ISO images for i386 invalid format?

[PCUser]

I downloaded the FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE .iso for both i386 and amd64.

The i386 images, both the disc1 and dvd1, are not valid by the USB formatting software Rufus which complains "This image is either non-bootable, or it uses boot or compression method that is not supported by Rufus".

The amd64 images are fine and work as expected.

What's the issue here?

 

[Isoux]

I have the same problem! I burned iso files with dd on linux and amd64 boots fine but i386 doesn't???

 

[VladiBG]

ISO are for CD/DVD.
IMG are for USB

Use win32 disk imager to burn the img to the USB stick.

I strongly suggest you to use amd64 (x64) instead of i386 (x86)

 

[Isoux]

The problem is solved, I downloaded FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE-i386-memstick.img

... For my old Pentium 4 32-bit machine ...

 

[cyrille_v]

2025, somebody still using 32-bit hardware (!?)

 

[SirDice]

Note that i386 was demoted to Tier 2 with 13.0, it will be entirely unsupported from 15.0 onward.

 

[covacat]

there is still lots of useful 32bit hardware
it's just not made by intel or amd

and freebsd has sort of shitty support for it

 

[ralphbsz]

2025, somebody still using 32-bit hardware (!?)

Yes, lots of them.

and freebsd has sort of shitty support for it

Which is one of the cluster of problems that are growing in FreeBSD.

 

[LibreQuest]

Yes, lots of them.


Which is one of the cluster of problems that are growing in FreeBSD.

I also have a large amount of 32-bit hardware. I plan to move them to OpenBSD after 15.0 OpenBSD is alright.

 

[balanga]

Note that i386 was demoted to Tier 2 with 13.0, it will be entirely unsupported from 15.0 onward.

So, 14.3 is the last version which supports i386?

 

[SirDice]

So, 14.3 is the last version which supports i386?

The 14 major branch is supported until November 2028. There's likely going to be a 14.4 and 14.5. But yes, the 14 major branch is probably the last version that supports i386.

Platforms

www.freebsd.org

 

[PCUser]

The problem is solved, I downloaded FreeBSD-14.3-RELEASE-i386-memstick.img

... For my old Pentium 4 32-bit machine ...

Which means that the img for sticks works with CD media too? It doesn't explain why disc1 and dvd1 works for x64 but not the 32-bit... strange.

2025, somebody still using 32-bit hardware (!?)

Yes I have some legacy 32 hardware. FreeBSD works well, even nicer than anything Linux.

 

[Isoux]

Which means that the img for sticks works with CD media too? It doesn't explain why disc1 and dvd1 works for x64 but not the 32-bit... strange.

I wasn't precise enough... When I burn disc1 and dvd1 for x64 to a memory stick with dd, it's bootable. But when I burn the same i386 images to a memory stick, they're not bootable. I haven't tried burning them to CD or DVD media. When I burned -i386-memstick.img to a memory stick, it was bootable. So the question is why does disc1 and dvd for x64 work even though it's burned to a memory stick, but i386 doesn't?