which is documented in the handbook, I think, but not fully enough). Sorry if this sounds a little vague - in my zeal to get this working, I didn't take any notes - doh! 1) Repartition the first disk (wd0/whatever) to have a small DOS partition, leaving the rest untouched. Install DOS etc. 2) Prepare the second drive (wd1/whatever) as normal (FAT in my case) and install NT4 on the second drive. NT will install it's bootloader in the small DOS partition on the first drive. 3) Install FBSD 3.1 from DOS (or CD boot) in the unused slice on the first drive, without installing a bootloader. 4) When the installation is complete, restart the FBSD installation and use the second CD's environment to DD the bootblock from the second partition of the first drive to a DOS-formatted floppy (or mount the DOS partition on the first drive). 5) Restart NT, then patch the FBSD boot info. into the NT loader - you're done! The bottom line here is that it seems like NT is more flexible as to where you place the M$ code. Both NT and FBSD need to start a boot sequence from the first drive, but it seems that unless you use the FreeBSD bootloader, you have to place FBSD on the first drive somewhere (below 1024 cyls., I think). HTH Clem PS: Sorry about the 'War-and-Peace' disclaimer at the foot of this message - it's down to my employer and there's zip-all that I can do about it. -----Original Message----- From: kmc Sent: 19 April 1999 23:55 To: freebsd-questions Cc: kmc Subject: Boot to FreeBSD 3.1 on wd1 from NTLDR on wd0? I'm trying to install FreeBSD 3.1 RELEASE from CD onto a second hard disk in a Dell Optiplex GXi, and I'm having trouble with the boot sequence. The first hard disk, a WD 8GB IDE, has NT4 on it with an msdos file system, using NTLDR to boot that as usual. I should be able to use NTLDR to boot either NT on the first disk or FreeBSD on the second, I think. I installed FreeBSD on a second 3GB WD disk, using the FDISK Compatibility option. I set the freebsd slice to be bootable in the fdisk step of sysinstall, took the default FreeBSD Boot Manager default to be installed on wd1. I didn't see a clearly distinguished option to format and install on wd1 but install the Boot Manager on wd0, however I figured NTLDR should let me use a boot sector from wd1. This ought to be possible somehow, I've done it on systems where the BSD partition is on the same disk as NTLDR. After the file systems were created and the distributions and packages were installed, I switched to VT4 and did this: # mkdir /nt # mount -t msdos /dev/wd0s1 /nt # df Filesystem 512-byte blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted On fd0c 5607 2566 ... 50% / /dev/wd1s1a 95198 36236 ... 41% /mnt /dev/wd1s1f 5518076 613464 ... 12% /mnt/usr /dev/wd1s1e 95198 524 ... 1% /mnt/var /dev/wcd0c ... ... ... 100% /dist /dev/wd0s1 4192320 ... ... 64% /nt # dd if=/dev/rwd1s1a of=/nt/rwd1s1a.bsd bs=512 count=1 Is this the right place to copy from? Apparently not, because when I point NT's BOOT.INI to it with this entry C:\RWD1S1A.BSD="FreeBSD 3.1" the result is: "Boot Error", and nothing further. So what's wrong with this recipe, and how can I fix it? Kevin McCarty To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard-copy version. This message is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or related financial instruments. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?H0000082019911e3>