Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 13:55:26 +0000 From: "Alphons \"Fonz\" van Werven" <a.j.werven@student.utwente.nl> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: [FreeBSD] 6.3-R diskhandling Message-ID: <479B3BCE.3050808@student.utwente.nl>
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Hi,
I have a recent model Toshiba laptop here, dual-booting Windows Vista and
Slackware Linux (not my call, so no flames please). When I got the
go-ahead to replace Linux with FreeBSD 6.3-RELEASE, the following
happened:
The partitioner complained that the found geometry 232581/16/63 is invalid
and it's using a more likely geometry instead. Closer inspection reveals
that this "more likely" geom (14593/255/63) is actually the real geometry,
so question 1 is: where did FreeBSD get this other weird-ass geometry
from?
When installing the boot manager, it hosed Windows' bootability. I could
mount and access the Windows partition from within FreeBSD just fine so
the partition itself seemed to be okay, but it just wouldn't boot. When I
selected it in the bootmanager menu, it showed a screen saying Windows
can't boot and I should use the recovery disk to repair Windows. Since
everything on the machine that was even remotely important had just been
backed up and Windows was due for a reinstall anyway, I just reinstalled
it and no harm was done, but I still wonder what happened. How come
FreeBSD's boot manager stopped Windows from booting?
The reinstall of Windows wiped away everything else, so I can retry
installing FreeBSD. But given the troubles described above, what's the
best way to do it? Currently, I'm considering the following:
1. Boot this Live Linux CD I have lying around here and which finds the
correct geometry for the disk right away.
2. Make a backup of the MBR.
3. Create a partition (slice) for FreeBSD.
4. Boot the FreeBSD install disk and run through sysinstall (partitioning
the slice Linux just created) but don't let it install a boot loader.
5. Boot the Live Linux again and install LILO from there.
But if you have any other suggestions I'm all ears of course.
Oh, and a final question: the Windows installer creates a partition table
in which partitions (slices) don't end on cylinder/track boundaries. Is
this a big deal? Linux notices it but doesn't seem bothered much by it and
FreeBSD appears to act likewise. But I thought I'd better ask, just to be
sure.
Thanks in advance,
Alphons
--
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