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Eugene Grosbein

2017-Oct-06 17:33 UTC

Installing amd64 FreeBSD 11.1 in dual-boot with Windows 7 on an MBR partitioned disk

06.10.2017 22:17, Rostislav Krasny wrote:
> I consider this as a critical bug. But maybe there is some workaround
> that allows me to install the FreeBSD 11.1 as a second OS without
> repartitioning the entire disk?
> 
> My hardware is an Intel Core i7 4790 3.6GHz based machine with 16GB
> RAM. The ada0 disk is 238GB SanDisk SD8SBAT256G1122 (SSD).
bsdinstall (current installer) is seriously flawed comparing with sysinstall
(previous one)
when we talk about installing FreeBSD to a slice within MBR.

You still can install FreeBSD by invoking a shell from bsdinstall
and using gpart:

gpart add -t freebsd -a 4096 ada0    # dedicate all unallocated space for ada0s3
gpart create -s BSD -n 20 ada0s3     # create BSD label able to contain upto 20
partitions
gpart bootcode -b /boot/boot0 ada0   # install menu-driven boot manager BootEasy
to MBR
gpart bootcode -b /boot/boot ada0s3  # install FreeBSD-specific UFS boot code to
its slice
gpart set -a active -i 1 ada0	     # make sure MBR has exactly one active
partition
gpart add -t freebsd-swap -s 4G -i 2 # allocate 4G for a swap ada0s3b (choose
size of your like)
gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -s 2G	     # allocate 2G for root partition ada0s3a
newfs -L root /dev/ada0s3a
gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -s 1G	     # allocate 1G for read-only /usr partition
ada0s3d
newfs -L usr /dev/ada0s3d
gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -s 4G	     # allocate 4G for /var ada0s3e
newfs -L var /dev/ada0s3e
gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -s 10G	     # allocate 10G /usr/local: future installed
ports & packages
newfs -L usrl /dev/ada0s3f
gpart add -t freebsd-ufs	     # allocate all other space for /home
newfs -L home /dev/ada0s3g

Then you will have mount new ada0s3a, create mount points for other partitions
there,
create etc/fstab, extract *.txz from distibution media and it will boot just
fine.

Nenhum_de_Nos

2017-Oct-06 21:13 UTC

head link

Installing amd64 FreeBSD 11.1 in dual-boot with Windows 7 on an MBR partitioned disk

On Fri, October 6, 2017 14:33, Eugene Grosbein wrote:> 06.10.2017 22:17, Rostislav Krasny wrote:
>
>> I consider this as a critical bug. But maybe there is some workaround
>> that allows me to install the FreeBSD 11.1 as a second OS without
>> repartitioning the entire disk?
>>
>> My hardware is an Intel Core i7 4790 3.6GHz based machine with 16GB
>> RAM. The ada0 disk is 238GB SanDisk SD8SBAT256G1122 (SSD).
>
> bsdinstall (current installer) is seriously flawed comparing with
> sysinstall (previous one)
> when we talk about installing FreeBSD to a slice within MBR.
I sure miss sysinstall from the very bottom of my heart.

I had the very same problem the OP said, about a month ago. I just didn't
got the issue, so I installed 10.3-R and did upgrade via freebsd-update.

The OP setup is close to mine, I will try to use the command list below
and see what it gets me. It was really disappointing not being able to
install 11.1 on this new machine. I am saving a 10.3R pendrive forever. If
anyone need, just say I upload the dd'ed image :)

I also tested on another older machine, same thing.

matheus
> You still can install FreeBSD by invoking a shell from bsdinstall
> and using gpart:
>
> gpart add -t freebsd -a 4096 ada0    # dedicate all unallocated space for
> ada0s3
> gpart create -s BSD -n 20 ada0s3     # create BSD label able to contain
> upto 20 partitions
> gpart bootcode -b /boot/boot0 ada0   # install menu-driven boot manager
> BootEasy to MBR
> gpart bootcode -b /boot/boot ada0s3  # install FreeBSD-specific UFS boot
> code to its slice
> gpart set -a active -i 1 ada0	     # make sure MBR has exactly one active
> partition
> gpart add -t freebsd-swap -s 4G -i 2 # allocate 4G for a swap ada0s3b
> (choose size of your like)
> gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -s 2G	     # allocate 2G for root partition
> ada0s3a
> newfs -L root /dev/ada0s3a
> gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -s 1G	     # allocate 1G for read-only /usr
> partition ada0s3d
> newfs -L usr /dev/ada0s3d
> gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -s 4G	     # allocate 4G for /var ada0s3e
> newfs -L var /dev/ada0s3e
> gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -s 10G	     # allocate 10G /usr/local: future
> installed ports & packages
> newfs -L usrl /dev/ada0s3f
> gpart add -t freebsd-ufs	     # allocate all other space for /home
> newfs -L home /dev/ada0s3g
>
> Then you will have mount new ada0s3a, create mount points for other
> partitions there,
> create etc/fstab, extract *.txz from distibution media and it will boot
> just fine.
>
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd-stable at freebsd.org mailing list
> https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-stable-unsubscribe at
freebsd.org"
>

-- 
"We will call you Cygnus,
the God of balance you shall be."

