xref: /freebsd-9.3-release/usr.sbin/sysinstall/help/slice.hlp

This is the Main Slice (``FDISK'' or PC-style Partition) Editor.

Possible commands are printed at the bottom and the Master Boot Record
contents are shown at the top.  You can move up and down with the
arrow keys and (C)reate a new slice whenever the highlighted
selection bar is over a slice whose type is marked as "unused."

You are expected to leave this screen with at least one slice
marked "FreeBSD."  Note that unlike Linux, you don't need to create
multiple FreeBSD FDISK partition entries for different things like
swap, file systems, etc.  The usual convention is to create ONE
FreeBSD slice (FDISK partition) per drive and then subsection this slice
into swap and file systems with the Label editor.

No actual changes will be made to the disk until you (C)ommit from the
Install menu or use the (W)rite option here!  You're working with what
is essentially a copy of the disk label(s), both here and in the Label
Editor.

If you want to use the entire disk for FreeBSD, type `A'.  Slices will
be aligned to fictitious cylinder boundaries and space will be reserved
in front of the FreeBSD slice for a [future] possible boot manager.

For the truly dedicated disk case, type `F'.  You'll be asked whether or
not you wish to keep the disk (potentially) compatible with other
operating systems, i.e. the information in the FDISK table should be
kept valid.  A truly dedicated disk can be achieved by selecting `No'.
In that case, all BIOS geometry considerations will no longer be in
effect and you can safely ignore any ``The detected geometry is
invalid'' warning messages you may later see.  It is also not necessary
in this case to set a slice bootable or install an MBR boot manager as
both things are then irrelevant.  The FreeBSD slice will start at
absolute sector 0 of the disk (so that FreeBSD's disk label is identical
to the Master Boot Record) and extend to the very last sector of the
disk medium.  Needless to say, such a disk cannot have any sort of a
boot manager, `disk manager', or anything else that has to interact with
the BIOS.  This option is therefore only considered safe for SCSI disks
and most IDE disks and is primarily intended for people who are going to
set up a dedicated FreeBSD server or workstation, not a typical `home PC'.

If you select the default of `Yes' at the compatibility, slices will be
aligned to fictitious cylinder boundaries and space will be reserved
in front of the FreeBSD slice for a [future] possible boot manager.
This is pretty much equivalent to having chosen `A' originally.

The flags field has the following legend:

        '='  -- This slice is properly aligned.
        'A'  -- This slice is marked active.
        'R'  -- This slice contains the root (/) filesystem

If no slice is marked Active, you will need to either install
a Boot Manager (the option for which will be presented later in the
installation) or set one Active before leaving this screen.

To leave the slice editor, type `Q'.