1995-12-07 10:34:59 +00:00
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This is the Main Partition (or ``FDISK'') Editor.
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Possible commands are printed at the bottom and the Master Boot Record
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contents are shown at the top. You can move up and down with the
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arrow keys and (C)reate a new partition whenever the highlighted
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selection bar is over a partition whose type is marked as "unused."
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You are expected to leave this screen with at least one partition
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marked "FreeBSD." Note that unlike Linux, you don't need to create
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multiple FreeBSD fdisk partition entries for different things like
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swap, file systems, etc. The usual convention is to create ONE
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FreeBSD partition per drive and then subsection this partition into
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swap and file systems with the Label editor.
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1995-09-18 16:53:06 +00:00
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No actual changes will be made to the disk until you (C)ommit from the
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1995-12-07 10:34:59 +00:00
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Install menu or use the (W)rite option here! You're working with what
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is essentially a copy of the disk label(s), both here and in the Label
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Editor.
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If you want to use the entire disk for FreeBSD, type `A'. You'll be
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asked whether or not you wish to keep the disk (potentially) compatible
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with other operating systems, i.e. the information in the FDISK table
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should be kept valid. If you select the default of `Yes', slices will be
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aligned to fictitious cylinder boundaries and space will be reserved
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in front of the FreeBSD slice for a [future] possible boot manager.
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For the truly dedicated disk case, you can select `No' at the
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compatibility prompt. In that case, all BIOS geometry considerations
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will no longer be in effect and you can safely ignore any
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``The detected geometry is invalid'' warning messages you may later
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see. It is also not necessary in this case to set a partition bootable
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or install an MBR boot manager as both things are then irrelevant.
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The FreeBSD slice will start at absolute sector 0 of the disk (so that
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FreeBSD's disk label is identical to the Master Boot Record) and
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extend to the very last sector of the disk medium. Needless to say,
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such a disk cannot have any sort of a boot manager, `disk manager',
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or anything else that has to interact with the BIOS. This option is
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therefore only considered safe for SCSI disks and most IDE disks and
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1996-12-26 21:53:11 +00:00
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is primarily intended for people who are going to set up a dedicated
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1995-12-07 10:34:59 +00:00
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FreeBSD server or workstation, not a typical `home PC'.
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1996-12-15 18:14:37 +00:00
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The flags field has the following legend:
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'=' -- This partition is properly aligned.
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'>' -- This partition doesn't end before cylinder 1024
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'R' -- This partition contains the root (/) filesystem
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'B' -- Partition employs BAD144 bad-spot handling
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'C' -- This is the FreeBSD 2.0-compatibility partition (default)
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'A' -- This partition is marked active.
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If you select a partition for Bad144 handling, it will be scanned
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for bad blocks before any new filesystems are made on it.
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If no partition is marked Active, you will need to either install
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a Boot Manager (the option for which will be presented later in the
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installation) or set one Active before leaving this screen.
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To leave the partition editor, type `Q'.
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