can't boot installation cd

[armen]

my computer only allows to boot C(hard drive) or A(floppy).
I have a freebsd iso image on a bootable disc.

How can I boot cd drive if I am only given drive C and A?

I looked at
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO...stall-pre.html

ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/re...EASE/floppies/

but that didn't seem to work. I am getting a non-system disc error when booting.

Any suggestions appreciated.

[redbeard]

From what you describe I think this can be pretty easily fixed in your system's BIOS. When you power on, look for a message telling you what key to press to configure the BIOS. You may have to poke around a few screens, but eventually there should be an option to set the boot device order. Just add your CD or DVD drive to the list and you should be all set. I have mine set to look at the floppy first, then my DVD drive, then my hard drive.

Be careful when editing the BIOS. Some changes can be very harmful, so if in doubt exit without saving changes and come back in.

[budman7]

I found this on the 2nd link you provided. It explains how to create the 3 boot floppies that you will need.

ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/re...ies/README.TXT

[armen]

From what you describe I think this can be pretty easily fixed in your system's BIOS. When you power on, look for a message telling you what key to press to configure the BIOS. You may have to poke around a few screens, but eventually there should be an option to set the boot device order. Just add your CD or DVD drive to the list and you should be all set. I have mine set to look at the floppy first, then my DVD drive, then my hard drive.

Be careful when editing the BIOS. Some changes can be very harmful, so if in doubt exit without saving changes and come back in.

cd device is not listed as one of the devices that are bootable.
only A and C, neither of which are cd drive.

[armen]

I found this on the 2nd link you provided. It explains how to create the 3 boot floppies that you will need.

ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/re...ies/README.TXT

boot.flp is too big for one floppy,
how can i split it up into parts?

[dylunio]

You might want to look at this post, which has a link to a program which fits onto a floppy, which will let you boot your cd drive. http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/topic-14601.html

[foogoo]

It might help to update your BIOS, it sounds like you have a really old version of your BIOS if it doesn't include the CD-ROM bootup. Anyways, it'll also help your overall system if you flash a newer version of your BIOS.

[armen]

It might help to update your BIOS, it sounds like you have a really old version of your BIOS if it doesn't include the CD-ROM bootup. Anyways, it'll also help your overall system if you flash a newer version of your BIOS.

and how does one update their BIOS generally?

[Dolda2000]

Well, every motherboard is updated in a different fashiion, so there is really no "general" way of updating one's BIOS.

However, if you check the homepage of your motherboard's manufacturer, they should have instructions on how to update it.

As for boot.flp being to large for a floppy, did you really use the raw image floppy writer program to write it to a floppy, or did you just try to copy it onto a floppy?