# unable to transfer base distribution from acd0



## mikeglaz (Apr 24, 2010)

I get this error when I try to install from CD: "unable to transfer base distribution from acd0".  I tried 2 different downloads and still the same problem.  The installation CD seems fine.

mike


----------



## Beastie (Apr 24, 2010)

I've had this happen on very old machines/CD drives.

I usually copy the kernel and base distribution from disc1 to a partition, and then install/extract them manually using a method similar to this one. Sometimes copying the files myself fails, so I have to repeat the process until all files are transfered.

But first you may try to do a minimal installation in sysinstall (it's in "Custom", IIRC), then add additional components later on.


----------



## robert (Jun 6, 2010)

hello good afternoon:

it wanted to ask them something on freebsd and the fact is that there is a friend that have a problem with freebsd in virtualbox.and the fact is that when virtualiza freebsd in virtualbox leaves him an error:



> unable to transfer the base distribution from acd0



but the it says that has sought to see which is the error but in several you plot virtual but the same error in all gives him.and todavia does not obtain or has not obtained the solucion

if could help it thanks


----------



## JimW (Jun 7, 2010)

mikeglaz said:
			
		

> I get this error when I try to install from CD: "unable to transfer base distribution from acd0".  I tried 2 different downloads and still the same problem.  The installation CD seems fine.
> 
> mike



Which image did you download?

For a base system install, all that is required is to create a CD of disc1.


----------



## plmday (Sep 19, 2010)

I had the same problem on several attempts to install FreeBSD. I finally got a work-around by first copied all the files packed in the iso (disc1) into a usb disk (vfat), started the installation as usual, when reached the step of choosing installation media, I chose "From a DOS partition", then the installation proceeded normally.


----------



## tty3 (Sep 21, 2010)

Try to boot in safe mode and try to install it


----------



## paulfrottawa (Sep 21, 2010)

mikeglaz said:
			
		

> I get this error when I try to install from CD: "unable to transfer base distribution from acd0".  I tried 2 different downloads and still the same problem.  The installation CD seems fine.
> 
> mike




This used to happen a lot to me as well. My problem was I didn't have all my grounding screws attached to the computer board that grounded to the case.


----------



## e0je (Sep 23, 2010)

You can always set your install source to ftp rather than cd


----------



## free-and-bsd (Sep 26, 2010)

Correct me, please, if I'm wrong... But *./install.sh* in the */8.1-RELEASE/base* directory runs thus:
*if [ "$ans" = "y" ]; then
	cat base.?? | tar --unlink -xpzf - -C ${DESTDIR}
fi*

Notice "*${DESTDIR}*" there! Since I had my root mounted at /mnt (export DESTDIR=/mnt), when run by hand, *./install.sh *just couldn't extract the archives into "*/mnt/*". When I ran the script as "*cat base.?? | tar --unlink -xpzf - -C ${DESTDIR}*" it did what it was meant to. 
If it wasn't meant to be run by hand, how did the author of the HOWTO himself do it? And of course, I checked the MD5 SUM of the DVD-image...

...Anyways, apart from that little inconvenience it all installed on GPT pretty well and booted from it just fine. Even though I installed on the 9th partition (there were already 5 more OS's on that disk).


----------



## free-and-bsd (Sep 26, 2010)

I mean this HOWTO.


----------



## kpa (Sep 26, 2010)

The ${DESTDIR:-/} construct expands to / if DESTDIR variable is not set and to value of DESTDIR if it's set. From the manual page of sh(1):


```
In addition, a parameter expansion can be modified by using one of the
     following formats.

     ${parameter:-word}
	     Use Default Values.  If parameter is unset or null, the expansion
	     of word is substituted; otherwise, the value of parameter is sub-
	     stituted.
```


----------



## free-and-bsd (Sep 26, 2010)

You're right!

I just tried it in my konsole right after posting the above, just to see if I could reproduce that problem, but [cmd=]echo $DESTDIR[/cmd] returned what I'd stored into it...

And yet I can swear I had that problem during the manual installation from the Fixit environment shell. I definitely couldn't do [cmd=]for dir in base catpages dict doc info lib32 manpages; do (cd $dir; ./install.sh); done[/cmd] for those directories, where ${DESTDIR:-/} was used in the ./install.sh...

However, I often fail to be accurate in every detail, and in scripts that is essential.


----------



## Beastie (Sep 26, 2010)

Were you using (a)sh all the time?


----------



## chinamike (Oct 16, 2012)

*good idea about the CD1 iso*

Hi
I have an old PC that had 128mb RAM, but one stick died, so it was limping on 64. I tried various OS's like DSL, Puppy Linux and so forth, and nearly every thing stalled out, with the exception of DSL. It's just an extra power user (i.e. an old piece of SH*T that is using electricity!) but I look at it sitting in the corner and well, feel guilty :\

So I tried the live cd FreeBSD and it stalled with that same error that is the title of this post. So I tried what someone else here suggested and used a previous CD I forgot I had burned; the cd1.iso of FreeBSD, not the live one.

It seems to be doing something now, but it's taking a long time! THe base is on, the kernel is on, and now the ports.txz is trying to install (currently sitting at 9%). I'll come back and let ya know if it worked!


----------

