# Booting from disc in FreeBSD HELP!



## barnacles (Feb 17, 2009)

Hello everyone,
I have freeBSD installed on a desktop computer and wanted add Ubuntu to it. I have a disc but cannot seem to figure out how to boot from it. I can get to a screen during boot that says 

freeBSD/i836 boot 
default:0:ad(0,a)cd 
boot:

im not sure if this is where i need to be or not. If so what do I type to boot from CD? if not what do I need to do?

Thanks in advance!


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## jemate18 (Feb 17, 2009)

So you have a FreeBSD system installed. Then you want to add/install ubuntu.

And you want to boot from a CD to install. 

Are you booting the Ubuntu installer CD?

On the message you get the "boot:" what happens if you press "enter"


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## barnacles (Feb 17, 2009)

yeah i am booting from an installer dvd. when i press enter it says No cd..


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## barnacles (Feb 17, 2009)

ok answering your question made me wonder if my drive was working correctly. I'm not too too familiar with freeBSD, would my cd drive show on the computer tab? cause all i got is floppy.


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## barnacles (Feb 17, 2009)

ok sorry for the updates, the drive wasnt plugged in. now when i get that boot screen it says the same thing but

freeBSD/i836 boot
default:0:ad(0,a)/boot/loader
boot:
 how do i get back to cd boot?


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## SirDice (Feb 17, 2009)

Set your BIOS to boot from CD.


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## barnacles (Feb 17, 2009)

I have done that, I have also tried disabling everything but CD. If I put the CD in, while CD boot is enabled in the BIOS, the system just starts to the freebsd boot options.


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## SirDice (Feb 17, 2009)

barnacles said:
			
		

> freeBSD/i836 boot
> default:0:ad(0,a)cd
> boot:



Looking at this it looks like you're booting from the Freebsd CD not the Ubuntu CD?

Freebsd shouldn't have anything to do with this. Booting from CD completely bypasses anything that's on the harddrives.


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## barnacles (Feb 17, 2009)

SirDice said:
			
		

> Looking at this it looks like you're booting from the Freebsd CD not the Ubuntu CD?
> 
> Freebsd shouldn't have anything to do with this. Booting from CD completely bypasses anything that's on the harddrives.



yeah thats what i thought? So is it possible my disc is bad if its not auto booting it? I'm sure in the ubuntu installer.


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## hedwards (Feb 17, 2009)

SirDice said:
			
		

> Looking at this it looks like you're booting from the Freebsd CD not the Ubuntu CD?
> 
> Freebsd shouldn't have anything to do with this. Booting from CD completely bypasses anything that's on the harddrives.


Well, technically this isn't really a FreeBSD question, but I think we can help out with it anyways. 

Well, no that's an "ad" and not "acd" or "cd" so it's definitely a hard disk.

I suspect that for some reason the disc was bad or misburned. I'd probably checksum the Ubuntu CD image. If that comes out fine, then I'd either reburn or dump the disc to the hard disk and compare that up, all 3 copies should match.

I believe that if a disc has gone bad or is not detected that often times a computer will quickly skip the disc in favor of booting of the main hard disk.

That's probably what's happening, especially if the OP is hearing the CDROM working before that prompt comes up.


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## barnacles (Feb 18, 2009)

thanks. however, the dvd im using is a third party dvd and the bottom shines clear of any dust, scrapes or scratches im looking at it under a light right now.


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