[ WARNING:
THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL FREEBSD INSTALLATION HOW-TO
DO NOT ACTUALLY INSTALL FREEBSD VERSION 5.X
IT IS UNSUPPORTED AND END-OF-LIFE
INSTALL A CURRENT VERSION: http://www.freebsd.org/releases/
PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK
-- Mod. ]
http://www.antionline.com/showthread.php?t=256949
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Installing Free BSD 5.0
Free BSD 5.0 (The installer hasn't changed much since this version, so, it still works).
Introduction:
Free BSD has the same reputation as Slackware Linux does for not being an easy to install OS. Well, So far I've installed it 30 times, and I haven't used a manual yet.
This will work on a number of machines. I've installed it this way on two machines, with very different hardware, and the install works fine, so you should be fine. Even if you have an integrated video card you can at least install it, but setting up XFree86 is different, and so for the time being, I won't be showing the configuration.
Assumptions:
You have a CD-ROM drive
You won't be sharing the HD with another OS (If you are, when it comes time to partition, you're on your own; I won't be showing you how to partition to use another OS with it, as I don't, and don't feel the need to, as there is enough documentation to get you through this anyway, and besides, you have to partition to use Free BSD anyway, so if you can do that, you can do it to allow another OS to reside on disk with Free BSD too.)
You will be setting up a network connection. (If you are not, then skip that section).
X86/X.org:
The GUI for free BSD is the same as Linux uses, but you do have to set it up by hand. If you plan on using X, I recommend that before you begin, you go into the current OS on your computer and get all the information about your hardware, you'll need it.
I've set up X a few times, and it's not hard, but you have to set it up to your own hardware configuration, and I'm NOT going to show you how to do this with every possible configuration, so that is why I'm not adding a section for X.
After you use it for a while and read books, you'll learn more by doing this yourself, than you will if I just tell you how. So I'm not skipping X configuration to be mean, but just because there are to many possible combinations of hardware.
The installation:
To start the installation, take the CD-ROM, and insert it into the CD-ROM drive of the computer you are installing on, and shut the machine down.
Wait a few seconds, and then hit the power button.
As the machine boots up you'll see text scrolling, and a little warning saying it will boot in 10 seconds, you can either watch the count down with excitement, or press "ENTER" on your keyboard. If you're installing a newer version, Hit "1".
After the count down, the text gets a brighter white color, scrolls, and then you see something that may remind you a little of Slackware Linux:
Sys Install:
The Free BSD installation is done by "SysInstall" which is a nice non GUI program that's fairly easy to use. After the machine has booted up you'll see it, and can begin the installation.
When Sys Install is loaded on your screen, press the DOWN arrow key once, and press "ENTER" to begin a standard installation. For the most part, the install of Free BSD looks the same as far back as 4.0 which was my first version. 5.1 and so on look a bit different, but besides a few screens, it's the same.
I'm using the Free BSD 5.0 disk that came with my book "Free BSD Unleashed, second edition". I highly recommend This book, and "The Complete Free BSD" for anyone using BSD.
Fdisk:
After pressing "ENTER" to begin a standard install, you come to a screen saying you are going into Fdisk. Press "ENTER" to say "OK" and then you see the Fdisk screen.
Don't worry, this is simple!
Press the letter "A" on your keyboard, to allocate all of the disk to Free BSD, then, press the UP arrow key once to highlight the partition named "FreeBSD" and press "S" to set it as bootable.
You'll see a little "A" after pressing "S" to confirm it was set as bootable.
After you press "S" and have it set as bootable, press "Q" to quit.
Boot manager:
After you have pressed "Q" you come to the screen to select a boot manager. If you plan on dual booting, I recommend the Free BSD boot manager. If you have a partition and boot manager already installed that you need to keep, then you will want to leave the MBR alone!
To leave the MBR alone and use whatever boot manager you have installed:
Press the DOWN arrow key twice to highlight "NONE" and press the "ENTER" key.
If you're like me and don't have any other OS you need installed on the machine, then press the DOWN arrow key one time, to highlight "Standard" and then press "ENTER".
Back to Fdisk land:
After you have done this, you see a screen saying you are going to be playing with Fdisk again. Press "ENTER" to say "OK", and you are taken back to Fdisk for round 2.
Now, this part looks very intimidating to a newbie, but it's actually very easy. All you have to do here, is press "A" for auto defaults, then press "Q" to finish. Easy huh?
Back to Sys Install for software:
After you press "Q" you come back to the Sys Install screen to select software.
The easiest way to get passed this screen, is to press the DOWN arrow key once, which will select all, and pressing "ENTER".
After you press "ENTER" you are taken to a new screen asking about the ports collection. There is no reason you should not install the ports unless you're installing on a VERY small disk.
The default highlight is "Yes", so go ahead and press "ENTER" on this window, and after doing so, you come back to the same screen you were just at asking for software to install.
At this screen, press the UP arrow key once, to highlight "EXIT" and then press "ENTER".
Where do you want to install from?
After you have done so, you come to a new screen that is asking where to install from.
It's already highlighting the CD/DVD method, so just press "ENTER".
After pressing "ENTER" you have to tell it which CD-ROM it's in. Usually if you have more than one CD drive in your machine, you pop it in the top one, so the already highlighted top "ATAPI/IDE CDROM" Option should work fine. If not pick the other
After you have pressed "ENTER" and selected the CD-ROM drive the Free BSD installation media is in, you come to a screen warning you that this is your last chance to turn back.
If you forgot to do something, this is the time to select "No".
If you took care of everything you may need, and are ready to finally actually begin the installation, then press "ENTER" as the "YES" option is already highlighted.
The installation begins:
After you select "YES" you see the screen go blue and showing you the current task it is performing. It's currently making File Systems on the HD, so relax for a minute while it does this.
After the File Systems are done, you see a new little window on the screen showing you a progress bar. It's now loading things from CD, so it can take a while on a slower system.
After a few minutes, you see it starts adding packages. This doesn't usually take that long, but again, just relax.
After a few minutes, you see a message saying how Free BSD is now installed. Don't stop yet though, you're not done.