Freqently Asked Questions
For Version 1.1 and above
Please mail all suggestions and additions to FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com
Last updated: Fri Apr 15 11:25:20 GMT 1994
2.0 Hardware Compatibility
3.0 Commercial applications
Welcome to the FreeBSD 1.1 FAQ! This document tries to answer some of
the most frequently asked questions about FreeBSD 1.1 (or later, unless
specifically indicated). If there's something you're having trouble
with and you just don't see it here, then please send mail to:
freebsd-questions@freefall.cdrom.com
Or, if it's a bug you wish to report, to:
freebsd-bugs@freefall.cdrom.com
Some of the instructions here will also refer to auxilliary utilities
in the /usr/src/share/FAQ directory. CDROM purchasers and net folks who've
grabbed the FreeBSD 1.1 `srcdist' will have these files. If you don't have
the source distribution, then you can either grab the whole thing from:
freebsd.cdrom.com:~ftp/pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-1.1
Or you can grab only those files you're interested in straight out of the
FreeBSD-current distribution in:
freebsd.cdrom.com:~ftp/pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current/src
1.0.1: I just installed my system and rebooted. Now I can't find the
extract or configure programs, where did they go?
These two commands are just shell builtins. To get these back, either
create a account [adding a user] with /.profile as its profile or
boot FreeBSD with a '-s' at the boot prompt.
1.0.2: I want to install FreeBSD unto a SCSI disk that has more than
1024 cylinders. How do I do it?
This depends. If you don't have DOS (or another operating system) on the
system, you can just keep the drive in native mode and simply make sure that
your root partition is below 1024 so the bios can boot the kernel from it.
It you also have DOS/some other OS on the drive then your best bet is to find
out what parameters that it thinks you have before installing FreeBSD. When
FreeBSD's installation procedure prompts you for these values, you should then
enter them rather than simply going with the defaults.
There is a freely available utility distributed with FreeBSD called `pfdisk'
(located in the tools/ subdirectory) which can be used for this purpose.
1.0.3: When I boot FreeBSD it says "Missing Operating System".
See above (1.0.2). This is classicaly a case of FreeBSD and DOS or some other
OS conflicting over their ideas of disk geometry. You will have to reinstall
FreeBSD, but obeying the instructions given above will almost always get you
1.0.4: I have an IDE drive with lots of bad blocks on it and FreeBSD doesn't
seem to install properly.
FreeBSD's bad block (bad144) handling is still not 100% (to put it charitably)
and it must unfortunately be said that if you've got an IDE or ESDI drive
with lots of bad blocks, then FreeBSD is probably not for you! That said, it
does work on thousands of IDE based systems, so you'd do well to try it first
1.0.5: I have 32MB of memory, should I expect any special problems?
If you have an IDE controller, no. Likewise, if you have a full EISA system
with EISA disk controller or a working local bus controller (read further)
you'll have no problems. If you have an ISA system, or an EISA system with an
ISA disk controller then you will most certainly have problems with the upper
16MB of memory due to the ISA 24 bit DMA limitation (which ISA cards in EISA
systems will also exhibit). If you have a local bus disk controller, and it's
NOT a Buslogic Bt445S with a revision less than `D' (BIOS 3.36 or earlier),
then you should be OK. Never fear, however, as all is not lost.
FreeBSD-current (and the upcoming FreeBSD 1.2) have bounce-buffer support that
make all of the above scenarios work with a full 32MB of memory or more. You
are therefore advised to simply pull 16MB of memory out, install, and then see
about upgrading to FreeBSD-current or FreeBSD 1.2 (when it comes out) so that
2.0 Hardware compatibility
--------------------------
2.0.1: What kind of hard drives does FreeBSD run on?
FreeBSD supports MFM, RLL, ESDI, IDE and SCSI hard drives.
2.0.2: What SCSI controllers are supported?
FreeBSD supports the following SCSI controllers:
Adaptec AH-1542 Series (ISA>
Buslogic BT-445 Series <VLB> (*)
UltraStor UH-14f Series <ISA>
There is supposed to be a UltraStor 24f driver floating around, but we're
not sure where (could someone please point us at it?). Note that we do
NOT support `Future Domain' or `IN2000' SCSI controllers, typically
the little $50 specials you get with some CDROM drives. You will have to
buy a more mainstream (and capable) SCSI controller.
2.0.3: What CD-ROM drives are supported by FreeBSD?
Any SCSI drive connected to a supported controller.
Mitsumi LU002(8bit), LU005(16bit) and FX001D(16bit 2x Speed).
FreeBSD does NOT support drives connected to a Sound Blaster or non-SCSI
SONY or Panasonic drives. A general rule of thumb when selecting a CDROM
drive for FreeBSD use is to buy a very standard SCSI model; they cost more,
but deliver very solid performance in return. Do not be fooled by very cheap
Mitsumi solutions that, in turn, deliver VERY LOW performance! As always,
you get what you pay for.
2.0.4: What multi-port serial cards are supported by FreeBSD?
AST/4 and BOCA 4/8 port cards. Some unnamed clone cards have also been
known to work, especially those that claim to be AST compatible. Check
the man page for `sio' to get more information on configuring such cards.
2.0.5: Does FreeBSD support the AHA-2742 SCSI adapter from Adaptec?
No, FreeBSD does not. This is due to Adaptec's unwillingness to supply
programing information under other than non-disclosure. This is unfortunate.
