*BSD News Article 27743


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From: nate@bsd.coe.montana.edu (Nate Williams)
Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions
Subject: Re: Why does FreeBSD only boot from floppy for me?
Date: 25 Feb 1994 01:21:32 GMT
Organization: Montana State University, Bozeman  MT
Lines: 28
Message-ID: <2kjjqs$hvj@pdq.coe.montana.edu>
References: <1994Feb16.102445.5901@paramount.nikhefk.nikhef.nl> <CEB.94Feb19052513@netcom4.netcom.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: bsd.coe.montana.edu

In article <CEB.94Feb19052513@netcom4.netcom.com>,
Ch. Buckley <ceb@netcom4.netcom.com> wrote:
>   However, the system prints "Mission operating system" (or something like that)
>   and then halts. It seems like the MBR tries to boot from the FreeBSD 
>   partition but it doesn't recognize a valid operating system there, 
>   understandable because DOS won't recognize FreeBSD.

That because FreeBSD was installed with different disk parameters
(heads, cylinders, sectors) than what were used for DOS.  What you
*need* to do is to: 
1) Get the disk parameters out of the BIOS table and stick those in when
   you install FreeBSD.
2) Use a program like pfdisk in the tools/dos_tools directory to
   create your FreeBSD partition.  This is a DOS utility that uses
   the same parameters as DOS does so everything is done right.

The new wd driver will give us the correct information in the future,
but this ability is fairly new and we have not had the time to make new
install tools that can use this information.


Nate

-- 
nate@bsd.coe.montana.edu     |  FreeBSD core member and all around tech.
nate@cs.montana.edu          |  weenie.
work #: (406) 994-4836       |  Graduating May '94 with a BS in EE 
home #: (406) 586-0579       |  - looking for work in CS/EE field.