Re: Trying to install current from a memory stick and then a DVD and got a new and strange installer.

From: Nathan Whitehorn <nwhitehorn_at_freebsd.org>
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2011 20:04:20 -0500
Yes, I agree. I'll ask re_at_ to change it.
-Nathan

On 07/24/11 20:02, Adrian Chadd wrote:
> Something tells me that's a disaster waiting to happen. Eg, if
> something happens, and the installer disk gets corrupted, people may
> blame freebsd for being unstable, email questions to freebsd-* mailing
> lists asking why X doesn't work (only for it to work when the image is
> written out again), etc, etc.
>
> If it's going to double as a live image versus an installer than maybe
> have a boot option that mounts the root filesystem read-write
> (complete with some fingerprint that says that the image has been
> booted read-write at least once?)
>
>
>
> Adrian
>
> On 25 July 2011 08:57, Nathan Whitehorn<nwhitehorn_at_freebsd.org>  wrote:
>> It does not. I had tried to match the behavior of the 8.x memsticks. It's an
>> easy change in /usr/src/release/ARCH/make-memstick.sh to change it, however.
>> -Nathan
>>
>> On 07/24/11 19:54, Adrian Chadd wrote:
>>> .. wait, the install-off-USB doesn't default to a read-only boot?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Adrian
>>>
>>> On 25 July 2011 08:11, Claude Buisson<clbuisson_at_orange.fr>    wrote:
>>>> On 07/24/2011 23:33, Nathan Whitehorn wrote:
>>>>> On 07/24/11 16:29, eculp wrote:
>>>>>> I have been hearing about a new installer but I obviously have not
>>>>>> payed enough attention, I am afraid. I started running freebsd at 2.0
>>>>>> and never really had a problem with understanding the installation
>>>>>> program.  There is always a first time, I guess.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/snapshots/201105/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> When booting I seem to get a screen that makes me remember installer
>>>>>> screens of the 1980s.  (They were not exactly intuitive.)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I somehow got the idea that the new installer was graphic.  Maybe
>>>>>> something like PCBsd that is not bad at all.  I use it on all our
>>>>>> employees computers.  Actually, after seeing this, I would love to
>>>>>> have the old installer back.  Is their an option for that?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Does this new ASCII installer have a "how to" with a bit of
>>>>>> information on the flow of the installation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Can you please describe what you didn't like about it, and what you
>>>>> would prefer be changed? "Reminiscent of the 1980s" is not really
>>>>> helpful, especially given that the new installer in fact looks very much
>>>>> like sysinstall, which you seemed to like.
>>>>> -Nathan
>>>> Recently I installed a system from the "official" memory stick May
>>>> snapshot
>>>> (FreeBSD-9.0-CURRENT-201105-amd64-memstick.img). here are a few remarks:
>>>>
>>>> - the 1st thing I need to do is to configure the keyboard, as I am not in
>>>> the
>>>> US. This is needed for an install, but also for using it as a live
>>>> system.
>>>> And
>>>> the keyboard configuration dialog is only a part of the installation
>>>> procedure.
>>>>
>>>> - the partition tool is too simple/rudimentary, compared to the old
>>>> sysinstall
>>>> dialog. I always want to have a total control of the partitions e.g. to
>>>> have
>>>> a
>>>> proper alignement. So one must use the shell escape or the live system,
>>>> which is
>>>> a regression.
>>>>
>>>> - extracting the tarballs lead to (cryptic) errors: I discovered the hard
>>>> way
>>>> that I needed to execute a newfs.
>>>>
>>>> - I followed a succession of screens asking me to do the usual
>>>> configuration
>>>> steps (hostname, clock, network - IPv4 only ?? -, users) and at the end I
>>>> get
>>>> back a screen asking me if a wanted to do the steps I had done just
>>>> before...
>>>>
>>>> - booting the installed system, I found that the hostname disappeared,
>>>> the
>>>> keyboard was not configured, nor the network, and so on
>>>>
>>>> - during the whole process the screen was scrambled by the occurence of a
>>>> number
>>>> of LORs displayed on top of the dialogs/messages of the installer.
>>>>
>>>> - the file system of the installer/live system seems to be too small,
>>>> leading to
>>>> a number of "system full" messages as soon a few files are written to it.
>>>>
>>>> So the sole value added of the installer was the extraction of the
>>>> tarballs..
>>>>
>>>> It seems that (on a memory stick which is writable) that every aborted
>>>> attempt
>>>> to do a configuration step leaves a "trace" in some files used by the
>>>> installer,
>>>> which is able to show it (e.g. the hostname) at the following attempts,
>>>> but
>>>> without garantee that it will effectively be used.
>>>>
>>>> (On the other hand, the advantage of the memory stick is that the system
>>>> on
>>>> it
>>>> can be configured at will)
>>>>
>>>> Referring to a thread I found recently a propos the documentation on the
>>>> install
>>>> media, I also want to say that a proper installer must be able to do its
>>>> work
>>>> without any Internet connectivity. There exist systems which are not
>>>> connected,
>>>> and networks without any communication with the Internet.
>>>>
>>>> Claude Buisson
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Received on Sun Jul 24 2011 - 23:04:23 UTC

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