FreeBSD: Finally! I made a working FreeBSD 7 amd64 DVD! Here's how!

HAHAHA! Finally I got it! I made it woohoo! Ok I've successfully made a working FreeBSD 7.0 AMD64 DVD! But (there's a but..) not just using Nero, I used mkisofs to make an iso image, then burn it with Nero. Here's the important steps.

Step #1: Get the FreeBSD iso.
Fer this I downloaded all 4 isos. I downloaded all AMD64 version. You can get the isos here. Remember to get it from FreeBSD's mirror sites to ease off the load on FreeBSD's main ftp site. I downloaded:
7.0-RELEASE-amd64-disc1.iso
7.0-RELEASE-amd64-disc2.iso
7.0-RELEASE-amd64-disc3.iso
7.0-RELEASE-amd64-docs.iso

After I'm done downloading, I created a folder named FreeBSD in "c:\" so it'll look like c:\FreeBSD. Then I use 7-zip to extract all the isos into c:\FreeBSD starting from bottom up (x-docs.iso -> x-disc3.iso -> x-disc2.iso -> x-disc1.iso). Sure you can extract whichever combination you want but I just want to be sure. Then browse c:\FreeBSD\boot\ to see if there's a file call cdboot. We'll need that later. NOTE: If you found a folder named [BOOT] (not boot, you can safely delete that.

Now inside c:\FreeBSD, edit the file cdrom.inf. I use GVim Portable. You'll find something like:

CD_VERSION = 7.0-RELEASE
CD_VOLUME = 1

You can safely delete all the other line and JUST LEAVE the CD_VERSION = 7.0-RELEASE. Then save the file.

Now browse to c:\FreeBSD\packages\. I use GVim Portable and edit the file INDEX. This part is a bit tricky is you don't read carefully. Using your text editor "replace" function, delete all occurance of the words:

|1
|2
|3

To be sure, using your text editor's "search" function, find the word |1, |2 and |3 to see if there's any left. If there's none, good. We can continue.

Step #2: Get the cdrtool (we need mkisofs):
I downloaded all this tools stated below:

cdrtools-2.01-win32-bin.zip
dlls.zip
cygwin1.dll (version 1.5.25)

Then, using 7-zip, I extracted mkisofs.exe from cdrtools-2.01-win32-bin.zip into c:\WINDOWS folder. Then I extracted the file cygiconv2.dll and cygintl-8.dll from dlls.zip into c:\WINDOWS\system32. Finally I extracted cygwin1.dll into c:\WINDOWS\system32 folder.

Why can't I just extract the files to anywhere I wanted? Well, because I can use command prompt and run mkisofs from any folder I wanted. More on this below.

Step #3: Now the hard part begins. Well not so hard.
Now go open up the command prompt. You can use either "Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt" or "Start > Run" and type "cmd" then press Enter. Then type in:

cd c:\FreeBSD

to get into the FreeBSD folder. If you're using another folder name, go to that folder instead. Now we need to test out mkisofs. In the same command prompt, just type:

mkisofs

And you'll see something like:

mkisofs: Missing pathspec.
Usage: mkisofs [options] file...

If there's anything about missing cygwin1.dll, that means you didn't read the step #1. Ok now we know mkisofs is working. Let's roll. In the same command prompt, type this command:

mkisofs -o ../FreeBSD7.iso -R -J -V "FreeBSD7" -b boot/cdboot -no-emul-boot .

Remember to type it IN 1 (ONE) LINE. And yes the command ends with a "." (dot). See the -o ../FreeBSD7.iso? It means to create a file name FreeBSD7.iso in top folder, in this case c:\ root folder. Why? because I tried just -o FreeBSD7.iso and in the final iso, I see a file name, well guess what, FreeBSD7.iso in it. Drats. Now you can take a break while mkisofs is doing it's job. It'll take a while. Be sure to have enough hard disk space fer this sort of things but I tried this with only 3Gb empty space left. So fer most of us, it's nothing to worry about.

After a while, the job is done and the command prompt will display:

c:\FreeBSD>

again. So, congratulate yourself. Your iso is ready to be burn with any dvd burner program you have. In my case, Nero. Put in a blank DVD-R in your DVD-RW drive, and burn away the FreeBSD7.iso. Next. Boot and install FreeBSD. Enjoy it. You earn it friends.

Q: Why didn't you use growisofs? Well you're using mkisofs aren't you?
A: Because I don't know how. And heck I'm doing all this in XP x64.

Q: Why didn't you only use Nero to create the bootable dvd? Nero can do that.
A: Done it and the dvd can't boot the kernel. Read my previous post.

