# first install



## daft_bsd (Jan 1, 2010)

hello all,
i am tryin my first bsd install, right now i can boot from the install cd but how can i recognize wich drive i want to install bsd to? because ad0 or ad1 don't sound like anything familiar ? another question : is it possible to install bsd to a usb key ?
i am on win OS
thanks


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## chalbersma (Jan 2, 2010)

ad0 should be your first ide drive, ad1 ad2 etc are your next drives.

Yes you can create a FreeBSD system on a flash disk but you'll want a working FreeBSD system to create it from. See this article

Chances are you have Windows installed on the first disk. So you'll probably want to install on ad1 but don't take my word for it.

Welcome to FreeBSD, you're gonna like what you see.


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## daft_bsd (Jan 2, 2010)

thank you 
the usb key is da0, so i did an install booting from my cd, choosed my usb key as target and install ,everything goes well , bsd install all the stuff. when looking at the usb key in windows (after installing bsd in it) i see this :






is it normal ?
I am not able to boot form the key, i have chosen to leave intact my MBR, the choice that the BIOS gives me for booting is : USB MEMORY but i choose it and no boot yet.


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## ahankinson (Jan 2, 2010)

I suspect that there's a problem with the formatting. I'm not sure how Windows sees a UFS2 drive - whether it ignores it or thinks it's formatted RAW. 

I would also think that if you chose to leave your MBR untouched that it's the MBR on the USB key, not the one on your HD. If it doesn't have any MBR, then it won't find it to boot from it.


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## daft_bsd (Jan 3, 2010)

thanks, btw i'm pretty sure now that win thinks it's formatted raw so the data is there just need to boot it.


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## fonz (Jan 3, 2010)

daft_bsd said:
			
		

> just need to boot it.


Which I think gives you three options:
Reinstall the system, this time installing a boot loader on the USB key. If you did a straightforward (i.e. not too heavily cumstomized) install this is probably the easiest way out.
Boot from the install CD, go to [red]C[/red]onfigure, then [red]F[/red]disk, select the drive for the USB key, once inside fdisk press [red]W[/red] right away, acknowledge the warning (choose [red]Y[/red]es), select either the standard boot loader or the FreeBSD boot manager (I'd choose the former in this case), exit the installer program and reboot.
Boot from the install CD, go to [red]F[/red]ixit mode, then type `# fdisk -B da0` *[red](assuming that da0 is your USB key, modifiy as needed!)[/red]*, type `# exit`, exit the installer and reboot.
Good luck,

Alphons


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## daft_bsd (Jan 8, 2010)

thank you , btw in the sys install process BSD didnt reconize my mouse so this was a big issue to install it, anyone had this problem ?


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## SirDice (Jan 8, 2010)

daft_bsd said:
			
		

> thank you , btw in the sys install process BSD didnt reconize my mouse so this was a big issue to install it, anyone had this problem ?



You don't need a mouse during sysinstall. Configure it when the system is done installing and booted for the first time.


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## daft_bsd (Jan 8, 2010)

ok but i was just wondering because sysintsall asks you if your mouse was recognize(in my case it wasnt) so i thought: how the heck will i navigate the OS after installing it if i dont have a mouse.


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## Aaron_VanAlstine (Jan 9, 2010)

daft_bsd said:
			
		

> ok but i was just wondering because sysintsall asks you if your mouse was recognize(in my case it wasnt) so i thought: how the heck will i navigate the OS after installing it if i dont have a mouse.



Install never recognizes mouse during install, but it always works after I install the window manager.


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## daft_bsd (Jan 10, 2010)

I finally managed to correctly (i hope so) install bsd, now i am confronted to this b&w command prompt, so it asks me for my log/pass but then i dont know what to do,it looks like i need to install X11 graphical env ?
i tried several commands like : 
startx

cd /usr/ports/x11/xorg
make install clean

but nothing seems to work. help !


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## multibyte (Jan 10, 2010)

daft_bsd said:
			
		

> i tried several commands like :
> startx
> 
> cd /usr/ports/x11/xorg
> ...



What exactly happens when you do "make install clean" in
/usr/ports/x11/xorg
(I presume you are logged in as "root", arenÂ´t you?)

Note: DonÂ´t forget to consult now and then the Handbook
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/index.html
and the FAQ
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/


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## daft_bsd (Jan 11, 2010)

hi this is the error i get:

```
no adress record-couldnt fetch it-unable to get ftp://ftp.freebsd..
please try to retrieve this port manually into /usr/ports/distfiles
```
should i go into that directory ? i try it with the command pkg_add but nothing .


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## multibyte (Jan 11, 2010)

Greetings.

Assuming you have configured your network card correctly.
it could be your pc dont know to resolve domain names.

In that case edit the file: /etc/resolv.conf.

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?...ion=0&manpath=FreeBSD+8.0-RELEASE&format=html

In short: "nameserver <dns-server-ip>"


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