From owner-freebsd-questions Mon Feb 9 16:21:10 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id QAA00606 for questions-outgoing; Mon, 9 Feb 1998 16:21:10 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from mental (dyna212.dialup.dti.net [206.252.158.58]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id QAA00538 for ; Mon, 9 Feb 1998 16:20:57 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from spork@dti.net) Received: from localhost (spork@localhost) by mental (8.8.7/8.8.7) with SMTP id TAA00261; Mon, 9 Feb 1998 19:19:35 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from spork@dti.net) X-Authentication-Warning: mental: spork owned process doing -bs Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 19:19:35 -0500 (EST) From: Spike Gronim X-Sender: spork@mental Reply-To: spork To: Peter Hutchinson cc: questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: FreeBSD newbie looking for tips In-Reply-To: Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Mon, 9 Feb 1998, Peter Hutchinson wrote: > Hi > > Having worked with successive MSDOS and various embodiments of Windows at a > high level for many years, I would now really like to get started with UNIX. > I have some slight experience of an old XENIX box, although more in terms of > use rather than setup/administration. What I would ideally like to do is > install freebsd onto a new partition on an existing MSDOS/Win95/FAT16 disk, > and would appreciate any tips/annecdotes/important considerations before > beginning. I've read a lot of docs and readme-type stuff at www.freebsd.org, > and what I've seen so far looks encouraging. > > What I would really like to know is: > - what would you consider a reasonable partition size for a mid-range > freebsd installation ? (I have a 1.2GB IDE drive that is already pretty full > but am considering purchasing a second unit that I would probably run > exclusively as a single DOS partition, with the boot portions of DOS and > freebsd in its entirity remaining on the existing disk). The machine is an > AST P133 (Intel) with 24mb RAM, ATAPI CDROM, SiS video and ESS1788 > soundblaster-compatible soundcard. On a 1.2 GB disk, I had 450 M. > > - is the FIPS utility available on the ftp sites really any good at > shrinking an active, primary DOS partition without reformatting or > reinstalling ? Does Win95 cope with it and if so how well ? (I've heard it > can screw entire filesystems at boot on a bad day). What are the chances of > screwing the drive completely ? Is there a boot manager set up/provided by > either fips or the freebsd install ? First time using it, I fipsed my hard drive and winbloze ignores the new FBSD partitions. There is a perfectly functional bootmanager, BootEasy, that comes with the install and works fine. > > - is installing via ftp a practical possibility over a 28.8 analogue > modem line, or am I going to be paying the phone bill off for the next 20 > years ? It will take a while. It is quite possible that buying the CDROM from Walnut Creek would be less expensive than subsequent phone charges. > > - any good books or online resources you would recommend for someone in > my position :-) Go to http://www.freebsd.org/handbook, /FAQ, and whatever other documentation is on the site. If you are a first-time user and have the space, deffinetely install the docks. > > Thanks for any help/advice you can give. Also, sorry if this would be better > posted/mailed elsewhere ! > > > -- > Peter Hutchinson > ph@phutch.demon.co.uk > Cheshire > United Kingdom > "Who is Fatal Error, and why is he reading my drive ?" > > > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe questions" in the body of the message > > -Spike Gronim sporkl@dti.net "I gonna wave my freak flag high." --Jimmi Jendrix To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe questions" in the body of the message