Q: Your mkisofs command is different from what I've read on the internet.
A: If you're talking about Dru's tutorial, I used her tutorial as a base, but I just can get her mkisofs command right on my pc. I guess her tutorial is just fer people using *BSD / linux. In my case, it's fer people using windows. Most importantly, this is fer me to remind meself on how I did it.

Q: Have you tested the FreeBSD dvd you've created?
A: Yes I have. I even tested using sysinstall to install some packages. Tested installing links and all the dependencies have no issue whatsoever. And installing from a dvd is great! The speed is awesome. Anyway, that's the only test I've done so far today, didn't do any full installation though but I'm sure it's fine. Just to add a note, I sacrifice 2 dvd-r before I made the final working FreeBSD 7.0 dvd. Quite a loss, in my current state but well worth the effort and knowledge.

Q: I need to know..
A: Go away!

Haha. Later then. Good luck!

p/s: I'm not done with OpenBSD though. I'll be back fer more testing. I MUST have a working OpenBSD installation up a running no matter what.

RDX200: FreeBSD 7.0 AMD64 installation is ok and running.

Latest news. FreeBSD 7.0 AMD64 installation went smoothly. It's been quite some time since I installed FreeBSD so it's like re-living the memories. I found out that I can't use my previous partition scheme because root folder "/" is not big enough. So I learnt something new here. Fer FreeBSD my partition scheme is:

/ = 500M
swap = 512M (Although automatically installation defaulted to more than 800M)
/tmp = 512M
/var = 1Gb
/usr = rest

Fer OpenBSD, I made root "/" with only 128M with no problem. I've adjusted the space so that fer next OpenBSD installation, the "/" will have 256M space. Just in case.

Installation was ok. I installed only the base system, just to test it out. I downloaded 4 iso (you got me right. 4!) and tried to make a bootable dvd using nero but failed miserably. I know there's tutorial out there on how to make FreeBSD dvds, but I can't find one using Nero. Only mkisofs. I can boot the dvd but it can't find the kernel to boot the installation. So it's a failure.

Back to the topic. After the installation, FreeBSD booted flawlessly. No problem whatsoever. So I guess there must be a hardware somewhere making trouble on my OpenBSD installation. My vote is on the faulty NIC. I'll try another OpenBSD shot later.

OpenBSD RDX200: Installed i386 but still no go. :(

I've installed OpenBSD 4.3 i386 in this pc. Installation went smooth. But still, I stumbled unto the same problem yet again. This mind boggling freeze is really something. Urrgghh! I'm really really eager to get OpenBSD running here. I'm thinking about some hardware stuff faileed here. Maybe my Ethernet card? I have 2 Marvel 1Gb Ethernet card here, both built-in but 1 have some bit or error, it doesn't detect any connection. The device seems to be ok in XP but a few weeks ago, it kept on "Connected" & "Unplugged"-ing fer no reason. So it's no longer usable. Anyway, it might not be relevant with the issue I'm currently having, but a bit of hope is better than nothing at all.

I'm currently downloading FreeBSD 7.0 AMD64. Just to test if this problem only affect OpenBSD or not. I heard that OpenBSD 4.4 will be out anytime soon. Maybe the RELEASE will be different than the snapshot I tried earlier? I'll be looking forward to that too. Later.

OpenBSD rdx200: Got the dmesg and emailed misc@. Now wait fer some solution.

I've emailed misc@ regarding the problem I currently have with 4.3 AMD64 installation. As it's my 1st post there, I'm a bit nervous. I kept thinking if my email is detailed enough or not, informative enough or not etc. Hopefully it'll be fine. I've also included the dmesg I got with the help of a friend from DaemonForums.org and OpenBSD's 4.3 i386 installation CD.

How I did it? OpenBSD FAQ 4.15 covered the proses. I prepared a msdos-formatted floppy and booted the pc using OpenBSD 4.3 i386 installation cd. Let the booting proses get through until you're presented with something like:

(I)nstall, (U)pgrade or (S)hell?

And choose (S)hell by pressing the "S" key and hitting "Enter" key. On the shell prompt, this is the command you'll need to get the dmesg like stated in FAQ 4.15:

# mount -t msdos /dev/fd0a /mnt
# dmesg >/mnt/dmesg.txt
# umount /mnt

Then reboot the pc. You can then read the dmesg.txt inside your floppy in windows. The file is *NIX formatted so it's quite hard to read as you'll see it like 1 long line of dmesg (if you're using NotePad). I opened it with the built-in text reader of Total Commander. So here's my dmesg.txt. Later then.

