FreeBSD/Slackware dualboot
 

i don't really know where to begin in setting up a FreeBSD 5.2.1/Slackware 10.0 dualboot system.

i partitioned my hdd giving half of it to Linux in Slackware's cfdisk utility, leaving the remainder as unused space. i installed slackware, and after verifying that everything was setup correctly, rebooted to the FreeBSD CD. FreeBSD did not recognize the 20GB of unused free space i left for it and instead only saw the linux partitions that appeared to be taking up my entire hdd. i rebooted to the Slackware CD and tried formatting the unused 20GB as a FreeBSD format, but when i rebooted to the FreeBSD CD, it skipped the CD and went straight into booting Slackware.

how should i do this? should i try it the other way around, installing FreeBSD first and leaving space for Slackware later?

I think you had the wrong primary partition selected in the FreeBSD installer. FreeBSD has a two-step disk partitioning setup. The first step chooses a primary partition to use, and the second creates "slices" of that partition to use. You *MUST* have at least one primary partition free or you won't be able to install any BSD operating systems.

Try to install FreeBSD first and Slack later.
Install also a bootmanager .
The FreeBSD partiton needs to be primary.
Something is wrong because it should be worked as you have done.
Yesterday I have met a nasty problem.
I have made two primary partitions and an exetended .I have installed Windows on ad0s1 and i
start the instalation of FreeBSD.I have created FreeBSD partition with sysinstall but it won't go further to the slice making. FreeBSD partition was ad0s2.
Wish you all the best !

Yea install freebsd first and then try in reverse, shouldnt make a difference though, I have used both os's and never had a problem seeing a partition. U have a choice of 2 easy to use boot managers, the first is while you are installing freebsd you can choose to use its boot manager, but if slack is not already installed that might not work, so in this case dont install it and when you boot into slackware I belive you can just type in "lilo" and you will get a config automatically made, if that fails to load correctly you can manually edit the lilo config file, i foget its exact location though, but its easy to do

As long as FBSD has a primary partition, it doesn't matter who gets installed first or where. You can boot it from it's own boot mgr, lilo, grub, and even windows.

When you were in FBSD setup, did you try to create a partition and see what comes up? Been a while since I installed FBSD and can't remember exactly what shows up.

Boot into Slack and do fdisk -l /dev/hda, show that here. Think it's in /sbin or /usr/sbin.

Don't know about not booting off the CD, might turn off the computer and bet a beer before trying it again.

uhmmm..gud day all...i do have a similar problem...just this day i managed to learn how to install freebsd 5.2 and it took me about 10 or more times b4 i could make it run(d prob was in my monitor and card settings, it did take me a while b4 i realized that that was the real problem)..and now i have my linux distro, freebsd 5.2 and my windows os'...i jsut can't seem to make them all 3 run at a time...if i boot with my linux distro then modify my grub, i just can't make my freebsd work(error 15:can't find file---or something like that)...so what i do, when that happens, is reinstall my bsd(coz i really don't know how to boot freebsd from my floppy) then run my linux distro from my floppy...afterwards i try to modify my grub but i still can't run it....my windows os is in (hd0,0), Freebsd in (hd0, 1) and linux in (hd0,2)...can you help me...please...

cool, thank you for you help.

Had similar problems with a multi boot install recently. You might want to take a look at this:

http://freshmeat.net/projects/gag/

It's a neat little boatloader that supports multiple installs. I recently installed it on a system with BSD, Slack10, XP and DOS 6.22 and it works perfectly.





:Pengy:

To have Window-NT/2000/XP, FreeBSD, and Linux on the same box, I would suggest you load Windows first. And, _for me_, I recommend using the Windows boot loader, because, Windows can screw with the MBR and screw off lilo or grub "sometimes" when you install a SP. You'll get a lot of discussion on this, but in years setting dual+ boot systems for clients, I've never had problems. If you or one of your clients need to upgrade from, say, NT to XP, or reload Windows, All you need to do is save the boot image(s), install Windows, and copy the boot images back to C:\, and add to boot.ini. That's my plan, and I'm sticking to it. Of course, the best system excludes Windows. :)

Install Windows.

