Installing free bsd

[Jamie Paul Griffin]

On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 11:58:33PM +0000, Frank Shute wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 06:05:29PM -0500, Jerry McAllister wrote:
> >
> > First of all, always include the list in a response to something
> > from the list.   Other people will be reading and may well know
> > more than me or any other person who responds.   eg, don't just 
> > send the follow-on question back to the one responding.  Send it
> > to the list.
> > 
> > 
> > On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 04:26:06PM -0600, Daniel Lewis wrote:
> > 
> > > do direct ftp to disk? And what do you mean by fixate?
> > 
> > No.  You ftp the file down to the local machine and then use a CD burning 
> > utility to burn file to the CD.   On FreeBSD there is one called 'burncd'.
> > I am not familiar with the ones on a MS system, but there are several
> > available.   Maybe someone else will suggest one or there is probably
> > some information in the handbook.
> > 
> > Fixate is something that finishes writing a terminal record on
> > the CD image or something like that.  I don't really know in
> > detail.   I think some burner utilities do it automatically with
> > no choice.   The burncd utility needs to have you specify it.
> > 
> > ////jerry
> > 
> > 
> > > 
> > > On 12/12/11, Jerry McAllister <jerrymc at msu.edu> wrote:
> > > > On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 02:36:04PM -0600, Daniel Lewis wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> Im new to FreeBSD and did a FTP of 8.2 and unzipped to a cd rom. It
> > > >> was an ISO Version. I then FTP the CDROM BOOT file and un zipped it.
> > > >> Unfortunately It wont auto start when i put disk in computer startup.
> > > >> Need support.. Is the windows format on disk causing problems?
> > > >
> > > > Well, the .iso files you get from the FreeBSD distribution are ISO
> > > > image files that need to be burned directly to a disk.  There is no
> > > > other processing or formatting that may be done.
> > > >
> > > > I do not know what you mean by 'unzipped to a cd rom'.  I have never
> > > > done anything that sounded like that.
> > > >
> > > > You should just download the .iso file and burn in to a fresh cd
> > > > and fixate it.  Then boot it.
> > > >
> > > > ////jerry
> > > >
> 
> I've used Nero in the past on a Windows system to burn an ISO. You can
> download it (probably timebombed) from http://www.tucows.com/ I think.
> 
> Instructions on burning and fixating are here:
> 
> http://iso.snoekonline.com/iso.htm
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> -- 
> 
>  Frank
> 
>  Contact info: http://www.shute.org.uk/misc/contact.html
> 
> 

I recall having some trouble finding a decent ISO burner for Windows that didn't require paying but came across ActiveISO Burner. It's pretty decent, it's incredibly simple to use and has a clearly labeled option to burn ISO images. This was Windows 7 although it will be fine to use on most earlier versions. As others have mentioned you only need FreeBSD Disc1. I personally just use the "User" installation option which only installs binaries and man pages and docs. I don't install the sources and ports collection at that stage, I find it's best to add that later. Then I'd recommend updating your system using 'freebsd-update', at that point you can add the ports collection with 'portsnap' and install loads of cool stuff, like X and a window manager. Personally I use xfce4. I used to use fvwm2 but I just like to have things operational quickly without fiddling with config files. 

Jamie