OpenBSD 4.3 (RAMDISK_CD) #645: Wed Mar 12 11:31:03 MDT 2008
deraadt@i386.openbsd.org:/usr/src/sys/arch/i386/compile/RAMDISK_CD
cpu0: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+ ("AuthenticAMD" 686-class, 512KB L2 cache) 2.20 GHz
cpu0: FPU,V86,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,MCE,CX8,APIC,SEP,MTRR,PGE,MCA,CMOV,PAT,PSE36,CFLUSH,MMX,FXSR,SSE,SSE2
real mem = 1072197632 (1022MB)
avail mem = 1030582272 (982MB)
mainbus0 at root
bios0 at mainbus0: AT/286+ BIOS, date 12/23/05, BIOS32 rev. 0 @ 0xfaa60, SMBIOS rev. 2.3 @ 0xf0000 (47 entries)
bios0: vendor Phoenix Technologies, LTD version "6.00 PG" date 12/23/2005
apm0 at bios0: Power Management spec V1.2
acpi at bios0 function 0x0 not configured
pcibios0 at bios0: rev 3.0 @ 0xf0000/0xcf74
pcibios0: PCI IRQ Routing Table rev 1.0 @ 0xfce00/352 (20 entries)
pcibios0: bad IRQ table checksum
pcibios0: PCI BIOS has 21 Interrupt Routing table entries
pcibios0: PCI Exclusive IRQs: 3 5 10 11
pcibios0: no compatible PCI ICU found
pcibios0: Warning, unable to fix up PCI interrupt routing
pcibios0: PCI bus #3 is the last bus
bios0: ROM list: 0xc0000/0xee00 0xd0000/0x4000! 0xd4000/0x1000
cpu0 at mainbus0
pci0 at mainbus0 bus 0: configuration mode 1 (no bios)
pchb0 at pci0 dev 0 function 0 "ATI RS480 Host" rev 0x01
ppb0 at pci0 dev 2 function 0 "ATI RX480 PCIE" rev 0x00
pci1 at ppb0 bus 1
vga1 at pci1 dev 0 function 0 "ATI Radeon HD 2600" rev 0x00
wsdisplay0 at vga1 mux 1: console (80x25, vt100 emulation)
"ATI Radeon HD 2600 HD Audio" rev 0x00 at pci1 dev 0 function 1 not configured
ppb1 at pci0 dev 4 function 0 "ATI RS480 PCIE" rev 0x00
pci2 at ppb1 bus 2
mskc0 at pci2 dev 0 function 0 "Marvell Yukon 88E8053" rev 0x19, Yukon-2 EC rev. A2 (0x1): irq 3
msk0 at mskc0 port A: address 00:01:29:d3:79:27
eephy0 at msk0 phy 0: Marvell 88E1111 Gigabit PHY, rev. 2
pciide0 at pci0 dev 17 function 0 "ATI IXP400 SATA" rev 0x80: DMA
pciide0: using irq 11 for native-PCI interrupt
pciide1 at pci0 dev 18 function 0 "ATI IXP400 SATA" rev 0x80: DMA
pciide1: using irq 10 for native-PCI interrupt
ohci0 at pci0 dev 19 function 0 "ATI IXP400 USB" rev 0x80: irq 3, version 1.0, legacy support
ohci1 at pci0 dev 19 function 1 "ATI IXP400 USB" rev 0x80: irq 3, version 1.0, legacy support
ehci0 at pci0 dev 19 function 2 "ATI IXP400 USB2" rev 0x80: irq 3
ehci0: timed out waiting for BIOS
usb0 at ehci0: USB revision 2.0
uhub0 at usb0 "ATI EHCI root hub" rev 2.00/1.00 addr 1
"ATI IXP400 SMBus" rev 0x81 at pci0 dev 20 function 0 not configured
pciide2 at pci0 dev 20 function 1 "ATI IXP400 IDE" rev 0x80: DMA, channel 0 configured to compatibility, channel 1 configured to compatibility
wd0 at pciide2 channel 0 drive 0:
wd0: 16-sector PIO, LBA, 38166MB, 78165360 sectors
wd1 at pciide2 channel 0 drive 1:
wd1: 16-sector PIO, LBA, 19092MB, 39102336 sectors
wd0(pciide2:0:0): using PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2, Ultra-DMA mode 5
wd1(pciide2:0:1): using PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2, Ultra-DMA mode 5
atapiscsi0 at pciide2 channel 1 drive 1
scsibus0 at atapiscsi0: 2 targets
cd0 at scsibus0 targ 0 lun 0: SCSI0 5/cdrom removable
cd0(pciide2:1:1): using PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2, Ultra-DMA mode 2
"ATI IXP450 HD Audio" rev 0x01 at pci0 dev 20 function 2 not configured
pcib0 at pci0 dev 20 function 3 "ATI IXP400 ISA" rev 0x80
ppb2 at pci0 dev 20 function 4 "ATI IXP400 PCI" rev 0x80
pci3 at ppb2 bus 3
pciide3 at pci3 dev 8 function 0 "CMD Technology SiI3114 SATA" rev 0x02: DMA
pciide3: using irq 11 for native-PCI interrupt
"VIA VT6306 FireWire" rev 0x80 at pci3 dev 9 function 0 not configured
skc0 at pci3 dev 10 function 0 "Marvell Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010" rev 0x13, Yukon Lite (0x9): irq 5
sk0 at skc0 port A: address 00:01:29:d3:78:f5
eephy1 at sk0 phy 0: Marvell 88E1011 Gigabit PHY, rev. 5
pchb1 at pci0 dev 24 function 0 "AMD AMD64 HyperTransport" rev 0x00
pchb2 at pci0 dev 24 function 1 "AMD AMD64 Address Map" rev 0x00
pchb3 at pci0 dev 24 function 2 "AMD AMD64 DRAM Cfg" rev 0x00
pchb4 at pci0 dev 24 function 3 "AMD AMD64 Misc Cfg" rev 0x00
usb1 at ohci0: USB revision 1.0
uhub1 at usb1 "ATI OHCI root hub" rev 1.00/1.00 addr 1
usb2 at ohci1: USB revision 1.0
uhub2 at usb2 "ATI OHCI root hub" rev 1.00/1.00 addr 1
isa0 at pcib0
isadma0 at isa0
pckbc0 at isa0 port 0x60/5
pckbd0 at pckbc0 (kbd slot)
pckbc0: using irq 1 for kbd slot
wskbd0 at pckbd0: console keyboard, using wsdisplay0
npx0 at isa0 port 0xf0/16: reported by CPUID; using exception 16
pccom0 at isa0 port 0x3f8/8 irq 4: ns16550a, 16 byte fifo
fdc0 at isa0 port 0x3f0/6 irq 6 drq 2
fd0 at fdc0 drive 0: 1.44MB 80 cyl, 2 head, 18 sec
biomask ffcd netmask ffed ttymask ffef
rd0: fixed, 3800 blocks
uhidev0 at uhub1 port 1 configuration 1 interface 0 "vendor 0x15d9 USB Mouse" rev 1.10/1.00 addr 2
uhidev0: iclass 3/1
uhid at uhidev0 not configured
root on rd0a swap on rd0b dump on rd0b

