*BSDThis forum is for the discussion of all BSD variants.
FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, etc.
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
I downloaded an ISO for FreeBSD 5.3 - Disk1. It appears to skip the first step ( as compared to 4.10) Setting up the kernel. I am relatively new to this, so I'll explain further.
I'm talking about the step for adding or editing the BIOS detected HW, before you get to the GUI. My install skips this entirely. I have re-installed the OS three times to make sure.
I checked the on-line manual, which shows this step. The system does load and appears to operate ok.
I'm confused also. Are you talking about GUI (Xorg) or the install text mode screens. I don't recall the step you mentioned, but I had no problem with any FreeBSD installs. Maybe you should keep installing until something doesn't work.
When I pop the CD with the ISO image and reboot, after the BIOS test, BSD starts to load. The first configuration screen I see (for user input) is the Kernel Configuration Menu, Active Drivers.
If you look at the handbook page for installing...about half way down the page, the handbook shows a screen print of what I am talking about.
After you configure the kernel for the HW devices...NIC, HD, SCSI adapters...[Q] to save and exit.
The next screen is the GUI install screen, Sysinstall Main Menu.
With respect to 5.3...
I never see the Kernal Configuration Menu. The first screen I get is a text menu on the left with a text-character of the BSD daemon on the Right. The text menu has several entry's, one of which is to install. The next screen after that is the Sysinstall GUI.
Is this the section;
Note: From FreeBSD versions 5.0 and later, userconfig has been deprecated in favor of the new device.hints(5) method. For more information on device.hints(5) please visit Section 12.5
Maybe your computer doesn't have any odd driver needs or ISA devices it couldn't figure out on its own. Otherwise you would use device.hints.
so...in newbie terms, upon start up the install process basically probed the hardware and compared what was physically installed against the device.hints file. Since I had no wierd hardware, the install skipped this process.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.