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

On 07/25/2011 02:56, Nathan Whitehorn wrote:
> On 07/24/11 19:11, Claude Buisson 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:
>
> Thank you for testing!
>

My intent was not to test the installer, but I needed to install a recent
9.0-CURRENT with gpt on a brand new hardware

>> - 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.
>
> Which is why this is the very first screen of the installer?
>

If my memory is good, it was in the first screen of the install dialog, not
before the choice of installation / live system

>> - 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.
>
> The alignment is done to match the disk stripe size automatically, and
> the partition editor has many, many more features than the sysinstall
> one. Is there something in particular you wanted?
>

I don't use any "stripe" (only plain UFS), and the "many, many features" where
too well hidden for my old brain.

>> - extracting the tarballs lead to (cryptic) errors: I discovered the
>> hard way
>> that I needed to execute a newfs.
>
> This is what the directions at the top of the partitioning shell say.
>

As I not clearly understood these directions, I skipped to the live system for
doing the gpart work.

>> - 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...
>
> The network configuration also allows IPv6 in newer versions -- that
> snapshot is 2 months out of date. The final screen says at the top that
> is there to modify earlier choices. Can you suggest a clearer wording?
>

Clear wording is certainly a plus.

>> - booting the installed system, I found that the hostname disappeared,
>> the
>> keyboard was not configured, nor the network, and so on
>
> This is inexplicable. This has worked perfectly for everyone else --
> it's possible you made a mistake in the partitioning, but I can't
> imagine how it would have caused this. Are you able to reproduce the
> problem?
>

My system is now running, and I don't have any other system to play with.

>> - 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 actual 9.0 CDs will not have WITNESS enabled. It would be nice if
> the LORs in question were actually fixed, however.
>

A "good" installer cannot suppose that there will not be any kernel message
during its use, some of them will be benign.

Furthermore the installer (and the whole make release process) has not for sole
use the installation (and creation) of official releases. I started building my
own releases at 2.2.X time..

>> - 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.
>
> The live system is designed more as a fixit medium. What were you trying
> to do with it?
>

I first copied the dmesg to be able to retrieve it on another system (was
thinking that /var was a memory file system), then I saw the "system full" at
different steps of the install.

>>
>> 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.
>
> Which is why it behaves in exactly the way you suggest.
> -Nathan
>

I hope so

Let us say that the new installer is a moving target, and relying on snapshots
found on the FreeBSD ftp site is not the proper way of knowing it. But my only
other -current system (i386 on VMWare in a very ressource constrained
environment) is not the proper platform for building amd64 releases.

Claude Buisson