Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 08:42:38 -0400 From: "fbsd2" <fbsd2@a1poweruser.com> To: "Ross Penner" <ross.penner@gmail.com>, "User questions" <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: RE: Installing from USB Flash Drive Message-ID: <NBECLJEKGLBKHHFFANMBOEKPCFAA.fbsd2@a1poweruser.com> In-Reply-To: <op.twd8jds0q910fd@localhost>
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I was really taken with the idea for using a USB flash stick disk drive =
to install FreeBSD from. I used the script from the mentioned URL below =
as the starting point. After some changes to the script I got it to =
work. I was able to boot off the USB flash stick disk drive, But then =
was faced with a show stopper. During the sysinstall process after it =
asks for hard drive fdisk and bsdlable info it asks you for where to get =
the install files from (IE: cdrom, remote ftp, floppy, dos partition, =
ECT) there is no option to tell the sysinstall program to use USB-dd as =
source location.=20
So in summary, this idea is un-usable until the sysinstall program gets =
updated to include an option to use USB-dd as an install source. This =
brings to light another problem. That is using floppies to install =
FreeBSD from. PC manufactures are no longer building systems with =
floppies drives included. Combining the FreeBSD floppy images to a =
single USB-dd image would be away to continue to offer this method of =
installing FreeBSD.
Included below is my working script to populate a 1GB USB flash stick =
disk with the FreeBSD cd1 iso file.
#!/bin/sh
#Purpose =3D Use to transfer the FreeBSD install cd1 to=20
# a bootable 1GB USB flash drive so it can be used to install =
from.=20
# First fetch the FreeBSD 6.2-RELEASE-i386-disc1.iso to your
# hard drive /usr. Then execute this script from the command =
line
# fbsd2usb /usr/6.2-RELEASE-i386-disc1.iso =
/usr/6.2-RELEASE-i386-disc1.img
# Change system bios to boot from USB-dd and away you go.=20
# NOTE: This script has to be run from root and your 1GB USB flash drive
# has to be plugged in before running this script.=20
# On the command line enter fbsd2usb iso-path img-path
# You can set some variables here. Edit them to fit your needs.
# Set serial variable to 0 if you don't want serial console at all,
# 1 if you want comconsole and 2 if you want comconsole and vidconsole
serial=3D0
set -u
if [ $# -lt 2 ]; then
echo "Usage: $0 source-iso-path output-img-path"
exit 1
fi
isoimage=3D$1; shift
imgoutfile=3D$1; shift
# Temp directory to be used later
#export tmpdir=3D$(mktemp -d -t fbsdmount)
export tmpdir=3D$(mktemp -d /usr/fbsdmount)
export isodev=3D$(mdconfig -a -t vnode -f ${isoimage})
ISOSIZE=3D$(du -k ${isoimage} | awk '{print $1}')
SECTS=3D$((($ISOSIZE + ($ISOSIZE/5))*4))
#SECTS=3D$((($ISOSIZE + ($ISOSIZE/5))*2))
echo " "
echo "### Initializing image File started ###"
echo "### This will take about 4 minutes ###"
date
dd if=3D/dev/zero of=3D${imgoutfile} count=3D${SECTS}
echo "### Initializing image File completed ###"
date
echo " "
ls -l ${imgoutfile}
export imgdev=3D$(mdconfig -a -t vnode -f ${imgoutfile})
bsdlabel -w -B ${imgdev}
newfs -O1 /dev/${imgdev}a
mkdir -p ${tmpdir}/iso ${tmpdir}/img
mount -t cd9660 /dev/${isodev} ${tmpdir}/iso
mount /dev/${imgdev}a ${tmpdir}/img
echo " "
echo "### Started Copying files to the image now ###"
echo "### This will take about 15 minutes ###"
date
( cd ${tmpdir}/iso && find . -print -depth | cpio -dump ${tmpdir}/img )
echo "### Completed Copying files to the image ###"
date
if [ ${serial} -eq 2 ]; then
echo "-D" > ${tmpdir}/img/boot.config
echo 'console=3D"comconsole, vidconsole"' >> =
${tmpdir}/img/boot/loader.conf
elif [ ${serial} -eq 1 ]; then
echo "-h" > ${tmpdir}/img/boot.config
echo 'console=3D"comconsole"' >> ${tmpdir}/img/boot/loader.conf
fi
echo " "
echo "### Started writing image to flash drive now ###"
echo "### This will take about 30 minutes ###"
date
dd if=3D${imgoutfile} of=3D/dev/da0 bs=3D1m
echo "### Completed writing image to flash drive at ###"
date
cleanup() {
umount ${tmpdir}/iso
mdconfig -d -u ${isodev}
umount ${tmpdir}/img
mdconfig -d -u ${imgdev}
rm -rf ${tmpdir}=20
}
cleanup
ls -lh ${imgoutfile}
echo "### Script finished ###"
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org =
[mailto:owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org]On Behalf Of Ross Penner
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 2:34 PM
To: User questions
Subject: Installing from USB Flash Drive
Hi everybody,
I'm trying to install a system on a machine that doesn't have an optical =
drive. I plan on using a USB flash drive to do the job and found a=20
messages from hackers@freebsd.org=20
(http://www.mail-archive.com/freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org/msg55434.html)=20
about just such a thing. The script provided converts the CD image into=20
one suitable for a flashmemory stick. I used and coverted it without=20
issue. The instructions say to use dd to prepare the flash drive so=20
executed
#dd if=3Dflashbsd.iso of=3D/dev/da0
I'm not entirely confident that that was the correct procedure, as I'm=20
quite unfamilar with dd. Unfortunetly, I can't seem to get the drive to=20
boot. I can mount the filesystem so it seems that prepareing the drive =
was=20
succesful. I'm using a via chipset and yes, the bios is set to boot from =
USB-FDD. I used the 6.2 boot only image.
Thanks for any insight you can provide me.
Ross
--
sig ho!
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