Then install FreeBSD on a different partition. Use the FreeBSD boot loader and do not install it to the MBR, but the FreeBSD partition. Before you reboot, Alt-F2 or so, to get another prompt. Copy the /boot/boot1 file to a mounted floppy, renaming it to bootsect.bsd. Boot into Windows, copy the bootsect.bsd from the floppy to C:\ and add this to the C:\boot.ini file.
c:\bootsect.bsd="FreeBSD"
When you reboot the box, you will see the FreeBSD entry.

Install Linux on another partition. I always use grub, I dunno, something about the name I guess and you can get to the the grub> prompt and fix things if needed. Install the boot loader to the /boot partition. After the installation is complete, you need to peel off the first 512 bytes from the /boot partition. I'll use /dev/hda3 as an example. Either Alt-F2 to another prompt, boot of your floppy boot disk you made, or reboot the CD. Anyway, as root, at the prompt type;
cd /
dd if=/dev/hda3 of=bootsect.lnx bs=512 count=1
Copy the bootsect.lnx to a floppy
Boot windows.
Copy bootsect.lnx to C:\
Add to boot.ini
c:\bootsect.lnx="Some Linux Name Goes Here"

Reboot and you should see all. That's the jest of it. Notes can be found on FreeBSD and Slackware's FAQ, or post more here. I have a play box setup with Windows NT, FreeBSD, and Slackware for all kinds of testing (Samba, Wins, NDS, and, well anything), works perfect and easy to maintain.

HTH....

oh yeah, almost forgot. If you just want FreeBSD and Linux, install Linux first and add the FreeBSD to the lilo or grub as another entry. Add as;
LILO;
other=/dev/hda2
table=/dev/hda
label=FreeBSD
Then as root, run lilo from the prompt.

grub menu.lst;
# FreeBSD
title FreeBSD
root (hd0,1,a)
kernel /boot/loader
grub will automatically pickup the entry.

uhmmm, i did try what u said...i did modify my grub and added the lines 2 boot FreeBSD yet i still have the same prob...it sez or something like that...sheez, i had this prob b4, with my distro but when i booted with red hat 9 and added the lines for my other linux distro it ran...could it be that there's a bug or something with my Grub(v 0.95), i currently use LormaLinux 5 with a 2.6.7-1.437 kernel and fedora 2 core...and uhmmm, about the bootsect.bsd, uhmmm, u see i can't seem to find my floppy(i'm a BSD newbie)...uhmmm, i tried /mnt/floppy but it can't seem to see it...i, then, logged in using KDE then i just can't seem to find my devices...i'm kinda' clueless on how to make BSD work for me, uhmmm, is there a guide(besides the FREEBSD handbook) that i can use?

oh, btw, thanks a lot 4 the GAG but i prefer doing it the hard way...guess, it's just the only way to learn for newbies like me...

Well, if you did exactly what I said, you'll probably get an error because I was using an example. I don't know what your partition scheme is.

And, didn't you want to have Windows, FreeBSD, and Linux? I gave you the steps to do that.
As an example, your will be different.
My play box is (IIRC as I'm not there);
Primary's
4g - Windows NTFS and MBR boot
4g - fat, used to store ghost images and pass stuff between OS's if needed.
12g - FreeBSD (Slice according to FreeBSD with many partitions. Confusing terms!!!)
Extended
100m - /boot - with grub installed. All Linux distro's config here.
256m - swap (used by multiple Linux distros)
4g - / for Slackware (can't remember the size)
4g - /home
4g - /var
Probably other, can't remember, not important.
6g - / for another distro for testing
~20g - large storage for other ghost images and other test stuff and ftp mirrored tree.

