Linux Solutions

Welcome to the tutorial guide. The tutorial will provide you with instructions and advise about how to start the installation process for FreeBSD on the computer.

Please note that by default, the installation will not make any changes to the disk, until following message is displayed:
Last Chance: Are you SURE you want continue the installation?
If you’re running this on a disk with data you wish to save then WESTRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO MAKE PROPER BACKUPS before proceeding!
We can take no responsibility for lost disk contents!

The install can be exited at any time prior to the final warning without changing the contents of the hard drive. If you are concerned that you have configured something incorrectly you can just turn the computer off before this point, and no damage will be done.
In order to boot the i386, please follow the steps as mentioned below:
- please start with your computer turned off.
- Turn on the computer.
- As soon as the computer starts it will display an option to enter the system set up menu, or BIOS, commonly reached by keys like F2, F10, Del, or Alt+S. Use whichever keystroke is indicated on screen. If the computer displays a graphic while it starts, then please press Esc and this will escape the graphic and allow the necessary messages to be visible.
- now, please locate the setting that controls which devices the system boots from. It is labeled as the Boot Order and commonly shown as a list of devices, such as Floppy, CDROM, First Hard Disk, and so on.If you want to boot floppies, then please ensure that the floppy disk is selected, but if you are booting from the CDROM then please ensure that CDROM is selected.
- After making changes, please don’t forget to save and exit. Please ensure that the computer restarts.
If you are planning to prepare boot floppies, then one of them will be the first boot disc, probably the one containing boot.flp. Put this disc in your floppy drive.
If you are booting from CDROM, then you will need to turn on the computer, and insert the CDROM at the first opportunity.
Please note that if the computer starts up as normal and loads the existing operating system, then either:
- the disks were not inserted early enough in the boot process. You can leave them in, and restart the computer.
- or it could be possible that the BIOS changes did not work correctly. In order to deal with this, you should redo that step until you get the right option.
FreeBSD will start to boot. If you are booting from CDROM you will see a display similar to this :
Booting from CD-Rom…
CD Loader 1.2

Building the boot loader arguments
Looking up /BOOT/LOADER… Found
Relocating the loader and the BTX
Starting the BTX loader

BTX loader 1.00 BTX version is 1.01
Console: internal video/keyboard
BIOS CD is cd0
BIOS drive C: is disk0
BIOS drive D: is disk1
BIOS 639kB/261120kB available memory

FreeBSD/i386 bootstrap loader, Revision 1.1

Loading /boot/defaults/loader.conf
/boot/kernel/kernel text=0×64daa0 data=0xa4e80+0xa9e40 syms=[0×4+0×6cac0+0×4+0×88e9d]
\
Please note that if you are booting from floppy disc, then you will see a display similar to this:

Booting from Floppy…
Uncompressing … done

BTX loader 1.00 BTX version is 1.01
Console: internal video/keyboard
BIOS drive A: is disk0
BIOS drive C: is disk1
BIOS 639kB/261120kB available memory

FreeBSD/i386 bootstrap loader, Revision 1.1

Loading /boot/defaults/loader.conf
/kernel text=0×277391 data=0×3268c+0×332a8 |

Insert disk labelled “Kernel floppy 1″ and press any key…

- If you follow the instructions by removing the boot.flp disc, insert the kern1.flp disc, and please press Enter.
- Boot from first floppy; when prompted, insert the other disks as required.
- Whether you booted from floppy or CDROM, the boot process will then get to the FreeBSD boot loader menu
- Either wait ten seconds, or press Enter.

- If you would like to boot for the Alpha, then please start with your computer turned off.
- Turn on the computer and wait for a boot monitor prompt.
- If you need to prepare boot floppies, then one of them will be the first boot disc, probably the one containing boot.flp. - You can put this disc in the floppy drive and type the following command to boot the disk:
>>>BOOT DVA0 -FLAGS ” -FILE ”

- In order to boot from CDROM, please insert the CDROM into the drive and type the following command to start the installation:
>>>BOOT DKA0 -FLAGS ” -FILE ”
FreeBSD will start to boot.

- When you will boot from a floppy disc, you will see the following message:
Insert disk labelled “Kernel floppy 1″ and press any key…
- please follow the instructions by removing the boot.flp disc,
- insert the kern1.flp disc,
- and press Enter.
- Whether you booted from floppy or CDROM, the boot process will then get to this point:
Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or any other key for command prompt.
Booting [kernel] in 9 seconds… _
Either wait ten seconds, or press Enter. This will then launch the kernel configuration menu.

As most of the Sparc64 systems are set up to boot automatically from diskso, in order to install FreeBSD, you need to boot over the network or from a CDROM, which requires you to break into the PROM

In orde to do this, you need to reboot the system, and wait until the boot message appears as provided below:
Sun Blade 100 (UltraSPARC-IIe), Keyboard Present
Copyright 1998-2001 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
OpenBoot 4.2, 128 MB memory installed, Serial #51090132.
Ethernet address 0:3:ba:b:92:d4, Host ID: 830b92d4.

If the system proceeds to boot from disk , then all you need to do is press L1+A or Stop+A on the keyboard, or send a BREAK over the serial console.