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Date:      Sat, 17 Jan 1998 10:09:46 +1030
From:      Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com>
To:        jackson@msrce.howard.edu
Cc:        freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: easy install?  I think not!
Message-ID:  <19980117100946.25067@lemis.com>
In-Reply-To: <9801162306.AA17048@negril.msrce.howard.edu>; from jackson@msrce.howard.edu on Fri, Jan 16, 1998 at 06:06:30PM -0500
References:  <9801162306.AA17048@negril.msrce.howard.edu>

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On Fri, Jan 16, 1998 at 06:06:30PM -0500, jackson@msrce.howard.edu wrote:
>> subscribe freebsd-questions
> Sorry for that.
>
> Problem description:
> I've been trying to install freebsd 2.2.5 on a packard bell 70Mhz pentium from
> the Walnut Creek CDROM for the past few days with no luck. This computer belongs
> to a friend who needs unix for class work, but she doesn't know anything about
> the hardware.  As far as I can tell it has 1 ide hard drive, 1 ide cd drive a
> pci video card and a modem. It boots fine, from a floppy, (after I disable all
> the devices with irq conflicts).  I can then repartition the hard disk set up
> the freebsd partitions and then select the install files (X-Developer) and the
> distribution media CDROM.  It then tells me this is my last chance to abort.
> After an ok, the installer makes all the file systems, puts booteasy on the MBR
> and then stops with an error saying that an emergency shell has been started on
> vty4. 

This message is normal, assuming we're talking about the same one.
What makes you sure that the installation has stopped?  The messages
on the log window (Alt-F2) will tell you that if there's nothing on
the main installation window.

> Alt-f4 takes me to a shell with a '#' prompt, which I assume is run
> from the flopy since very few commands work.  Alt-f2, I think, takes
> me to a log window which doesn't appear to have any error
> messages. I then tried to copy the install files to the hard drive.

You're unlikely to be successful like that.

> Running view I started the necessary program and configured it to
> copy the necessary files.  Even that gave me an error, something
> like 'x32bin.tgz not found'. I then deselected xf86, and the files
> were copied to the hard drive.  Trying the installer again, using
> the hard disk for the install media this time, gave the same results
> as noted above.  I also noticed that the installer goes into an
> infinite loop after an error from the first screen to the first
> partition screen and back to the first screen.

> Questions:

> Is this a hardware problem?

Possibly.  We need to know the last messages from the log window
to determine what the problem is.

> Is there another way to install freebsd without using the installer?

Yes, but you don't want to know about it.  It won't make things any
easier.

> Is this a problem with the Walnut Creek CD?

Not with the distribution.  Maybe with the individual CD-ROM.  The
output of the log window can help answer this question, too.

> What other distributions of freebsd are out there?

None better.  They're mainly copies of the Walnut Creek CD-ROM.

> Has the freebsd web site been down for the past few days?

Yes.  It suffered serious hardware damage, and it took a while for it
to come back up again.  Things should be OK now, since your message
came via it.

Greg




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