Re: Dual boot - Windows 10 and FreeBSD encrypted ZFS

On 7/31/25 23:58, Johan Helsingius wrote:
> On 01/08/2025 00:04, David Christensen wrote:
>> Assuming the SSD is not soldered onto the motherboard, if you intend 
>> to run FreeBSD on the laptop daily and never use Windows again, but 
>> you want to be able to boot Windows in case you need to run some 
>> Windows- only hardware/ firmware utility, then swapping the disk is 
>> what I would do; even if that means opening the laptop.  STFW to see 
>> if Lenovo has a service manual.  Watch YouTube videos.  Research what 
>> SSD's the laptop supports and buy a suitable SSD; buying an identical 
>> SSD is an easy and safe bet.  Get the right tools, including an anti- 
>> static wrist strap. Check if https://www.ifixit.com/ has a kit with 
>> everything you need.  Go for it.
> 
> Pretty much the only reason I want to have Windows is as a decoy. The
> way I have my other laptop set up (with Linux) is that the normal
> boot sequence boots up windows, but it can be (invisibly) interrupted
> to give the choice of booting up Linux instead. I had hoped to do the
> same with FreeBSD on my other laptop.
> 
>      Julf


Sneaky.  ;-)


The only other resource I can think of is the FreeBSD installer.  It is 
a non-trivial shell script suite, but very well written and reasonably 
easy to understand.  I crawled and hacked it in the past when I wanted 
to set slice and partition sizes, set ZFS pool and filesystem 
properties, etc., for new installs.  Studying that and Lucas might give 
you enough insight to implement Windows/ FreeBSD dual-boot.


David