Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 21:40:13 -0400 From: Garance A Drosihn <drosih@rpi.edu> To: Robert Nordier <rnordier@nordier.com> Cc: hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Multiple versions of FreeBSD on one HDD Message-ID: <v04210108b3cd44b9b659@[128.113.24.47]> In-Reply-To: <199908031801.UAA01402@m1-18-dbn.dial-up.net> References: <199908031801.UAA01402@m1-18-dbn.dial-up.net>
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At 8:01 PM +0200 8/3/99, Robert Nordier wrote:
>Garance wrote:
> > - If I select 2.2.8 at the PowerBoot menu, it comes up
> > with one error message about "no /boot/loader", but
> > then it comes right up in the 2.2.8 system. So this
> > works fine, although it looks odd.
>
>You're using the new boot blocks for 2.2.8, and these always try
>to pass control to loader(8). To get rid of the message, create
>a /boot.config file with the line
> /kernel
>in it.
Yes, that did get rid of the minor error message. Thanks.
> > - If I select 3.2 at the PowerBoot menu, it comes up
> > with two messages about "invalid partition", [...]
> > It seems to want to boot 'da(0,a)/kernel', but if I
> > type in 'da(0,e)/kernel', then it boots up fine.
>
>The problem here is a missing `a' partition. Seems like your
>first partition on that slice is `e'. There's a one-line
>patch to boot2 to get this working, but the standard version
>only autoboots from the `a' partition.
I did my fdisk-ing for both 2.2.8 and 3.2 systems while doing
the installation of 2.2.8 (I wanted to use the same partition
for swap on both, and that freebsd-partition was going to be
in the same fdisk-slice as the 3.2 install would be). Might
that be why I don't have an "a" partition in the third slice?
(the slice meant for freebsd-3.2).
[in case that doesn't make sense, here's the layout I
ended up with, as seen from the 3.2 system:
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
/dev/da0s3e 39647 21280 15196 58% /
/dev/da0s3g 248047 108480 119724 48% /Users
/dev/da0s3h 985287 465169 441296 51% /usr
/dev/da0s3f 59519 1905 52853 3% /var
procfs 4 4 0 100% /proc
/dev/da0s2a 38991 19802 16070 55% /228Root
/dev/da0s2f 390942 351090 8577 98% /228Usr
/dev/da0s2e 59471 950 53764 2% /228Var
with /dev/da0s3b being my swap partition when
booting either system. swapinfo from 3.2 shows:
Device 1K-blocks Used Avail Capacity Type
/dev/da0s3b 256000 0 255872 0% Interleaved
]
I'd rather not depend on patching boot2. Given that I wouldn't
mind (too much) to do some reinstalls, is there some way I can
end up with the first freebsd-partition in the third fdisk-slice
to be named /dev/da0s3a instead of /dev/da0s3e?
For instance, is this where your recommendation of:
>It's usually best to temporarily change fdisk partition types,
>so that sysinstall sees no existing FreeBSD slice on the drive.
>However, there may be other problems involved here as well.
would be help me out? (how does that first partition on the
third slice end up as "e" anyway? I didn't explicitly ask
for that...)
> > I have a number of questions from doing this:
> > 1. why does the install turn my HD unbootable? (invalid
> > partition table). I didn't ask it to re-fdisk anything,
> > and I didn't ask for it to change my boot loader.
>
>There are a number of possibilities, but one would have to look
>at a copy of the broken MBR to be sure. (The most usual reason
>for an "invalid partition table" message is multiple partitions
>flagged as active, or partitions that use the new-style active
>flag that is supported from Win95. This can be sorted out by
>booting from floppy or CD-ROM and using fdisk.)
I'll be out of town for a few days here, but maybe I'll try some
re-installs when I get back, and see if I can figure out some of
these things.
Thanks.
---
Garance Alistair Drosehn = gad@eclipse.acs.rpi.edu
Senior Systems Programmer or drosih@rpi.edu
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
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