OpenBSD RDX200: Trying to get the dmesg. Next, change to i386?

Ok. After searching fer answers, jggimi from DaemonForums.org suggested that I should use the i386 version of OpenBSD instead of AMD64 which I've installed.

I was also told that the i386 CD have support fer mounting msdos file system which the AMD64 version didn't have. So now I'm getting the i386's iso. I'll get the dmesg 1st, post it to misc@ first to see if there's any workaround and if there's none, I guess I'll have to settle with an i386 version of OpenBSD fer now. If that is so, it sure is not my lucky day. Hopefully there's something I can do to get this AMD64 version to work. Later on this soon.

Fer FAQ about sending dmesg, please refer to OpenBSD FAQ 4.9. Fer FAQ about getting dmesg to report installation problems, please go to OpenBSD FAQ 4.15 (Take note that the mount -t msdos.. command is referring to i386 CD. I tried it with my AMD64 cd without success.)

p/s: If you didn't know, DaemonForums.org is community-based forum geared towards *BSD user mainly (Although there's even section fer Mac OS X, Linux and even Windows). Many of the users are from the BSDForums.org, the legendary forum which is sadly now severely spam infested. Do visit DaemonForums.org and heck become a member!

OpenBSD: 4.3 AMD64 can't boot. Found something interesting.

After searching fer some answers / directions, I found out that OpenBSD Man Page is one of the place to go. After reading boot_config part of the man page, I go on and boot to 4.3 again. On the boot prompt I go and type "/bsd -c" to boot to User Kernel Config (UKC). It's something like this:

boot> /bsd -c
UKC>

Then I disabled the ehci by typing:

UKC> disable ehci
UKC> quit

After that 4.3 booted the kernel with ehci disabled. But then the booting problem got worst. My lcd went standby (the LED turned orange) and the HDD LED blinks rapidly. Hard reset AND hard boot didn't work. I had to turn the power off right from the power socket. So the culprit is not ehci (or maybe not JUST ehci?, I'm not sure right now.).

