Re: Floppy Support

bsdterm_at_HotPOP.com wrote:
> As a near-junior CS major in college presently out-of-work, I can certainly
> echo the "not everyone can afford fresh new hardware" line.  :)  I'd happily
> run a P3 or P4 w/ 256MB+ if I could, but...
> 
> Anyway, getting on-topic:  from what media is FreeBSD bootable?  We can boot
> from floppy and CD now, obviously.  What about USB memory keys (i.e. those
> $20+ USB plugs with 16MB+ memory onboard)?  Or Firewire HDD's?  Zip disks?

Last time I checked, you had to have BIOS support for booting
from USB to use one of those USB dongle deals, and most people
don't have that support because it's not really standardized
yet.  Same problem with USB CDROM drives.  Last time I checked,
Firewire was in the same boat.

I have successfully booted from SCSI Syquest, JAZZ, and Zip
disks, no problem.  However, you cannot install Windows onto
removable media, laast time I checked, because of a bug in
the VMM.VXD code (the virtual memory manager) in Windows.  I
finally dragged this out of Microsoft Support, and they refunded
my tech support incident.


> Most BIOS' I've run across lately will boot only from floppy, IDE HDD, or
> CD/DVD.  Most-recently - with a P4 box I built for my mother - IIRC, USB
> devices are now an option as well...

This is a BIOS thing, not a FreeBSD thing.  If your BIOS boot
code supports USB, then it does; I've personally never found
one that actually worked like it was supposed to work, at least
not for booting from any of the USB devices I can get my hands
on without playing "buy more USB hardware roulette".


> Floppy support isn't desireable or preferable, but for the sake of users
> not-so-fiscally-well-endowed as others here, I believe it's necessary.

It's also better than having to download a full ISO image
over a 28K modem.  8-) 8-).  A limited network install is
much less data to transfer over a slow link.

-- Terry