Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:26:10 -0800 From: Nerius Landys <nlandys@gmail.com> To: "C. P. Ghost" <cpghost@cordula.ws> Cc: Mark Shroyer <subscriber+freebsd@markshroyer.com>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Replacing Home Router With PC Message-ID: <560f92641003121026j785eabb2h9d6bcee0753cfeb0@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <d74eb87c1003120305l2c60f203w3b58ae677721f867@mail.gmail.com> References: <93C575B79E9B01449EBBB084032BC570123208B760@mail.ucwv.edu> <44ocivszcb.fsf@be-well.ilk.org> <4B99D335.8010800@markshroyer.com> <d74eb87c1003120305l2c60f203w3b58ae677721f867@mail.gmail.com>
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> Yep! Geode-based boxes are great. The ALIX boards are looking like > Soekris gear, which I'm very happy with (of course running FreeBSD): > > http://www.soekris.com/net5501.htm Is there a nice guide that explains how to install FreeBSD onto a headless system (such as one of these small devices) via serial port? I've done this once before but it was long ago, and it was actually an install via floppy disk and CD-ROM combination (IIRC), so that procedure would not apply here (regarding these tiny devices mentioned above). The Handbook contains some explanation regarding serial communication, but I don't believe they really explain _installing_ onto a headless system. Also, in the past, I've had problems installing FreeBSD via CD-ROM drive that was connected as a USB. I know that in the past FreeBSD didn't support booting via USB device, maybe they have fixed that? My last encounter with the USB-boot problem was with my 1U server that didn't have a CD-ROM drive; I was not able to install i386 7.0 onto that. I had to open the 1U case and temporarily hook up an IDE CD-ROM drive. If I remember correctly, trying to boot from a USB CD-ROM would result in getting a TON of garbled text scrolling across the screen. I actually posted about that about 2 years back, and the responses indicated that booting via USB device was not supported. My imagination would tell me that to install FreeBSD onto one of these tiny devices, I would first create an ISO image that would basically use serial communication for everything, then burn that to a CD, then boot via USB CD-ROM drive, while having another computer connected to the serial port of the tiny device (via null modem cable) and using a command-line tool such as ``cu'' from the other computer. I would be very interested into looking into purchasing one of these small devices, but I'm really scared about the FreeBSD install procedure.
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