# Help making bootable CD



## waveaura (Feb 12, 2009)

Please don't blast me for asking such a simple question. Everywhere I go when I ask this question no one wants to give me an answer and just says "dumb***, or Idi**". I do have a decent amount of experience with the windows cmd,Java script, C++, HTML, and a few other things.

This is what I have downloaded: 6.4-RELEASE-i386-bootonly.iso

6.4-RELEASE-i386-disc1.iso 6.4-RELEASE-i386-disc2.iso 6.4-RELEASE-i386-disc3.iso 6.4-RELEASE-i386-docs.iso

How do I make a bootable "CD" ( I do not want a floppy )? The instructions on the sites I have gone to aren't very clear. What exactly do I need to do?


----------



## fonz (Feb 12, 2009)

Quick note: if nobody else beats me to it I'll get to you in a moment. But right now the Simpsons are on TV and I have my priorities...

Alphons


----------



## vivek (Feb 12, 2009)

I'm assuming that you are on Windows...

You need to burn 6.4-RELEASE-i386-disc1.iso to a CD which is bootable disk. You also need to burn all these ISO images to CD. You need to use program such as Nero Burn to create cds. All you have to do is insert a blank CD into burner, open your app and click on Burn ISO image option.

Do not use 6.4-RELEASE-i386-bootonly.iso as it is suitable for network and other type of installation.


Once done you can install FreeBSD. Also take a look at official handbook, read it before you start installation http://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/


----------



## waveaura (Feb 12, 2009)

So I can burn it to the CD in the form in which I downloaded it? Winrar shows it as compress3d file. If so thanks in advance! ^_^


----------



## fonz (Feb 12, 2009)

waveaura said:
			
		

> So I can burn it to the CD in the form in which I downloaded it?



With a decent burning program that should be the case, yes.



			
				waveaura said:
			
		

> Winrar shows it as compress3d file.



On the FTP server I use, only the DVD image is compressed. The others are simply ISO images that are not compressed and therefore should not be touched by Winrar, Winzip or other such programs. Just open them with your CD burning program and go 

Hope this helps,

Alphons

P.S. As Vivek said: you need to select "burn image", not "burn data CD". If you do the latter you'll simply end up with a non-bootable data CD that has one file on it (which would be the ISO image).


----------



## waveaura (Feb 13, 2009)

I can't get it to install. The only program I can pull up is wwbmu 6.4i and it is in german. What am I doing wrong. All the guide books have nothing on this. I really need some clear cut instructions. There is nothing on this site that I have found. I have also checked the link that is provided with the pre installation instructions.x(x(

Please help


----------



## vivek (Feb 13, 2009)

First, backup all data. I'm dam sure you are going to loss it. You need to dual boot Windows and FreeBSD? Do you wann kick out Windows and use FreeBSD as desktop os?


----------



## waveaura (Feb 13, 2009)

I am using a new hardrive that had a copy of windows but I don't want it. So I don't need it to dual boot.


----------



## waveaura (Feb 13, 2009)

To be more clear the information on the hardrive doesn't matter. I want just freebsd on the hardrive.


----------



## fonz (Feb 13, 2009)

Just for the sake of clarity: where are you now?

Have you been able to burn the install CD?
Have you been able to boot it?
Do you get to an installation program?
Can you get through the installation procedure?
Can you boot your newly installed system?

Alphons


----------



## waveaura (Feb 13, 2009)

I made the CD and it does boot. It boots to A:\. That is where I get stuck. I use path to find the programs on the Cd. The only one that will run is wwbmu and it is all in German. It is some type of partition program. That is pretty much where I am.


----------



## fonz (Feb 14, 2009)

waveaura said:
			
		

> I made the CD and it does boot. It boots to A:\. That is where I get stuck. I use path to find the programs on the Cd. The only one that will run is wwbmu and it is all in German. It is some type of partition program. That is pretty much where I am.



Yeeeeaaaah, right.

Perhaps it's time for someone more knowledgeable than me to step in because this is sounding kinda weird.

