This patch removes mention of floppies in the installation chapter. They have not been supported for some time, manufacturers no longer produce them, and there is little to no need to keep them in the general handbook now. Fix: <para>A summary of this information is given in the following sections. - Depending on the method you choose to install &os;, you may - also need a floppy drive, a supported CDROM drive, and in some - case a network adapter. This will be covered by the <xref + Depending on the method you choose to install &os;, a CDROM drive, + and in some cases a network adapter. This will be covered by the <xref linkend="install-boot-media">.</para> <sect3> @@ -543,9 +542,6 @@ <para>A SCSI or QIC tape</para> </listitem> - <listitem> - <para>Floppy disks</para> - </listitem> </itemizedlist> <itemizedlist> @@ -582,10 +578,8 @@ <para>The FreeBSD installation process is started by booting your computer into the FreeBSD installer—it is not a program you run within another operating system. Your computer normally boots using - the operating system installed on your hard disk, but it can also be - configured to use a <quote>bootable</quote> floppy disk. - Most modern computers can also - boot from a CDROM in the CDROM drive or from a USB disk.</para> + the operating system installed on your hard disk, but can be + booted from a CDROM in the CDROM drive or from a USB disk.</para> <tip> <para>If you have FreeBSD on CDROM or DVD (either one you purchased @@ -700,124 +694,6 @@ </procedure> </step> </procedure> - - <para>To create boot floppy images, follow these steps:</para> - - <procedure> - <step> - <title>Acquire the Boot Floppy Images</title> - - <important> - <para>Please note, as of &os; 8.0, floppy disk images are - no longer available. Please see above for instructions - on how to install &os; using a USB memory stick or just - use a CDROM or a DVD.</para> - </important> - - <para>The boot disks are available on your installation media - in the <filename>floppies/</filename> directory, and - can also be downloaded from the floppies directory, <literal>ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/releases/<replaceable>arch</replaceable>/<replaceable>version</replaceable>-RELEASE/floppies/</literal>. - Replace <replaceable>arch</replaceable> and - <replaceable>version</replaceable> - with the architecture and the version number - which you want to install, respectively. - For example, the boot floppy images for - &os;/&arch.i386; &rel2.current;-RELEASE are available - from <ulink url="ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/releases/i386/&rel2.current;-RELEASE/floppies/"></ulink>.</para> - - <para>The floppy images have a <filename>.flp</filename> extension. - The <filename>floppies/</filename> directory contains a number of - different images, and the ones you will need to use depends on the - version of FreeBSD you are installing, and in some cases, the - hardware you are installing to. - In most cases you will need four - floppies, <filename>boot.flp</filename>, - <filename>kern1.flp</filename>, - <filename>kern2.flp</filename>, and - <filename>kern3.flp</filename>. Check - <filename>README.TXT</filename> in the same directory for the - most up to date information about these floppy images.</para> - - <important> - <para>Your FTP program must use <emphasis>binary mode</emphasis> - to download these disk images. Some web browsers have been - known to use <emphasis>text</emphasis> (or - <emphasis>ASCII</emphasis>) mode, which will be apparent if you - cannot boot from the disks.</para> - </important> - </step> - - <step> - <title>Prepare the Floppy Disks</title> - - <para>You must prepare one floppy disk per image file you had to - download. It is imperative that these disks are free from - defects. The easiest way to test this is to format the disks - for yourself. Do not trust pre-formatted floppies. The format - utility in &windows; will not tell about the presence of - bad blocks, it simply marks them as <quote>bad</quote> - and ignores them. It is advised that you use brand new - floppies if choosing this installation route.</para> - - <important> - <para>If you try to install FreeBSD and the installation - program crashes, freezes, or otherwise misbehaves, one of - the first things to suspect is the floppies. Try writing - the floppy image files to new disks and try - again.</para> - </important> - </step> - - <step> - <title>Write the Image Files to the Floppy Disks</title> - - <para>The <filename>.flp</filename> files are - <emphasis>not</emphasis> regular files you copy to the disk. - They are images of the complete contents of the - disk. This means that you <emphasis>cannot</emphasis> simply - copy files from one disk to another. - Instead, you must use specific tools to write the - images directly to the disk.