formatting disk for FreeBSD : Detecting IDE Primary Master ... [Press F4 to skip]

[David Larkin]

Hi Guys,

I'm trying to  install FreeBSD  6.3 on an old PC.

I have  bought a  new Maxtor DiamondMax 80Gig  disk,  to replace the old  one. I will have only one disk in the PC.

I am  looking to build using boot floppies and FTP.

There  is  no CD  drive on  the PC.

When I turn the PC on the BIOS hangs with the message
 Detecting  IDE  Primary  Master ...  [Press F4 to skip]

However, by holding down  F4, I was able to boot using the floppies
boot.flp , kern1.flp , kern2.flp & kern3.flp

This detected disk and I selected standard configuration, and the FTP installation all went to plan.

I got message saying installation was successful and I added users and set root password.

However, when I reboot (without floppies) I still get the message
 Detecting  IDE  Primary  Master ...  [Press F4 to skip]

and when I go into BIOS , it still doesn't detect  the IDE disk.

How do I format disk so BIOS  recognises it ?

I read something about using DOS fdisk , but I haven't got DOS floppies.

Can I format disk using boot or fixit floppies ?

Thanks