Multi-OS Boot Question

[Jud]

On Wed, 16 Jul 2003 13:14:30 +1000, "Adam King" <aking at lgh.com.au> said:
> Sorry, here's a better link:
> http://www.informit.com/content/index.asp?product_id=%7B7309E848-0A1E-475A-A1CD-17B5462B1564%7D&062903
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Adam King 
>   To: freebsd-questions at freebsd.org 
>   Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 1:05 PM
>   Subject: Fw: Multi-OS Boot Question
>
>   This was in the 5.1 sysinstall notes. It is also mentioned on this site
>   (http://www.informit.com/isapi/product_id~{7309E848-0A1E-475A-A1CD-17B5462B1564}/element_id~{C8915938-27E4-4BF5-B449-CD40F6C9D8B5}/st~{FC01C6FA-A166-40A9-BEFF-FA0234A128E9}/session_id~{D7D91592-81FC-47F8-BC69-313B51CAD0D0}/content/articlex.asp)that
>   was linked from freebsd.org.
>     ----- Original Message ----- 
>     From: Jud 
>     To: Adam King 
>     Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 11:10 AM
>     Subject: Re: Multi-OS Boot Question
> 
> 
>     On Wed, 16 Jul 2003 08:49:30 +1000, "Adam King" <aking at lgh.com.au>
>     said:
>     > I currently have a dual boot Windows/Linux system and want to add another
>     > partition and install FreeBSD.
>     > 
>     > In the FreeBSD install, it mentions that the boot files must be within
>     > the first 1024 Cylinders. Is this a requirement for FreeBSD itself or
>     > just for the FreeBSD boot loader?
> 
>     What FreeBSD install did you find this in?  Installation below the
>     1024th
>     cylinder is not a requirement for either FreeBSD itself or for its
>     boot
>     loader.  (By "FreeBSD itself" I assume you mean the entire filesystem
>     or
>     some sizable subset of it.)  The 1024 cylinder limit is rarely
>     encountered these days because it is a consequence of an old BIOS
>     that
>     doesn't use geometry translation. (Geometry translation is usually
>     associated with LBA (logical block addressing).)
>      
>     > If I use a linux boot loader (LILO or Grub) which doesn't have a problem
>     > with the 1024 cylinder limit, will it be able to boot FreeBSD if it's
>     > boot files are above cylinder 1024?
> 
>     Use any boot loader you like.  Should work fine.  The FreeBSD system
>     I'm
>     using right now is installed on the second half of an 80GB RAID0
>     array.
> 
>     Jud

Yes, you're quite right about the statement from Tiemann-Urban (whom I'd
have expected to know better - glad I bought The Complete FreeBSD by Greg
Lehey rather than their book!) and I presume also about the sysinstall
documentation.  I found an additional case of the same in section 3.19 of
the FAQ on FreeBSD's web site.

However, look at the following from section 3.19 of the FAQ: "Note that
this is a limitation in the PC's BIOS, not FreeBSD."  The statement is
simply (far) out of date: "modern" BIOSes haven't had the 1024 cylinder
limit for years.  I personally haven't had a system with FreeBSD
installed *below* the 1024 cylinder limit for something like a couple of
years.  (Before my current RAID array, it was installed on the 2nd half
of a 40GB drive; before that, on the second half of a 20GB drive.)

So - install as you like, no worries.  Any problems, write back and tell
me I'm an idiot.  ;)

Jud

P.S. Please post below rather than on top of the message you're replying
to - helps readability, especially in long threads.