You say it's booting to A. Does "A" mean your floppy drive or something? You shouldn't need to search for any programs on the CD, it's supposed to start the installation program all by itself. I've never heard of wwbmu and for some reason it's German? Last time I checked the FreeBSD installer spoke perfectly good English (and no, English is not my native language). My educated guess is that your computer's BIOS is booting from a floppy disk left in your floppy drive instead of the CD you want it to boot from (the fix to which is to change the boot order in your BIOS to make it try the CD drive first), otherwise I'm at a complete loss. 

Anyone else have any suggestions?

Alphons


----------



## waveaura (Feb 14, 2009)

I don't even have a floppy disk drive. Also in the bios I removed the floppy boot option entirely from the boot menu just in case that was the problem. I downloaded the software from this site.

ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/releases/i386/ISO-IMAGES/6.4/

I am really frustrated.


----------



## fonz (Feb 14, 2009)

*What the F*** is going wrong here???*



			
				waveaura said:
			
		

> I don't even have a floppy disk drive.
> [snip]
> I am really frustrated.



I can imagine. Unless we're overlooking something trivial (which maybe a fresh pair of eyes could point out, hint to other forum users) this is simply not supposed to happen. When you boot the FreeBSD install CD it's supposed to load the kernel and start an (English!) installation program called sysinstall(). As I said, I'm at a complete loss. Unless I'm missing something small but stupid this is really, really weird.

Alphons


----------



## waveaura (Feb 14, 2009)

I also used nero to burn the ISO image just like previously suggested.


----------



## waveaura (Feb 14, 2009)

Quick question what CD should I be using to start on?


----------



## fonz (Feb 14, 2009)

waveaura said:
			
		

> I also used nero to burn the ISO image just like previously suggested.



Nero should work just fine, as long as you remembered to burn an image rather than a data CD. Just to be sure _(no offense or patronizing intended, but clearly *some*thing is wrong here so we should probably check even the smallest thing)_, can you open the CD on the computer you burnt it with? What does it say is on that disc?

Alphons


----------



## waveaura (Feb 14, 2009)

I already double check3ck3d the cd in case the image was the problem. This si what the cd has on it - 6.4-RELEASE-i386-disc1.iso


----------



## fonz (Feb 14, 2009)

waveaura said:
			
		

> I already double check3ck3d the cd in case the image was the problem. This si what the cd has on it - 6.4-RELEASE-i386-disc1.iso



No offense but that seems like you burned a data CD after all...

When you open the CD you should see an entire directory structure with several files and folders in it (some of which will be human readable, some of which won't). If that's not the case and you only see the one *.iso file on the disc then you simply burned the CD the wrong way.

You can't just drag the iso image onto Nero because (apparently) then it will do what it just did which is wrong. You *explicitly* need to select "burn image to cd". And when you open the disc after burning it, it should show several files and folders but *NOT* that *.iso file.

_[edit]
To clarify things: you don't want the ISO file put on the CD, you want the contents of that ISO file put on a CD. Those are two completely different operations and your burning software should know the difference. I know Nero does.
[/edit]
_
Alphons


----------



## waveaura (Feb 14, 2009)

I did it twice with nero and double checked. It ends up the same way each time. I select burn image.

I think it might have something to do with it being stuck in winrar.


----------



## waveaura (Feb 14, 2009)

I think it is possible that might version of nero did not unpack it automatically.


----------



## fonz (Feb 14, 2009)

waveaura said:
			
		

> I did it twice with nero and double checked. It ends up the same way each time. I select burn image.
> 
> I think it might have something to do with it being stuck in winrar.



That could be a problem indeed. As I mentioned earlier, Winrar or Winzip or other such programs must not touch the ISO image (unless it's the DVD image, which truly is compressed and needs to be decompressed before it can be burned) in any way whatsoever. In fact, because an ISO image isn't compressed in the first place those programs should never even get into the picture anyway but maybe it's just some weird thing Windows does with file associations and that sort of helpfully-meant but potentially destructive crap. The ISO image needs to go straight from download to Nero and should not be tampered with by Winrar, Winzip or any other program.

Alphons


----------



## waveaura (Feb 14, 2009)

I don't think that is the problem. Becuase the CD wouldn't boot at all. I read on one of the manuals that the boot CD calls its self A:\>. Could have something to do with the partition on the hardrive itself? The hardrive is not partitioned. Would that cause this problem?