That's the layout for supporting Windows, FreeBSD, and Linux X 2

You probably don't need all that. Just spent all that time typing to show what can be done.

What do you have loaded on the first partition? And before you start, you probably should read FreeBSD's FAQ and the Handbook installation process first. Lots of manhours were spent on all that documentation for you to read. You wouldn't want to hurt their feelings.

edit...
oh yeah, don't edit your last post as it will not bubble to the top of the list. Make a new post for a different question. I for one, only check down to the last post I have already read or new post.

I'm not sure why you're not finding the Handbook sufficient to answer your questions. Your question about floppies is obviously covered in the Handbook, all you have to do is search the main index for "floppy".

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO.../floppies.html

uhmmm...ok...i did download the whole handbook and i did read the parts especially for the installation process...and uhhmmm, sorry if i offended u guys especially on the handbook part...i promise to read it intensively...

about my partition, it was exactly like ur example...and(for clarity's sake) here's what i exactly did...first i partitioned my hard drive using fdisk, i gave 3gb for win98se(for some old files that can only be ran in win98se) then left all the spaces for winxp(the os i am accustomed to using) and win2k3(just for the experience and, i guess, the speed) to configure...i fomatted the 3gb(fat32) partition then installed win98se...after installing win98se, i installed partition magic...i made two more primary partitions, a 7gb partition(exactly after my 3gb partition) for FreeBSD and a 5gb partition (for my linux distro)..then i made an extended partition, further subdidviding the extended partition to 4(10gb-ntfs- for winxp, 10gb-ntfs- for win2k3, 20gb-ntfs- for program files and about 22 gb-which i would further partition when i get my slackware 10 distro)

so, i believe my win98 partition is (hda,0), my freeBSD partition as (hd0,1) and my linux distro as (hd0,2)...i boot from the root partition using FreeBSD's loader(i'm too afraid to mess it cause i haven't made the boot floppies, yet)...gosh, i really don't know where i'm going wrong...i'm thinking about re-instaling all OS's again and start from scratch...following,of course, the directions u guys gave me...

Wow... My first thought is for you to use vmware. Use it if you can.... Adding Windows 98 throws a whole new mix in the game. (Is that a real OS :)) Basically you need to do a few tricks for this. I've added some links below that should help. These are guides, don't follow them exactly as you will need to include a primay for FreeBSD which you have make. Add Windows 98 first then Windows XP. Windows XP will install it's MBR and include Windows 98. Adding Windows 2000 should install it's MBR (about the same as XP) and include all previous boot options. When you add FreeBSD, put the boot loader on the FreeBSD boot partition and copy the boot1 file to A: then to C:\ and add to your boot.ini. For Linux, just do what I say with the dd command and put the bootsect.lnx on your C:\ and add to your boot.ini

What I see you having is;
Primary's
3g fat32 - Windows 98se (This s/b ok as XP can read fat32)
7g FreeBSD
5g Linux (don't forget the swap)
Extended
10g NTFS Windows XP
10g NTFS Windows 2000
20g NTFS storage
22g open

Read though these, get a complete understanding first and just go slow. With Windows 98 there is to much to write about and many have already covered the issue better than I could.

http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/principles.htm
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q306559
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...e/meandxp.mspx

ummm, gud day all...i really have no problem installing the 3 win os' since they're basically running and now, i managed to make Freebsd run(a funny thing happened though and here it goes:

so i installed FreeBSD in hda2 and now,RH9, in hda3..so i did the but instead of pointing to hda3 where my RH9 is, i pointed it to hda2 where my freeBSD is...then i booted to XP then i copied bootsect.lnx-yup, i didn't name it as bootsect.bsd, then added hoping that it would boot RH9 thinking that partition magic might've subdivided my hd wrongly...afterwards i booted my pc then i chose "LormaLinux 5" from windows' boot menu then voila! freebsd booted..hehehe, i almost fell from my seat laughing like $h!t...never thought it would boot FreeBSD..anyway, i tried to reboot choosing option 7 from FreeBSD's menu yet it didn't so i manually rebooted then went into xp, renamed my bootsect.lnx file to bootsect.bsd, changed the boot.ini entry then rebooted and FreeBSD was working mighty fine...while doing this though, i was so into it that i almost considered -x- as a god...hehehehe...i do think he is, though---*worship, worship, worship*)

so after my initial success, i immediately installed RH9, overwriting my other linux distro(oh, btw, i used the whole 5gb for my /, didn't make the swap yet RH9 was working fine, will there be a problem in the future?) then i followed master's(-x-,*worship, worship, worship*) direction copying bootsect.lnx to my floppy then copied it to c:\ then added it to boot.ini..RH9 didn't boot though, it kinda' hanged and that's what i want to consult right now...i made it with FreeBSD (accidentally, though), so why can't i make it with RH9?

i'll be reading the links...thanx, master *worship, worship, worship*...:D

god, master, me... nah. Not near as smart as the ones I learn from here.
See, you've learned something. The dd command for FreeBSD is the same as the boot1 file. Since you are not using FreeBSD as your master boot loader, the boot selection menu has no effect.

swap: If you have enough ram and don't do a lot of big stuff in Linux, you'll be ok. If you start doing enough stuff that exceeds your ram and nowhere to swap to, well, you know what's going to happen.

Boot issues, thinking...........
Possibilities:
Didn't type the dd command right.
Didn't install the boot loader on /dev/hda3
Didn't create a menu.lst in /boot/grub/

If you can boot into Linux with your boot disk or CD try;
As root, reinstall grub as;
# grub-install /dev/hda3
There's another grub command for install I can't remember right now.

Make sure you have a /boot/grub/menu.lst with;

# Boot automatically after 30 seconds.
timeout 30

# Comment lines begin with '#'
#
# (hd0,1) = /dev/hda2
# (hd0,2) = /dev/hda3
# (hd0,2) refers to disk 0 (the first disk), and the third partition
#
title Linux-RedHat
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/<your kernel name here> ro root=/dev/hda3

Look in your /boot for the kernel name. Something like vmlinuz, or vmlinuz-2.4.something.

Forgot something. After this, you'll need to do the dd command again and put bootsect.lnx on C:\

Also, since you're down the road a bit, might start another thread. And since FreeBSD is working, you really have only a Linux problem.

uhmmm...u kinda' didn't get the FreeBSD thing...uhmmm, i did the dd part while i was in my old distro...it was in linux where i did the bootsect which l8r turned out 2 be 4 my FreeBSD...hehehehe...really don't know how it happened but i really thank God it did and, of course, u...master *worship, worship, worship*...just think of me as another student of urs whom u greatly helped...(i almost thought of quitting open source technology but when i managed 2 run FreeBSD with my windows OS', i got hooked and now i'm so in2 open source that i want 2 keep on learning and learning...)

about the thread thing...hmmm...yeah, i believe i need 2 start a new thread...just do promise u'll be there, k...

about RH9 and Grub...k, no prob here..i've done the grub-install b4(i was toying with my 2 distro's b4 and managed to run both of them at once, with my windows os' of course) but, then again, ur right...i didn't install grub in /dev/hda3(i installed it in my MBR and l8r overwritten it when i re-installed win2k3--- i could boot RH9 from my floppy, though, so i guess i'll install GRUB in2 /dev/hda3)...and for the menu.lst, no prob here...i toyed with it b4...so, my only prob would be GRUB in /dev/hda3...i'll be starting a new thread and i'll be waiting for ur help, guys...thank u all especially u, master -x- *worship,worship,worship*... :D

yeah, I got it. In Linux you can dd any boot partition, which is what you did, but dd'd the FreeBSD partition.

I'm out of this thread.