# extreme newbie needs some help



## miscar (Nov 21, 2008)

Im extremely new to freebsd as this post will show however you have to start somewhere. I have an old intel 1.6 mghz machine laying around and i would like to install freebsd just for learning purposes ( no actual real processing just playing ) Downloading the iso and burning it to disk isnt a problem however which iso to download is my question. Im thinking i386 however when i think of i386 i think of old 386 computers. Am i correct and that the iso i should be using?


 The other chipset other then the amd im not even familiar with.


----------



## DutchDaemon (Nov 21, 2008)

i386 = any 32-bits AMD/Intel processor (including Pentium etc. etc.).

However:

"Both FreeBSD/i386 and FreeBSD/pc98 require a 486 or better processor and at least 24 MB of RAM. You will need at least 150 MB of free hard drive space for the most minimal installation."

See http://www.freebsd.org/releases/7.0R/hardware.html#PROC-I386


----------



## cliedo (Nov 21, 2008)

i386 is for 32 bit systems as is amd64 is for 64 bit amd and intel processors  the freebsd handbook at http://www.freebsd.org gives a great wealth of information I use the handbook as a refrence all the time


----------



## fonz (Nov 21, 2008)

miscar said:
			
		

> however when i think of i386 i think of old 386 computers.



That is somewhat of an unfortunate ambiguity indeed: i386 can stand for the old 80386 processor (with i486 meaning 80486, i586 meaning Pentium, etc.) but it can also stand for pretty much the entire IA-32 range, including even early P4 chips.

Anyway, for the machine you mentioned you want the i386 image indeed.

Fonz


----------



## miscar (Nov 21, 2008)

Thanks all for confirming , and ive got to say im real impressed with the quickness of answers. Looks like this weekend ill do some playing with freebsd.


----------



## miscar (Nov 21, 2008)

Oh and this may be a stupid question but if the minimum install disk space is 150 meg then why are there 3 iso install cds totaling a little above 1.5 gig?


----------



## fonz (Nov 21, 2008)

miscar said:
			
		

> Oh and this may be a stupid question but if the minimum install disk space is 150 meg then why are there 3 iso install cds totaling a little above 1.5 gig?



Those 150 MB are (apparently) for a minimal, bare-bones installation that probably doesn't include things such as the ports tree, X-windows, the kernel source code and fancy desktop systems such as Gnome, KDE and the like.

In short, those CDs contain much more than the minimal system and you're extremely unlikely to need everything that's on there.

Fonz


----------



## APseudoUtopia (Nov 21, 2008)

miscar said:
			
		

> Oh and this may be a stupid question but if the minimum install disk space is 150 meg then why are there 3 iso install cds totaling a little above 1.5 gig?



Don't download all 3 install ISOs...just get the "Boot Only", which will install the base system. From there, you can update your ports tree and install whatever software you want. The ports tree on the CD(s) are probably old anyway.


----------



## Djn (Nov 22, 2008)

Actually, get disk1. The bootonly CD is so small because it requires you to download the installation files when installing. (Thus the name - it's just enough to boot and start the installer.) 

I use this now and then, so it's a perfectly valid way to install FreeBSD, but it makes things easier if you don't have to set up your network before you can start installing. Besides, having the full install CD saves you time if you should want to reinstall.


----------



## fonz (Nov 23, 2008)

Djn said:
			
		

> Actually, get disk1.



Second that. Unless you know exactly how to setup networking on a particular machine (and it doesn't require too much magic) you're probably better off with disc 1. Plus it also gives you the live FS in case you need it.

CD 2 and 3 mostly contain packages that you might just as well download once you get networking running.

Just my opinion...

Fonz


----------



## kamikaze (Nov 23, 2008)

Some piece of advice, name your thread after what you want to know. This will get you the answers you want faster, because the right people look at your thread.

An appropriate title would be "Which architecture for Pentium?".


----------

