DesktopBSD install problem

[Michael R. Orlando]

Jon: 

I am trying to install DesktopBSD (based on FreeBSD) and when I attempt to boot
 from the
CD burned from v1.0-RC3 X86-CD.ISO (from the DesktopBSD download area), I get t
he
following message:

CD Loader 1.2
Building the boot loader arguments
Looking up /BOOT/LOADER... FOUND
Read Error: 0X32
Could not find Primary Volume Descriptor

Here are the particulars of my system:

Shuttle AK12AS04 board (06/08/2001-8363-686-AK12AC-00)
AMD Athlon 1.133MHz processor
256 MB memory
30 GB EIDE WD Caviar HD
Award BIOS v6.00PG
System Commander v7 (multi-boot manager)

I have successfully installed multiple versions of DOS, Windows 9x, Win 2000 Pr
o, OS/2, and Linux on this system.

The most recent post on the DesktopBSD forum under installation says to
try again after the release of v3, and that is the version I am
attempting to install.

Please excuse my ignorance, but is there a directory of error
messages, and their meanings that I could consult to determine the
cause and possible remedies for the above, as well as other, error messages?
   ______________________________________________________________________

I have found a prior post which you replied to on the FreeBSD forums, repeated 
here: 
   ______________________________________________________________________

On 3/24/2004 4:37 PM, Nicolai E M Plum wrote:
> Hi
>
> I am having problems booting FreeBSD 5.2.1-RELEASE on a system I
> have. Booting from CD gives me:
>
> ----
> [other messages from the BIOS]
> CD Loader 1.01
>
> Building the boot loader arguments
> Read Error: 0x01
> Could not find Primary Volume Descriptor
> ----
>
> Booting from floppies works OK.
>
> The same happens when trying to boot a CD of 5.1-RC1 that I happen to
> still have around. 4.9-RELEASE boots fine from CD.
>
> Hardware is an older Dell Pentium Pro system, with a Samsung SM-532
> DVD-ROM CD-RW drive.
>
> Any ideas why this happens? I've worked around it, but it's a bit
> awkward. I can't find any details of why it happens in searching mailing
> lists.

The 5.x bootable install CDs no longer use floppy-emulation mode.  The 
change was made because some newer machines do not support this 
emulation mode.  However, older machines may not be able to boot CDs in 
"native" (non-emulation) mode.  We can't support everybody, so we 
support the new machines.

In many cases a BIOS update will fix this, so you might check for that.

Jon
   ______________________________________________________________________

   Do you have any further information that might be helpful here?
   How can I find the meanings and actions required of any error messages
   generated during installations or operations?
   How is the error message I receive (0x32) different from the one in
   the post you replied to (0x01)?
   Do you know if the current version I am using is any different from
   the previous version mentioned in the earlier post in this regard?
   Whatever you can tell me will be greatly appreciated.
   Thank you.
   Sincerely,
   Michael R. Orlando