/boot on a separate partition

[Ross Kendall Axe]

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Alex Zbyslaw wrote:
> Being pragmatic, the problems you are facing are because you have such a
> tiny disk in an ancient PC.  This puts you in a very small minority of
> FreeBSD users.

True.

> A separate /boot is new to 5.X and I doubt it was done
> to help you out of this situation.   Developer effort is limited and
> since FreeBSD has never used a separate /boot, it's unlikely to get
> anyone's attention to do it that way unless there is a very good reason,
> and tiny disks are unlikely to be it.

I admit, I didn't know the /boot was new in FreeBSD, but then, I am a
BSD virgin.  As for reasons to support a /boot partition, how about BIOS
bugs/quirks?  There's no shortage of those.  Of course, an open source
BIOS would be a better solution to that particular problem.

Also, please don't misinterpret my cry for help as a demand for a new
feature; I may be new to FreeBSD but I'm reasonably seasoned in the ways
of the free software world.

> The oldest PC I have that runs FreeBSD (also a Pentium) has a 4 and an
> 8Gb disk, and no problem booting off the ends of either.  It's who knows
> how old, and even charities don't want it because they can't think of
> anything useful that anyone could do with it, even if it was the bees
> knees when I got it.

Pffft.  I've got a 486 with a 1/4GB hard disk around here _somewhere_.

> Depending on where you are located, you might be able to find something
> very cheap (but still better than yours) in classifieds, computer fairs,
> 2nd hand shops or the local tip.

This particular machine was actually intercepted before it reached the
dump.  Still, it's powerful enough to make a decent home router.

> 
> Best,
> 
> --Alex
> 

Thanks to all for your input, but I've actually managed to solve the
problem in a different way.  Turns out the BIOS was disabling LBA
because the logical cylinder count was >1024, so mucking about with the
geometry fixed it.  Still, I'll keep these comments in mind if I ever
decide to install FreeBSD on the aforementioned 486 ;-)

Ross

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