cannot use fdisk!

Hi there,

I cannot run fdisk on my 4.5 stable the error is:
No device is configured!

Another problem is alfter I rebuild the world, games are installed. Is that mean I need to specify not to install games in /etc/make.conf? I supposed FreeBSD will inspect what I have installed and install only the components exist in my system when building the world.

Thanks

For the fdisk error show us what you have done step by step in detail.

>> Is that mean I need to specify not to install games in /etc/make.conf?

You need to append NOGAMES=true to /etc/make.conf BEFORE buildworld.

Next time you post something please don't combine two different issues within one post.

Thanks for the reply!

I installed 4.5 release as usual and used GRUB from Linux to boot FreeBSD

the line in grub.conf:

title FreeBSD
root = hd(1,0,a)
kernel = /boot/loader

FreeBSD boots without any errors.

but when i tried use fdisk utility to check the partition information, it said it cannot find any device or the device is configured. Then I cvsup to 4.5 stable and rebuild world and kernel. But got the same error when using fdisk.

I have 2 hardisk attached to Promise Ultra100 card
Disk 1 is Windows and Linux
Disk 2 is FreeBSD only

I am not familiar with the boot procedure of the FreeBSD, but it seems FreeBSD wont use boot1, boo2 and go to loader directly if I use grub, will this cause any problem?

Thanks!

>> when i tried use fdisk utility to check the partition information

You need to use disklabel instead.

Sorry, I don't know anything about grub. I also discourage people to dual/tri boot the OS. It's been discussed dozen times here.

I think grub still have some problem with FreeBSD, since they asking help from FreeBSD hackers in their document. But I saw posts that recommanded to use grub if I dont want to see

F1 ???
F2 FreeBSD

Yeah, I planned to add one more computer to install FreeBSD one or two months later. (Cannot afford 1 at the moment )

I also have 2hrs to 3 hrs max to use my computer everyday. I will try to intall FreeBSD 1st if I have enough time to do that later. Anyway, thanks for your advice.

I removed the windows harddisk today, and I can use to fdisk now. I think the fdisk must need some information from boot/boot0, or /boot/boot1 becos grub just load the /boot/loader directly.

How are you calling fdisk?? What commandline are you using?? What information are you looking for??

Oh, and GRUB works perfectly with FreeBSD 4.5-RELEASE. We've been using it at the office for a couple of months now, dual-booting FreeBSD/Linux, triple-booting FreeBSD/Linux/Windows (98 or 2K), and even quintuple-booting FreeBSD/Linux/Windows 98/Windows 2K/SCO UnixWare. We're also using it to dual-boot Linux/Windows 98 and as the bootloader for all our new Linux installs. (Not bad for "alpha"-quality software.)

When I type "fdisk" in freebsd and booting without GRUB:

zs# fdisk
******* Working on device /dev/ad0 *******
parameters extracted from in-core disklabel are:
cylinders=1110 heads=255 sectors/track=63 (16065 blks/cyl)

Figures below won't work with BIOS for partitions not in cyl 1
parameters to be used for BIOS calculations are:
cylinders=1110 heads=255 sectors/track=63 (16065 blks/cyl)

Media sector size is 512
Warning: BIOS sector numbering starts with sector 1
Information from DOS bootblock is:
The data for partition 1 is:
sysid 165,(FreeBSD/NetBSD/386BSD)
start 63, size 17832087 (8707 Meg), flag 80 (active)
beg: cyl 0/ head 1/ sector 1;
end: cyl 1023/ head 254/ sector 63
The data for partition 2 is:
<UNUSED>
The data for partition 3 is:
<UNUSED>
The data for partition 4 is:
<UNUSED>

When I type "fdisk" and boot by using GRUB:
fdisk: No device is configured!

the GRUB conf file:
title FreeBSD
root = hd(1,0,a)
kernel = /boot/loader

I don't have any problem to boot freebsd using GRUB except fdisk don't work. But I gave up Linux and using FreeBSD only now...

If you boot with GRUB and use fdisk /dev/hdb what do you get?? How about with fdisk /dev/hda??

I got the same error message if I use fdisk /dev/ad0

The GRUB I used was installed by RedHat Linux and I removed Linux. I will try to install GRUB from ports and try again tonight.

Hmmm, curious. Didn't think anything would change, but it was worth checking out. I haven't delved too deeply into the boot sequence yet (that's next month's project: diskless, remote booting). Nor have I delved into the meaty entrails of GRUB or the bootloader.

Let us know if you get things figured out/working with GRUB.

I built the grub from ports and created a boot floppy to boot freebsd. Everything run fine this time!
Notice: The grub I used this time has been patched by the ports, I am not sure if these patches make it works or the version from Redhat is older.