From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Sat May 23 20:04:52 2020 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.nyi.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mailman.nyi.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5FCBB2DCC81 for ; Sat, 23 May 2020 20:04:52 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from dpchrist@holgerdanske.com) Received: from holgerdanske.com (holgerdanske.com [184.105.128.27]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits) key-exchange ECDHE (P-256) server-signature RSA-PSS (4096 bits) server-digest SHA256 client-signature RSA-PSS (4096 bits) client-digest SHA256) (Client CN "xray.he.net", Issuer "Let's Encrypt Authority X3" (verified OK)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 49TvTb3BsHz4ZlK for ; Sat, 23 May 2020 20:04:51 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from dpchrist@holgerdanske.com) Received: from 99.100.19.101 ([99.100.19.101]) by holgerdanske.com with ESMTPSA (TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256:TLSv1.3:Kx=any:Au=any:Enc=AESGCM(128):Mac=AEAD) (SMTP-AUTH username dpchrist@holgerdanske.com, mechanism PLAIN) for ; Sat, 23 May 2020 13:04:49 -0700 Subject: Re: installation of 12.1R and 11.3R fails To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: From: David Christensen Message-ID: Date: Sat, 23 May 2020 13:04:49 -0700 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:68.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/68.8.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Language: en-US Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Rspamd-Queue-Id: 49TvTb3BsHz4ZlK X-Spamd-Bar: +++ Authentication-Results: mx1.freebsd.org; dkim=none; dmarc=none; spf=none (mx1.freebsd.org: domain of dpchrist@holgerdanske.com has no SPF policy when checking 184.105.128.27) smtp.mailfrom=dpchrist@holgerdanske.com X-Spamd-Result: default: False [3.00 / 15.00]; RCVD_VIA_SMTP_AUTH(0.00)[]; ARC_NA(0.00)[]; MID_RHS_MATCH_FROM(0.00)[]; FROM_HAS_DN(0.00)[]; TO_MATCH_ENVRCPT_ALL(0.00)[]; NEURAL_SPAM_SHORT(0.46)[0.461]; MIME_GOOD(-0.10)[text/plain]; TO_DN_NONE(0.00)[]; PREVIOUSLY_DELIVERED(0.00)[freebsd-questions@freebsd.org]; AUTH_NA(1.00)[]; RCPT_COUNT_ONE(0.00)[1]; NEURAL_SPAM_MEDIUM(0.67)[0.672]; DMARC_NA(0.00)[holgerdanske.com]; NEURAL_SPAM_LONG(0.97)[0.967]; RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE(0.00)[184.105.128.27:from]; R_SPF_NA(0.00)[no SPF record]; FROM_EQ_ENVFROM(0.00)[]; R_DKIM_NA(0.00)[]; MIME_TRACE(0.00)[0:+]; ASN(0.00)[asn:6939, ipnet:184.104.0.0/15, country:US]; RCVD_COUNT_TWO(0.00)[2]; RCVD_TLS_ALL(0.00)[] X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.33 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 23 May 2020 20:04:52 -0000 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