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From: cosc19v2@menudo.uh.edu (cosc19v2)
Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.misc,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: Impressions: FreeBSD vs Linux
Date: 3 Apr 1994 07:55:00 -0500
Organization: University of Houston
Lines: 137
Message-ID: <2nmeb4$ro@menudo.uh.edu>
References: <CMzw69.92K@tower.nullnet.fi> <2neomp$k5t@clarknet.clark.net> <2nf0fo$76u@sbus.entropic.com> <2nm6tb$m6u@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
NNTP-Posting-Host: menudo.uh.edu
In article <2nm6tb$m6u@klaava.Helsinki.FI>,
Linus Torvalds <torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI> wrote:
>In article <2nf0fo$76u@sbus.entropic.com>,
>Ken Hornstein <kenh@wrl.epi.com> wrote:
>>
>>I guess the concept of "no pain, no gain" is foreign to you?
>
Unfortunately, in case *BSD, "Lots of pain, no gain" to most people.
>Sorry. I dislike these flame wars intensely, and I just happen to find
>the above "concept" one of the more disgusting ones ("Hey, I'm *macho*,
>I use an operating system that is PAINFUL because that way I gain
>much").
I strongly agree with Linus. It is like a car mechanic saying the same
thing : "No pain, no gain" with a problem car, implying that the driver
should know how to rebuild the engine, how to fix when oil leaks, etc...
In fact, if the instructions are given correctly, I can do it, but
in case of *BSD, most the instructions are either outdated, incorrect, or
not clear.
>Next I guess you'll tell me "you get what you pay for". I haven't been
>this close to flaming someone in a *long* time,
>
> Linus
Don't worry. For some people, "No flame, no gain". :)
>PS. I tested out Slackware a few weeks ago, and my reaction was "hey,
>this install looks like a DOS program". I'm not ashamed to admit that I
>was immensely pleased.
In fact, I installed it a week ago freshly, and it went very
smooth. I think that the total installation procedure was much more
simpler than SUN workstation's case.
But when I hooked it up with network, I felt that the network performance
was not really satisfactory. I felt it quite sluggish than even SUN3s.
(Linus, do you possibley know why ?).
Here is my experience in installing NetBSD. I somewhat succeeded, so
if people are interested in, they may continue to read.
I think that installing DOS/UNIX in one disk is quite typical, and
if you read the volumenous 386BSD FAQ or succinct NetBSD Install guide,
nothing is clear about it.
First I followed the NetBSD Install guide : It doesn't work. So, I tried
installing in whole disk. In case it works. But I really needed DOS
partition, I don't have enough money just like standard *BSD users, and
I feel that 540M is enough for my use (for DOS and NetBSD together).
So I read 386BSD FAQ, and there is a very interesting (quite amusing,
and looks like a joke to Linux users. Every Linux users should see
386BSD FAQ 2.5.3 - how to install multiple OS in one drive).
How good if that hassle would just work. If you followed the instruction
correctly, it doesn't work either.
After wasting lots of time in figuring out using trial-and-error method,
I finally found a way how to install DOS/*BSD in one IDE drive :
--------------
0) Preparation :
You must have the following available :
pfdisk (from linux dosutils in tsx-11).
fdisk from DOS 5 or higher.
Bootable DOS.
NetBSD Kernel disk, file1 disk, file2 disk.
You must back up any important data in your HD.
1) Since NetBSD wants you to start NetBSD partition to start from
cylinder boundary ( Be careful ! The installation instruction tells
you to prepare calculator and use math for cylinder/head/sector stuff,
but it will eventually wipe out DOS partition),
use pfdisk to partition the disk in cylider number AND to edit the
partition id (you can give a5 to NetBSD in later step).
2) If this is not your first try and you were screwed up previous time,
you will need this step. For safety, you can just include this step.
a) Use fdisk, and see the partition table.
b) Write the partition sizes in Megabytes on a scatch pad
as seen in the table.
c) Do 'fdisk /mbr' to remove NetBSD boot which possibly exists.
d) Use fdisk and remove all partitions. And reboot.
e) Use fdisk to repartition the disk (now you need the scratch pad
in b)). Use the partition size in Megabytes in b) to partition
the disk. Reboot.
f) Use pfdisk and see partition table.
For your safty, check whether it started from the cylinder boundary
(as same as the numbers shown in 1)).
Write all the informations
- starting sector, partition size in sector, ...etc.
on your scratch pad.
g) Give partition id 165 (a5 in hex) to NetBSD using the pfdisk. Reboot.
h) format c:/s/u (if you wish).
3) Use kernel diskette.
Reboot the machine.
... the step is same until you copy the kernel in floppy to HD.....
Insert file system 1 diskette.
Use the informations you got from 2-f) to prepare HD.
Rboot with kernel diskette.
>Copy
>wd0a
4) Now, if you follow the instruction in NetBSD installation guide,
it won't work.
First boot with the kernel diskette.
when the propmt waits on :-, quickly (within 5 sec) type
wd(0,a)/netbsd, which means you are booting from the copied kernel
in HD (the root partition).
It will ask you to insert the file system 2 diskette.
And just follow the simple instructions.
5) When you next boot, do the same thing :
type wd(0,a)/netbsd.
If you want single user mode, type 'wd(0,a)/netbsd -s' while the
prompt is waitin on :- (for a few seconds).
6) Now you may continue to install using 'extract' command.
7) You may wish to hack around the boot sector using os-bxxx, but
in my case, I was afraid of losing what I have done, so I decided to
make boot diskette for myself.
8) However, in next step - to update the old 0.9 version to Current,
The FAQ's procedure (3.1.8) led me to "Bus error. core dump". :(
It seems to me that I should give up.
Too bad that I realized too late that I shouldn't start *BSD stuff at all
:(