----------



## fonz (Feb 14, 2009)

waveaura said:
			
		

> Becuase the CD wouldn't boot at all.



That's the first and foremost problem.



			
				waveaura said:
			
		

> I read on one of the manuals that the boot CD calls its self A:\>.



If anything, the CD would call itself /dev/acd0 or something similar. A: \> (space added to prevent it being parsed as an emoticon) only exists in the DOS/Windows world. If you see such a prompt you simply have NOT booted FreeBSD (or Linux, for that matter).



			
				waveaura said:
			
		

> Could have something to do with the partition on the hardrive itself? The hardrive is not partitioned. Would that cause this problem?



Ehm... Nope. The installer doesn't do anything with your harddrive until you really want it to. Whether the harddisk is partitioned or unpartitioned, at boot time that should not make any difference whatsoever.


----------



## waveaura (Feb 14, 2009)

What is another program that will write to the CD an ISO image.


----------



## fonz (Feb 14, 2009)

http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=free+cd+image+burner&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

The first hit already looks promising to me...


----------



## waveaura (Feb 14, 2009)

I just want to know that it will work because I am running out of CD's.


----------



## morbit (Feb 14, 2009)

http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm

Works.

// + http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/HowTo.htm


----------



## waveaura (Feb 14, 2009)

I still can't get it to work. I tried on 3 different computers I have here. It just wouldn't work. UBUNTU on the other hand doesn't seem to have any problems but it just isn't what I wanted. I am compl3tely dumbfounded.


----------



## morbit (Feb 14, 2009)

I'm sorry.


----------



## jaymax (Jul 25, 2009)

Did you find a solution, I am having the same problem.


----------



## Djn (Jul 25, 2009)

If you want to test the image (or the CD), you could install VirtualBox, create a VM, and set its CD drive to point to the image (or your real CD drive). That'll save you a reboot, and can also be used to diagnose if the problem is your computer or the CD(-image).


----------



## jaymax (Jul 25, 2009)

*7.2R/errata.html might explain*

I am having similar problems, some one posted this -
ennylin93 posted this to me

If the unbootable disc is 7.2-RELEASE, check out the errata.
http://http//www.freebsd.org/releases/7.2R/errata.html 

might explain


----------



## nhanquy (Jul 26, 2009)

I just downloaded FreeBSD last week and burned it into a DVD which had no problem for booting/installing:

7.2-RELEASE-i386-dvd1.iso.gz   <<<<<<
for example here : ftp://ftp1.us.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ISO-IMAGES-i386/7.2/

Because of its size; it has to be a DVD.

Download 7zip (for windows) http://www.7-zip.org/download.html
to unzip it.


----------



## iic2 (Jul 26, 2009)

Hot:
http://www.shivaranjan.com/2006/09/26/how-to-create-iso-file-from-folders-and-cd-dvd/

Make any folder into an ISO
http://www.digital-digest.com/software/folder2iso.html

Make it bootable:
http://www.download25.com/install/magiciso.html

My old favorite burner:
http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm


----------



## jaymax (Jul 26, 2009)

Is there a FreeBSD binary couldn't find any. Which one did you use on FreeBSD. There is one for Win. PC

Thanks


----------



## TommyH (Jul 28, 2009)

Hiya

You can try the ISO Recorder Power Toy - it's free and should work just fine. Try to follow the tutorial here:


----------



## iic2 (Jul 28, 2009)

jaymax, I don't know but I bet one is in the Port system or you can build one yourself.  Try to google using difference kinds of keywords.  At lease a few people on this giant planet knows where or how.  I burn all my FreeBSD cd's using isorecorder for Windows Service Pack 2 and I create custom FreeBSD cd's (mini-type) using those other tools in my previous post.

Most people let Windows handle that kind of thing I guest.  But what you seek is very interesting and its out there somewhere. 

Found something ... First hit from googling - - Keyword: FreeBSD cd burner  ... Is this what you mean,:

http://networking.ringofsaturn.com/Unix/FreeBSD-Burning.php


----------



## maxum (May 29, 2011)

I have EXACTLY the same problem with FreeBSD. But if the .iso file has been opened by WIN RAR, do I need to re-download it?


----------

