From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Feb 4 15:11:58 2010 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DB367106568F for ; Thu, 4 Feb 2010 15:11:58 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from martin@dc.cis.okstate.edu) Received: from dc.cis.okstate.edu (dc.cis.okstate.edu [139.78.103.93]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B0B3B8FC1E for ; Thu, 4 Feb 2010 15:11:57 +0000 (UTC) Received: from dc.cis.okstate.edu (localhost.cis.okstate.edu [127.0.0.1]) by dc.cis.okstate.edu (8.14.2/8.13.8) with ESMTP id o14FBmge056897 for ; Thu, 4 Feb 2010 09:11:48 -0600 (CST) (envelope-from martin@dc.cis.okstate.edu) Message-Id: <201002041511.o14FBmge056897@dc.cis.okstate.edu> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Date: Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:11:48 -0600 From: Martin McCormick Subject: Re: More sysinstall questions 1 of 2 X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:11:58 -0000 Polytropon writes: > This seems to be obvious because no changes have been made > to the disk (i. e. no slicing, no MBRin, no partitioning). > > > The CDROM for installing FreeBSD correctly formats the > > drive and installs the OS on that very same box. My first > > question is why doesn't the mfs do the same thing? > > This is a matter of what has been selected within the partition > editor. If not "UFS2+S Y" is set, no formatting process will > take place. From the shell prompt, I run sysinstall with no arguments both from mfs and from a CDROM. As far as I can tell, the screens are identical in that there is nothing new to turn on or off when I run sysinstall from mfs. It immediately selects ad0 as the drive to format: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� User Confirmation Requested 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � WARNING: It is safe to use a geometry of 77504/16/63 for ad0 on � � computers with modern BIOS versions. If this disk is to be used � � on an old machine it is recommended that it does not have more � � than 65535 cylinders, more than 255 heads, or more than � � 63 sectors per track. � � � � Would you like to keep using the current geometry? � � � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴캑 � [ Yes ] No � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 I type y to okay the geometry. Disk name: ad0 FDISK Partition Editor DISK Geometry: 77504 cyls/16 heads/63 sectors = 78124032 sectors (38146MB) Offset Size(ST) End Name PType Desc Subtype Flags 0 63 62 - 12 unused 0 63 78123969 78124031 ufsid/4b6787a7598a9a8bs1 8 freebsd 78124032 968 78124999 - 12 unused 0 The following commands are supported (in upper or lower case): A = Use Entire Disk G = set Drive Geometry C = Create Slice D = Delete Slice Z = Toggle Size Units S = Set Bootable | = Expert m. T = Change Type U = Undo All Changes W = Write Changes Use F1 or ? to get more help, arrow keys to select. I type the a and then the q to use the whole disk. I enter the parameters on the next screen and here is what it looks like when filled in: FreeBSD Disklabel Editor Disk: ad0 Partition name: ad0s1 Free: 0 blocks (0MB) Part Mount Size Newfs Part Mount Size Newfs ---- ----- ---- ----- ---- ----- ---- ----- ad0s1b swap 1024MB SWAP ad0s1a / 37122MB UFS2 Y I then installed the 8.0installation CDROM which calls sysinstall after one enters country and terminal settings and went through precisely the same steps except that I chose the CDROM as the FreeBSD installation source as the network is not up at that point. The screen for the bsdlabel editor under the CDROM is identical to that under mfs except for one line which may be due to the manner in which I captured the screen shot. None of the values are different. Here it is for the record: FreeBSD Disklabel Editor Disk: ad0 Partition name: ad0s1 Free: 0 blocks (0MB) Part Mount Size Newfs Part Mount Size Newfs ---- ----- ---- ----- ---- ----- ---- ----- ad0s1b swap 1024MB SWAP ad0s1a / 37122MB UFS2 Y The following commands are valid here (upper or lower case): C = Create D = Delete M = Mount pt. N = Newfs Opts Q = Finish S = Toggle SoftUpdates Z = Custom Newfs T = Toggle Newfs U = Undo A = Auto Defaults R = Delete+Merge Use F1 or ? to get more help, arrow keys to select. After filling in the bsdlabel screen's parameters and selecting distributions, that is when we get: lqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq User Confirmation Requested qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqk x Last Chance! Are you SURE you want continue the installation? x x x x If you're running this on a disk with data you wish to save x x then WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO MAKE PROPER BACKUPS before x x proceeding! x x x x We can take no responsibility for lost disk contents! x tqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqu x [ Yes ] No x mqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqj Entering y and waiting several minutes as all the data were extracted produced: lqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq Message qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqk xCongratulations! You now have FreeBSD installed on your system. x x x xWe will now move on to the final configuration questions. x xFor any option you do not wish to configure, simply select x xNo. x x x xIf you wish to re-enter this utility after the system is up, you x xmay do so by typing: /usr/sbin/sysinstall. x tqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq(100%)qqu x [ OK ] x mqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq[ Press enter or space ]qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqj Whatever it is that differs between using mfs to run sysinstall and the CDROM to also run sysinstall is not obvious, at least to me. Sorry for the length of this message and I hope all the little boxes and box parts didn't wreck anybody's terminal. Martin McCormick