slice.hlp revision 21971 
1This is the Main Slice (or ``FDISK'' Partition) Editor.
2
3Possible commands are printed at the bottom and the Master Boot Record
4contents are shown at the top.  You can move up and down with the
5arrow keys and (C)reate a new slice whenever the highlighted
6selection bar is over a slice whose type is marked as "unused."
7
8You are expected to leave this screen with at least one slice
9marked "FreeBSD."  Note that unlike Linux, you don't need to create
10multiple FreeBSD fdisk slice entries for different things like
11swap, file systems, etc.  The usual convention is to create ONE
12FreeBSD slice per drive and then subsection this slice into
13swap and file systems with the Label editor.
14
15No actual changes will be made to the disk until you (C)ommit from the
16Install menu or use the (W)rite option here!  You're working with what
17is essentially a copy of the disk label(s), both here and in the Label
18Editor.
19
20If you want to use the entire disk for FreeBSD, type `A'.  You'll be
21asked whether or not you wish to keep the disk (potentially) compatible
22with other operating systems, i.e. the information in the FDISK table
23should be kept valid.  If you select the default of `Yes', slices will be
24aligned to fictitious cylinder boundaries and space will be reserved
25in front of the FreeBSD slice for a [future] possible boot manager.
26
27For the truly dedicated disk case, you can select `No' at the
28compatibility prompt.  In that case, all BIOS geometry considerations
29will no longer be in effect and you can safely ignore any
30``The detected geometry is invalid'' warning messages you may later
31see.  It is also not necessary in this case to set a slice bootable
32or install an MBR boot manager as both things are then irrelevant.
33
34The FreeBSD slice will start at absolute sector 0 of the disk (so that
35FreeBSD's disk label is identical to the Master Boot Record) and
36extend to the very last sector of the disk medium.  Needless to say,
37such a disk cannot have any sort of a boot manager, `disk manager',
38or anything else that has to interact with the BIOS.  This option is
39therefore only considered safe for SCSI disks and most IDE disks and
40is primarily intended for people who are going to set up a dedicated
41FreeBSD server or workstation, not a typical `home PC'.
42
43The flags field has the following legend:
44
45        '='  -- This slice is properly aligned.
46        '>'  -- This slice doesn't end before cylinder 1024
47        'R'  -- This slice contains the root (/) filesystem
48        'B'  -- Slice employs BAD144 bad-spot handling
49        'C'  -- This is the FreeBSD 2.0-compatibility slice (default)
50        'A'  -- This slice is marked active.
51
52If you select a slice for Bad144 handling, it will be scanned
53for bad blocks before any new filesystems are made on it.
54
55If no slice is marked Active, you will need to either install
56a Boot Manager (the option for which will be presented later in the
57installation) or set one Active before leaving this screen.
58
59To leave the slice editor, type `Q'.
60