Install Free BSD without floppy and bootable CD-ROM-drive

[stheg olloydson]

it was said:

> Hello stheg,
> 
<snip no longer relevant posts>
> 
> Hardvare configuration:
> 
> Intel Pentium 120MHz
> 80Mb RAM (!)
> 4,3 Gb HDD Hitachi
> CD-ROM -8x Panasonic (I CAN NOT boot from it)
> 
> NO LAN, NO FDD, 2,5"-HDD - I can't connect this HDD
> to desktop and install FreeBSD on it.
> 
> BUT I read in file /tools/00_index.txt (line 1):
> 
> setup.exe       Prepare for installation from a DOS partition.
> 
> 
> I hope it help me, but I can not FOUND IT -
> I can't found setup.exe in the installatoin CD-ROM,
> in the ftp-server on freebsd.org
> 
> Where I can found this utilite???
> 

Hello,

Please include the list in all replies. As I said, I have never done
what you are trying to do, and this is one of those questions that
needs someone who has done it to step in with some good advice, so I
really cannot be of very much help.

Judging by what I have read, at some point you could install from a DOS
partition without using floppies, but that is now not possible. The
file you mention is dated 1997, but was updated in 1999. In the same
directory is a readme dated in 1999 that lists the directory's
contents, and it does not mention setup.exe. In fact, it doesn't
mention most of the stuff in the directory. So I think both are
out-of-date and useless.
The install.txt file, dated Nov. 2004, in the root directory on a 5.3
CD says this:

"1.5.3 Installing from a DOS partition

To prepare for installation from an MS-DOS partition you should simply
copy the files from the distribution into a directory called FREEBSD on
the Primary DOS partition (C:). For example, to do a minimal
installation of FreeBSD from DOS using files copied from the CDROM, you
might do something like this:

 C:\> MD C:\FREEBSD
 C:\> XCOPY /S E:\BASE C:\FREEBSD\BASE

   Assuming that E: was where your CD was mounted.

For as many distributions as you wish to install from DOS (and you have
free space for), install each one in a directory under C:\FREEBSD - the
BIN dist is only the minimal requirement.

Once you've copied the directories, you can simply launch the
installation from floppies as normal and select ``DOS'' as your media
type when the time comes."



As you can see, it says you MUST use floppies for a DOS install. Maybe
this is different for 4.11; I don't know. If it is not different, your
only hope seems to be either an NFS, SLIP, or PLIP install. But before
checking into this, I strongly suggest you check your hardware
compatibility. If you want to run 4.11, see this link about the
hardware it supports:

http://www.freebsd.org/relnotes/4-STABLE/hardware/i386/index.html

If you want to run 5.3, see this link about the hardware it supports:

http://www.freebsd.org/relnotes/5-STABLE/hardware/i386/index.html

Good luck,

stheg

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