Rostislav Krasny

2017-Oct-07 15:03 UTC

head link

Installing amd64 FreeBSD 11.1 in dual-boot with Windows 7 on an MBR partitioned disk

On Fri, Oct 6, 2017 at 8:33 PM, Eugene Grosbein <eugen at grosbein.net>
wrote:> 06.10.2017 22:17, Rostislav Krasny wrote:
>
>> I consider this as a critical bug. But maybe there is some workaround
>> that allows me to install the FreeBSD 11.1 as a second OS without
>> repartitioning the entire disk?
>>
>> My hardware is an Intel Core i7 4790 3.6GHz based machine with 16GB
>> RAM. The ada0 disk is 238GB SanDisk SD8SBAT256G1122 (SSD).
>
> bsdinstall (current installer) is seriously flawed comparing with
sysinstall (previous one)
> when we talk about installing FreeBSD to a slice within MBR.
I think the bug is somewhere in the following code taken from partedit_x86.c
https://svnweb.freebsd.org/base/release/11.1.0/usr.sbin/bsdinstall/partedit/partedit_x86.c?revision=321354&view=co
or in the code that fills the "machdep.bootmethod" sysctl

static const char *
x86_bootmethod(void)
{
    static char fw[255] = "";
    size_t len = sizeof(fw);
    int error;

    if (strlen(fw) == 0) {
        error = sysctlbyname("machdep.bootmethod", fw, &len, NULL,
-1);
        if (error != 0)
            return ("BIOS");
    }

    return (fw);
}

int
is_scheme_bootable(const char *part_type)
{

    if (strcmp(part_type, "GPT") == 0)
        return (1);
    if (strcmp(x86_bootmethod(), "BIOS") == 0) {
        if (strcmp(part_type, "BSD") == 0)
            return (1);
        if (strcmp(part_type, "MBR") == 0)
            return (1);
    }

    return (0);
}

I've checked and found following:
If booted from the installation media (USB drive) the
"machdep.bootmethod" is UEFI.
If booted from the already installed and updated 11.1-RELEASE-p1
system the "machdep.bootmethod" is BIOS.

This explains why I got that "is not bootable on this platform" error
message and similar warning (in case of manual partitioning). In my
case the part_type is "MBR" and the x86_bootmethod() returns
"UEFI",
so is_scheme_bootable() returns 0 and triggers the bug.

I also made a screenshot of my BIOS boot mode configuration:
http://i63.tinypic.com/k3g2v.jpg
As you can see the legacy boot mode is enabled and the secure boot
mode is disabled.

If the machdep.bootmethod made to represent the BIOS configuration
then it's value seems to be wrong.
If it represents something else it should not be used in the above and
probably in other bsdinstall code.
> You still can install FreeBSD by invoking a shell from bsdinstall
> and using gpart:
>
> gpart add -t freebsd -a 4096 ada0    # dedicate all unallocated space for
ada0s3
> gpart create -s BSD -n 20 ada0s3     # create BSD label able to contain
upto 20 partitions
> gpart bootcode -b /boot/boot0 ada0   # install menu-driven boot manager
BootEasy to MBR
> gpart bootcode -b /boot/boot ada0s3  # install FreeBSD-specific UFS boot
code to its slice
> gpart set -a active -i 1 ada0        # make sure MBR has exactly one active
partition
> gpart add -t freebsd-swap -s 4G -i 2 # allocate 4G for a swap ada0s3b
(choose size of your like)
> gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -s 2G       # allocate 2G for root partition
ada0s3a
> newfs -L root /dev/ada0s3a
> gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -s 1G       # allocate 1G for read-only /usr
partition ada0s3d
> newfs -L usr /dev/ada0s3d
> gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -s 4G       # allocate 4G for /var ada0s3e
> newfs -L var /dev/ada0s3e
> gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -s 10G      # allocate 10G /usr/local: future
installed ports & packages
> newfs -L usrl /dev/ada0s3f
> gpart add -t freebsd-ufs             # allocate all other space for /home
> newfs -L home /dev/ada0s3g
>
> Then you will have mount new ada0s3a, create mount points for other
partitions there,
> create etc/fstab, extract *.txz from distibution media and it will boot
just fine.
This commands list is too long to be run manually during the
installation and without any web/email access. I've just installed
FreeBSD again using the manual partitioning (ignored the warning
message) and then I ran two following commands:

boo0cfg -Bv /dev/ada0
gpart bootcode -b /boot/boot ada0s3

This made my FreeBSD 11.1 system bootable. The only issue now is a low
console resolution. When I boot from the installation media (the USB
drive) the console resolution is high/native already at the boot
loader/menu stage. When I boot the installed system the console
resolution is low. I compared /boot/loader.conf of both and didn't
find much difference. In the installation media it has just one line
that defines some timeout and in the installed system it's empty. How
can I fix the console resolution issue? How the installation media
does it?

freebsd stable - Oct 2017 - Installing amd64 FreeBSD 11.1 in dual-boot with Windows 7 on an MBR partitioned disk

Installing amd64 FreeBSD 11.1 in dual-boot with Windows 7 on an MBR partitioned disk

Installing amd64 FreeBSD 11.1 in dual-boot with Windows 7 on an MBR partitioned disk

Installing amd64 FreeBSD 11.1 in dual-boot with Windows 7 on an MBR partitioned disk