</para> - - <indexterm><primary>DOS</primary></indexterm> - <para>If you are creating the floppies on a computer running - &ms-dos;/&windows;, then we provide a tool to do - this called <command>fdimage</command>.</para> - - <para>If you are using the floppies from the CDROM, and your - CDROM is the <devicename>E:</devicename> drive, then you would - run this:</para> - - <screen><prompt>E:\></prompt> <userinput>tools\fdimage floppies\boot.flp A:</userinput></screen> - - <para>Repeat this command for each <filename>.flp</filename> - file, replacing the floppy disk each time, being sure to label - the disks with the name of the file that you copied to them. - Adjust the command line as necessary, depending on where you have - placed the <filename>.flp</filename> files. If you do not have - the CDROM, then <command>fdimage</command> can be downloaded from - the <ulink - url="ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/tools/"><filename class="directory">tools</filename> - directory</ulink> on the FreeBSD FTP site.</para> - - <para>If you are writing the floppies on a &unix; system (such as - another FreeBSD system) you can use the &man.dd.1; command to - write the image files directly to disk. On FreeBSD, you would - run:</para> - - <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>dd if=boot.flp of=/dev/fd0</userinput></screen> - - <para>On FreeBSD, <filename>/dev/fd0</filename> refers to the - first floppy disk (the <devicename>A:</devicename> drive). - <filename>/dev/fd1</filename> would be the - <devicename>B:</devicename> drive, and so on. Other &unix; - variants might have different names for the floppy disk - devices, and you will need to check the documentation for the - system as necessary.</para> - </step> - </procedure> - - <para>You are now ready to start installing FreeBSD.</para> </sect2> </sect1> @@ -871,12 +747,11 @@ <para>Find the setting that controls which devices the system boots from. This is usually labeled as the <quote>Boot Order</quote> and commonly shown as a list of devices, such as - <literal>Floppy</literal>, <literal>CDROM</literal>, - <literal>First Hard Disk</literal>, and so on.</para> + <literal>CDROM</literal>, <literal>First Hard Disk</literal>, + and so on.</para> <para>If you are booting from the CDROM then make sure that - the CDROM is selected. If you are booting from a USB disk or - a floppy disk then + the CDROM is selected. If you are booting from a USB disk make sure that is selected instead. In case of doubt, you should consult the manual that came with your computer, and/or its motherboard.</para> @@ -894,15 +769,6 @@ the computer, and insert the CDROM at the first opportunity.</para> - <note> - <para>For &os; 7.3 and previous versions, installation - boot floppies are available and can be prepared as - described in <xref linkend="install-boot-media">. One of - them will be the first boot disc: - <filename>boot.flp</filename>. Put this disc in your - floppy drive and boot the computer.</para> - </note> - <para>If your computer starts up as normal and loads your existing operating system, then either:</para> @@ -951,34 +817,10 @@ /boot/kernel/kernel text=0x64daa0 data=0xa4e80+0xa9e40 syms=[0x4+0x6cac0+0x4+0x88e9d] \</screen> - <para>If you are booting from floppy disc, you will see a display - similar to this (version information omitted):</para> - - <screen>Booting from Floppy... -Uncompressing ... done - -BTX loader 1.00 BTX version is 1.01 -Console: internal video/keyboard -BIOS drive A: is disk0 -BIOS drive C: is disk1 -BIOS 639kB/261120kB available memory - -FreeBSD/i386 bootstrap loader, Revision 1.1 - -Loading /boot/defaults/loader.conf -/kernel text=0x277391 data=0x3268c+0x332a8 | - -Insert disk labelled "Kernel floppy 1" and press any key...</screen> - - <para>Follow these instructions by removing the - <filename>boot.flp</filename> disc, insert the - <filename>kern1.flp</filename> disc, and press - <keycap>Enter</keycap>. Boot from first floppy; - when prompted, insert the other disks as required.</para> </step> <step> - <para>Whether you booted from CDROM, USB stick or floppy, the + <para>Whether you booted from CDROM or a USB stick, the boot process will then get to the &os; boot loader menu:</para> @@ -4076,8 +3918,7 @@ <qandaentry> <question> <para>My system hangs while probing hardware during boot, - or it behaves strangely during install, or the floppy - drive is not probed.</para> + or it behaves strangely during install</para> </question> <answer> <para>&os; makes extensive use of the system @@ -4696,7 +4537,7 @@ the install.