Hi All,
I have successfully installed dual-boot setup on my Sony Vaio VPCEB390X. FreeBSD 9.0 RC3 + Windows 7.
My notebook came with Windows 7 preloaded. The disk had 3 primary partitions, all for Windows 7. Windows 7 was installed on 3rd partition.
First thing I did was to shrink the Windows 7 partition leaving unallocated space at the end of the disk. Then, I downloaded the USB image and burned it onto a pendrive using win32diskimager.
Then using the BSD installer, I created a fourth partition and used it to install FreeBSD base install, it was a breeze and without a glitch. The installer identified the atheros wireless card prompted me to configure it. But on reboot, I could not connect to internet. Luckily, I followed the wireless setup user guide. I set up the configuration in /etc/rc.conf and /boot/loader.conf.
With wireless connectivity in place, I installed gnome2 package from ftp server. Install went smooth and updating the rc.conf with
and
and adding following in .xsession:
And with this setup, I was only able to boot into FreeBSD. Then I used the Windows recovery disk to repair the MBR. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I then used the Command Prompt to check the issue using diskpart command. I then marked the third partition as active. And rebooted into Windows 7. I then used EasyBCD to install an option to boot FreeBSD from the fourth partition.
That's it! (there are minor issues which are posted in a separate post).
I hope this will encourage people with this notebook to try FreeBSD.
-Adam
I have successfully installed dual-boot setup on my Sony Vaio VPCEB390X. FreeBSD 9.0 RC3 + Windows 7.
My notebook came with Windows 7 preloaded. The disk had 3 primary partitions, all for Windows 7. Windows 7 was installed on 3rd partition.
First thing I did was to shrink the Windows 7 partition leaving unallocated space at the end of the disk. Then, I downloaded the USB image and burned it onto a pendrive using win32diskimager.
Then using the BSD installer, I created a fourth partition and used it to install FreeBSD base install, it was a breeze and without a glitch. The installer identified the atheros wireless card prompted me to configure it. But on reboot, I could not connect to internet. Luckily, I followed the wireless setup user guide. I set up the configuration in /etc/rc.conf and /boot/loader.conf.
With wireless connectivity in place, I installed gnome2 package from ftp server. Install went smooth and updating the rc.conf with
Code:
gdm_enable="YES"
Code:
gnome_enable="YES"
Code:
#!/bin/bash
/usr/local/bin/gnome-sessionAnd with this setup, I was only able to boot into FreeBSD. Then I used the Windows recovery disk to repair the MBR. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I then used the Command Prompt to check the issue using diskpart command. I then marked the third partition as active. And rebooted into Windows 7. I then used EasyBCD to install an option to boot FreeBSD from the fourth partition.
That's it! (there are minor issues which are posted in a separate post).
I hope this will encourage people with this notebook to try FreeBSD.
-Adam