Just a quick question about installation, suppose I was installing BSD, Linux and Win2k all on the same computer. Does this sound like it would work: First install Win2k, then BSD (or Linux) and not install the bootloader, then on the last install (Linux or BSD) let the bootloader (GRUB, LILO, etc) detect and boot all three operating systems??? Would their be any problems, I mean other than having any microsoft product on your computer :) .....
I used to do just that on this workstation... Win98se, SuSE, and FreeBSD... I used Boot Magic as the boot manager... worked fine.
I tried to use LILO as the boot manager, but it didn't detect the BSD partition that I had set up, I've thought about using BootMagic, but I figure that one of these others SHOULD work, maybe GRUB? Any idea's, there's only so many times that I want to re-install things you know! I could always use Fips(sp) I guess.....
simple solution...
trash LILO. It blows goats. Actually, Linux does overall... but that's another story...
okay, sorry.. I know I'm not very helpful, unless the truth is helpful :)
why not follow what Neek did ?
Well.... let's see.... as I understood it BootMagic cost's money right? If I'm mistaken then maybe I'll give it a try, but I've also had a bad experience with it. Mostly my own fault for trying things that I know nothing about, but still I guess it's made me a little gun shy. I think that I figured out how to deal with it in lilo, but other options are interesting. Basically from what I could tell, I can get all the info I need when I'm partitioning and setting up my mount points in Mandrake. After which I would just go and create an entry in lilo from scratch using the previously aqcuired info. I haven't tried it yet, I'm waiting for my new video card to show up first, but I'll let ya'll know if anyone's interested in how it turns out....
FreeBSD's Boot Manager will work just fine. Just install fbsd last and pay attention to what you are doing. Check out the freebsd Handbook online BEFORE you start. As far as my opinion goes, It's a waste of time if you plan on doing more then just learning about the os to multiboot. But that is just me. I'm pretty sure that once you've learned what FBSD is all about the linux partition will go away.
Wilnix
Thanks for the info, I'm basically just playing around with it (which explains the triple boot). I have a ton of stuff to learn about all of them, but it's hard to learn if you can't play with it and break it (although that's not the goal at present ;D). Any advice on configuring FreeBSD's X server??? (This is fun!)
Xfree86 is pretty easy to install, especially from initiail FBSD install or /stand/sysinstall. The only thing I would make mention of would be that you should make sure the type of video card you BEFORE you start the install. But, then again, that should be for ALL of your devices on initial install...
Wilnix
**mutters something about bitch ass Compaq reading the drive geometry incorrectly when attempting to install BSD**
**mutters something about bitch ass x-servers not working correctly on his HP laptop's video card**
And with all my bitching, BSD is still my OS of choice... even in console mode without running X Windows... ;)
It seems like I'm in for a lot of command line configuration first, when I tried to install the x-server for FreeBSD it basically didn't have the right drivers for my video card. (Geforce 3) So I guess that I'll just have to go ahead and download that first and then configure the system. To change the tack of the discussion a little... I'm familiar with setting up partitions with Linux and mount points, etc. However, it seemed to me that BSD wants just one partition and then you divvy that up into something resembling logical drives that are actually mount points(?) Is that right, or did I really miss something. Admittedly I need to sit down and really immerse myself in the literature, but that was definately the impression that I got... I think I need another beer 8)
godiago,
Nah... that's pretty much the way it is... ;)~
at install time you can break them up. especially if you have seperate hdds in place. I have /usr on one hdd and / on another.
Will
yah... me too.. the BSD box I just set up has a 20 gig drive with:
/
swap
/var
/tmp
another HD with:
/usr
and another HD with:
/ftp
I think that's a good way to go...especially if you have any useful data to be saved...
Wilnix
well, im currently trying win2k, mandrake, and suse. now, i can do a dual (easy), but with the triple, i keep running out of partition space (4max). so, when i go wit drake, ive got win2k already there, so thats one (win2k being one). mandrake asks for a boot part and a swap part and a home part(ition). So, right there im used up. No room for any other 0ses. Any suggestions? like on how to make a simple triple boot...actually a boot loader even lilo that will show all my 0ses (win2k, man, suse) in the menu, and not using up all my partitions. Im sure theres a way, i just havent found it yet.
ive got a 20gig win2k part on a forty gig hdd.
FreeBSD for your third OS! You can use one "Disk Slice" and assign mount points within it for your file system...
well, i was still gonna run free, but when i tried to install the final 0s, suse, i got the 1024 error...now im irritated. Ive got a 40gighdd, with 20 for win 2k, and ive got mandrake in there with like 8, and i tried to install suse 7.0 and thats when i got the error. What gives? Then it asked me if i wanted to correct/fix that in the suse install. But how? Ive looked for txt files but still havent really found anything referring to this, most keep talking about a boot program (part magic), which i dont want to use.
Here's what you do... (What I had to do...)
Because of the 1024 Cylinder limitation you have to be somewhat sneaky with the way you do your partitions.
If you have 40 gigs to work with, and you want to use 20 for Win...
Create like a 4 gig "System" partition for Windows where the OS will sit.
Then install Linux where your boot partition also sits before 1024... all you need is less than 512 MB for your / mount...
Then install FreeBSD keeping it's boot slice still under 1024.
From there you can go back to Windows and create an Extended partition for your Apps/Data. Etc...
I know this is kinda confusing, but once you find the right combination on partition sizes / file system types, it works. I suggest using a utility like Partition Magic just so you can visually see where that 1024 Cyl sits and you can plan out your partitioning scheme prior to installing any of the OS's...
That's somewhat what I did, and it worked great.
Hope this helps a little and that I didn't confuse you more... hehe :P
oh my goamx// i havce dno idea what you nare on abot. I am whay to dunk o make anyw sence of this conversaion.,
thanx, so once ive made my win(4 gig), mandrake(8gig), and suse OR bsd (whatevers left, just want to get it under the 1024) then i can add my extra part for the rest of win? (the rest of the 15-16 gigs) Now, can i do that, make it an extention(the 15-16 gigs) in fdisk? Dont have part magic.
and cobby...how many fingers am i holding up? ::)
If you use 8 gigs for your Mandrake partition, it may be too large and go over the 1024 cylinder... That's why I was saying a third party utility like Partition Magic which shows you where the 1024 lies in relation to the size of the disk. You may have to play with it to keep it under if you do it the old fashioned way. Good luck!
First off, mandrake seems to be easier to install period. But, i tried something different. I tried to install suse SECOND, after windows, but every time i got and error, and i kept it under the 1024 mark even. Id create just a boo (/boot) and a root (/) partition, and then installed it. The problem im consistently getting is 2 (suse 6.4, and suse 7.0) errors. The first would be two RPM installation errors, and password cant be set, linux cant boot....like EVERY time on each version of suse. Now, im getting pissed off at this point. Its seriously irritating. Considering windows and mandrake were a breeze to install. any takerz on what the hell?
okay, but neek, if i have an 8gig partition, 4 goes to win, which i can make an extention, 2 for man, and 2 for freebsd, then what? When do i make the extra partitions for freebsd and mandrake? Also, i heard about a new lilo which also can defeat the new 1024 cly limit. But when do you add the new lilo if the normal install only sees the 1024?...err scratch that...any way, do you see where im goin with this?