</para> <note> - <para>If the boot media (floppy disks, usually) for your FTP + <para>If the boot media for your FTP clients is not precisely the same version as that provided by the local FTP site, then <application>sysinstall</application> will not let you complete the installation. If the versions are not similar and @@ -4715,72 +4556,6 @@ </warning> </sect2> - <sect2> - <title>Creating Installation Floppies</title> - - <indexterm> - <primary>installation</primary> - <secondary>floppies</secondary> - </indexterm> - - <para>If you must install from floppy disk (which we suggest you - do <emphasis>not</emphasis> do), either due to unsupported - hardware or simply because you insist on doing things the hard - way, you must first prepare some floppies for the installation.</para> - - <para>At a minimum, you will need as many 1.44 MB floppies - as it takes to hold all the files in the - <filename>base</filename> (base distribution) directory. If - you are preparing the floppies from DOS, then they - <emphasis>must</emphasis> be formatted using the &ms-dos; - <command>FORMAT</command> command. If you are using &windows;, - use Explorer to format the disks (right-click on the - <devicename>A:</devicename> drive, and select <quote>Format</quote>).</para> - - <para>Do <emphasis>not</emphasis> trust factory pre-formatted - floppies. Format them again yourself, just to be sure. Many - problems reported by our users in the past have resulted from - the use of improperly formatted media, which is why we are - making a point of it now.</para> - - <para>If you are creating the floppies on another FreeBSD machine, - a format is still not a bad idea, though you do not need to put - a DOS filesystem on each floppy. You can use the - <command>bsdlabel</command> and <command>newfs</command> - commands to put a UFS filesystem on them instead, as the - following sequence of commands (for a 3.5" 1.44 MB floppy) - illustrates:</para> - - <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>fdformat -f 1440 fd0.1440</userinput> -&prompt.root; <userinput>bsdlabel -w fd0.1440 floppy3</userinput> -&prompt.root; <userinput>newfs -t 2 -u 18 -l 1 -i 65536 /dev/fd0</userinput></screen> - - <para>Then you can mount and write to them like any other - filesystem.</para> - - <para>After you have formatted the floppies, you will need to copy - the files to them. The distribution files are split into chunks - conveniently sized so that five of them will fit on a conventional - 1.44 MB floppy. Go through all your floppies, packing as many - files as will fit on each one, until you have all of the - distributions you want packed up in this fashion. Each - distribution should go into a subdirectory on the floppy, e.g.: - <filename>a:\base\base.aa</filename>, - <filename>a:\base\base.ab</filename>, and so on.</para> - - <important> - <para>The <filename>base.inf</filename> file also needs to go on the - first floppy of the <filename>base</filename> set since it is read - by the installation program in order to figure out how many - additional pieces to look for when fetching and concatenating the - distribution.</para> - </important> - - <para>Once you come to the Media screen during the install - process, select <guimenuitem>Floppy</guimenuitem> and you - will be prompted for the rest.</para> - </sect2> - <sect2 id="install-msdos"> <title>Installing from an &ms-dos; Partition</title> @@ -4844,12 +4619,6 @@ Due to the non-random access nature of tapes, this method of installation requires quite a bit of temporary storage.</para> - <note> - <para>When starting the installation, the tape must be in the - drive <emphasis>before</emphasis> booting from the boot - floppy. The installation probe may otherwise fail to find - it.</para> - </note> </sect2> <sect2>--VHdaMgpCDyLoiEGAwhDIdt6IN9pHxpJfJpohssFovRppOEfl Content-Type: text/plain; name="file.diff" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="file.diff" Index: install/chapter.sgml =================================================================== RCS file: /home/ncvs/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/install/chapter.sgml,v retrieving revision 1.420 diff -u -r1.420 chapter.sgml --- install/chapter.sgml 22 Feb 2011 20:57:42 -0000 1.420 +++ install/chapter.sgml 22 Mar 2011 07:06:40 -0000 @@ -94,9 +94,8 @@ &os; version and the hardware architecture.</para>
PC98 arch needs installation floppies, so it should not be "just" removed. -- Marc
State Changed From-To: open->suspended Patch was rejected as is - I should have new patch within two weeks or so
State Changed From-To: suspended->open Open this PR because I'm going to be submitting a patch soon.
Attached is an updated patch that removes some outdated references to floppies. It also makes the floppy installation section specific to PC98. -- Eitan Adler
State Changed From-To: open->closed give (based on 145067)
State Changed From-To: closed->open give (based on 145067)
Responsible Changed From-To: freebsd-doc->pgj give (based on 145067)
Responsible Changed From-To: pgj->freebsd-doc return to the pool. sorry for the GNATS spam
The installation chapter does not contain any mention about floppies anymore, so we can safely close this PR.