Date: Sat, 23 May 2020 13:04:49 -0700 From: David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: installation of 12.1R and 11.3R fails Message-ID: <f4a4889a-1e7f-b951-3d67-35994cbcf2a6@holgerdanske.com> In-Reply-To: <CAEC73938_0co-Sk3JzZz10gP%2BVg6%2Bk1jWj87KJbU3_XkLU2Spg@mail.gmail.com> References: <CAEC7393CTQGQ=zQ7fM63iSkpdvO8R0q-q6iLWUOx4=XaYanO1A@mail.gmail.com> <d760435a-af0d-8a84-b350-43311c8e321e@holgerdanske.com> <CAEC73938_0co-Sk3JzZz10gP%2BVg6%2Bk1jWj87KJbU3_XkLU2Spg@mail.gmail.com>
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On 2020-05-22 21:43, Donald Wilde wrote: > Service tag 5K8W162 > > I will try using MBR instead of GPT, as you suggest. I did that once > the first time and no joy. Other than that and using the USB instead > of DVD, the only other delta in your procedure is zeroing the disk and > ensuring that all settings in BIOS are set to default. > > Do I need to erase my USB key and only put the key-version ISO on it? > Why would that be superior to using a DVD, other than the waste of > plastic? > > The only other possible problem I can see is that I simply named the > machine, and did not create a meaningless FQDN (in my NAT). > > Thank you for your answer, and I WILCO. On 2020-05-22 22:20, Clay Daniels wrote: > I would second all of David's suggestions, but would like to also recommend > using GParted to clear & write a new partition table, be it MBR or GPT. > GParted lets you take control of the drive. It's Gnome Partition Editor & > free: > > https://gparted.org/ On 2020-05-22 23:03, Manish Jain wrote: > I think we are using a nuclear missile to kill a mosquito ! > > The FreeBSD installer can do everything needed by itself. > > 1) Boot from the FreeBSD CD/DVD > > 2) Choose Install > > 3) At the disk setup page, choose Manual > > 4) Remove all existing partitions. When done that, press 'd' again (for > delete) with ada0 selected. That will delete the partition table itself. > > 5) Press 'c' (for create) to create a new MBR (DOS) partition table. > > 6) Create partitions as needed and install. > > That should be it. On 2020-05-23 02:01, D'Arcy Cain wrote: > [Zeroing the disk] is exactly what I found when going from Linux to FreeBSD. Just run > dd(1) with input file /dev/zero on the raw disk before starting your > installation. You have to completely wipe out the Linux boot blocks. On 2020-05-23 08:06, Donald Wilde wrote: > The MBR boot after wiping the disk was successful. YAY, Beasties! TYVM > for all the advice. :D > > Taking your thought to heart, D'Arcy, I'm going to try again with GPT > now that Linux is gone, gone, gone! :D I'm glad the BIOS/ MBR install worked. :-) That looks like a decent daily driver laptop, especially if you maxed out the RAM and installed a good SSD: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/servicetag/0-aUlCTHJhMTkzWUs5S1dMQjN2WGdIdz090/overview My 2007 Inspiron E1505 gave me many years of service (with repairs and upgrades). It still works. I zero my USB flash drives before burning them with an installer image out of sheer OCD, but it should not be required. (I wrote a Perl script to only write zeros to dirty blocks, to conserve write cycles.) Most every x86 computer made in the last 30 years will have a USB port. Many newer computers, especially portable computers, do not have optical drives. It is easy to make changes to an installer on a USB flash drive, and you don't have to burn a disc for every edit-compile-test cycle. I hacked my FreeBSD USB installer to slice and partition system disks the way I like them. I have boogered installs many ways, including the hostname, FQDN, network name, and/or network settings. The FreeBSD installer offers you a root shell into the installed image near the end. If you know what file(s) to edit, you can fix those mistakes. Alternatively, some installers let you re-run specific steps. TIMTOWDI. I image my system disks regularly. Zero-filling them before an install saves image storage space. Partition editors within installers typically do not zero-fill. (I need to figure out how to zero unused blocks beneath GELI and ZFS prior to imaging; does anyone know how?) David
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