Take note that this UKC will retain the setting you changed per reboot. Means that when you rebooted, you need to change the UKC setting again or else it'll boot the default.

OpenBSD: 4.3 installed, but failed on booting.

Okay. Here's the news. I installed GAG 4.9 as a boot manager, and I've successfully installed OpenBSD 4.3 (AMD64). When the installation is done and the machine rebooted, OpenBSD kernel booted and while it's probing devices, I saw something like:

"ATI EHCI root hub"

And my monitor went blank then the pc restarted back to POST. Weird. I've tried rebooting a few times already but with no success. I've written a new thread on Daemon Forums and hope that somebody will point me to a right direction. Surely I'll google bout this matter later.

As this is my 1st time OpenBSD installation, I'll post a rough walkthrough later. OpenBSD installation is different from FreeBSD and I'm really excited!

DragonFlyBSD 2.0 is out! It's Hammer time!

Ok now head up to DragonFlyBSD and check their latest 2.0 release. Now there's something new to look upon. The DragonFlyBSD team has created a new filesystem named HAMMER (pdf file). From what I read, the filesystem is an innovative new filesystem fer DragonFlyBSD and the developer has stated that they're commited to make the new filesystem as widely accepted by other *BSD siblings and other OSes.

Go and check that out.

Info: Toshiba IPC5030B LCD information found.

Ok I found a page regarding the information on my Toshiba IPC5030B LCD monitor.

http://www3.toshiba.co.jp/peripheral/products/i5030b.htm

Yes the site is in Japanese so you need to translate the page using any online translation site. I translated the page using my K-Meleon web browser and the information on the LCD is very detailed. Hope this help anyone who's looking fer the same information. Later.

OpenBSD 4.3: New project, multiboot OpenBSD & XP x64.

Hola. It's been a long while aye. Ok here's the latest project, I'm currently planning to do a multiboot system of OpenBSD and WinXP x64.

Why not FreeBSD? I guess it's time fer me to experiment / try out the other *BSD sibling. I read a lot of user experience / review on OpenBSD and none is negative. People says it's stable and secure. Sure, the port tree maybe not as vast as FreeBSD but it'll be enough I guess. I'm also interested in their encryption.

As my PC is a AMD64 pc, I downloaded OpenBSD's AMD64 installation cd. I heard that OpenBSD never released a full installation cd before to encourage people to buy official CD / DVD but in 4.3, they made it available fer download. My rough hard disk space now is:

1) Western Digital Caviar WD400 40gb: 27gb XP x64, 12gb OpenBSD
2) Western Digital Protege WD200 20Gb: All ntfs

Currently I'm reading references on multibooting OpenBSD with XP. The 1st site I'm looking is http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq4.html#Multibooting. There's also user experience multibooting OpenBSD with XP but reflecting OpenBSD 3.6: http://www.aleph0.com/computing/openbsd/dualboot/. By reading the links given, I notice that it's a bit different between FreeBSD and OpenBSD on multiboot installation. From a 1st time read, I think OpenBSD will be harder. But as I progress, I might prove meself wrong here. Both articles suggest using Windows's own NTLdr to manage booting to OpenBSD, and it's something I never done in FreeBSD before. So it's interesting.

There's also method using BootPart to look into but unfortunately, I already done fixing my hard disk space. So I have to skip this part. Unless BootPart method can be done without the need to create a small FAT partition. I'll post update on this when I found a way.

Ok, found out another Boot Manager of interest. GAG Boot Manager. It's stated that GAG will not need it's own partition and can be installed to the existing partition. Great. The screenshots is nice too. So I'm downloading it now.

Here's my AMD64 machine:

1. DFI LANParty UT RDX200 CF - DR
2. AMD AthlonÖ 64 3500+ (Winchester) s939
- Cooler Master X Dream K641 low profile CPU heatsink/fan
3. Kingston KVR400X64C3A/512 PC3200 DDR400 512Mb x2
4. GECUBE HD 2600Pro 16x PCIe 512Mb DDR2
5. Primary Master: Western Digital WD400 ATA 40Gb
6. Primary Slave: Western Digital WD200 ATA 20Gb
7. Secondary Master: Samsung WriteMaster DVD-RW ATA
8. Toshiba 15" IPC5030B LCD monitor
9. PS/2 keyboard
10. USB optical mouse

I'll do some researching to prepare fer this multi boot project. In the meantime, I would like to ask fer favor, if anyone have any info on my Toshiba IPC5030B LCD monitor. This Japan-spec LCD is hard to get any info on. Later.