2.0.6: I have a XXXX bus mouse. Is it supported and if so, how do I set
FreeBSD supports the Logitech, ATI Inport and PS/2 bus mice. You need to add
the following line to the kernel config file and recompile for the Logitech
device mse0 at isa? port 0x23c tty irq6 vector mseintr
2.0.7: I have a PS/2 mouse (`keyboard' mouse) [Alternatively: I have a
laptop with a trackball mouse]. How do I use it?
For the PS/2 mouse you need to look in /usr/src/share/FAQ/programs/psm.tar.z,
which is John Solhed's port of the Linux PS/2 mouse driver.
Follow the directions in the package. You will also need to change your
Xconfig file to point to the mouse.
2.0.8: What types of tape drives are supported under FreeBSD?
FreeBSD supports SCSI, QIC-02 and QIC-40/80 (Floppy based) tape drives.
This includes Exabyte and DAT drives.
2.0.9: What sound cards are supported by FreeBSD?
FreeBSD supports the SoundBlaster, SoundBlaster Pro, Pro Audio Spectrum 16,
AdLib and Gravis UltraSound sound cards. There is also limited support
for MPU-401 and compatible midi cards. The SoundBlaster 16 and
SoundBlaster 16 ASP cards are not yet supported.
NOTE: This is only for sound! This driver does not support CD-ROMs, SCSI
or joysticks on these cards.
2.0.10: What network cards does FreeBSD support?
There is support for the following cards:
WD/SMC 8003,8013 and Elite Ultra (8216)
3.0 Commercial Applications
---------------------------
Note: This section is still very sparse, though we're hoping, of course,
that companies will add to it! :) The FreeBSD group has no ties with any
of the companies listed here but simply lists them as a public service
(and feels that commercial interest in FreeBSD can have very positive
effects on FreeBSD's long-term viability). We encourage commercial software
vendors to send their entries here for inclusion.
3.0.1 Where can I get Motif for FreeBSD?
Sequoia Communications provides commercial quality Motif 1.2.3
development kits for FreeBSD 1.1 (with full shared library support).
Due to licensing restrictions from the OSF, and the fact that Sequoia
needs to make a living, these are NOT FREE, but nonetheless quite reasonably
priced in comparison to many other commercial Motif distributions. Send
electronic mail to `info@seq.com' for further information.
>>>> please make sure this is correct!
3.0.8 What about other commercial quality development systems for FreeBSD?
ParcPlace Systems, Inc. provides their excellent "Object Interface & Object
Builder" GUI development environment free of charge to FreeBSD users. Using
OI, you can develop Motif or OpenLook compliant applications in C++ with all
the benefits of a true GUI object hierarchy. This will be announced and
made available as part of the FreeBSD distribution very soon.
4.0.1: I want to run X, how do I go about it?
First, get the XFree86 distribution of X11R5 from XFree86.cdrom.com. The
version you want for FreeBSD 1.1 and later is XFree86 2.1. Follow the
instructions for installation carefully. You may then wish to read the
documentation for the ConfigXF86 tool, which assists you in configuring
XFree86 for your particular graphics card/mouse/etc.
4.0.1: I've been trying to run ghostscript on a 386 with no math-co but
keep getting errors. Whats up?
The problem here is due to the current FreeBSD math-emulator. You need to
pick up the package in /usr/src/share/FAQ/programs/math-emulator.tar.gz
Run the install program, recompile your kernel and install the new kernel.
This is a port of an older Linux math-emulator. At some point, FreeBSD's
default math emulator will be good enough to enable you to forget about
4.0.2: If I want something like seyon, term, kermit, emacs or any one of
hundreds of popular freeware utilities, is there a good place to
Yes, the FreeBSD `ports collection' was put together for just that purpose.
It contains some of the most often requested languages, editors, mail and
news reading programs, network software and many many megabytes of other
types of useful goodies. CDROM people will probably have the ports collection
already in /usr/ports, other folks can get at the latest snapshot of the
freebsd.cdrom.com:~ftp/pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current/ports
Note that freebsd's ftp server permits getting entire directories as one
(optionally gzip'd or compressed) tar file. Read the ftp welcome banner
4.0.3: I want all this neat software, but I haven't got the space or
CPU power to compile it all myself. Is there any way of getting
Yes. FreeBSD supports the concept of a `package', which is
essentially a gzip'd binary distribution with a little extra
intelligence imbeded in it for doing any custom installation work
required. Packages can also be installed or deinstalled again easily
without having to know the gory details. CDROM people will have a
packages/ directory on their CD, others can get the currently
freebsd.cdrom.com:~ftp/pub/FreeBSD/packages-1.1
Note that all ports may not be available as packages, and that new
packages are constantly being added. It is always a good idea to
check periodically to see which packages are available. A README
file in the packages directory provides more details on the care
and feeding of the package software, so no explicit details will
5.0.1: I've heard of something called FreeBSD-current. How do I run it, and
where can I get more information?
Read the file /usr/src/share/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.current.policy, it
will tell you all you need to know.
5.0.2: What is this thing called `sup', and how do I use it?
SUP stands for Software Update Protocol, and was developed by CMU for
keeping their development trees in sync. We use it to keep remote sites
in sync with our central development sources.
To use it, you need to have direct internet connectivity (not just
mail or news). First, pick up the sup_bin.tgz package from:
freebsd.cdrom.com:/pub/FreeBSD/packages
Second, read the file /usr/src/share/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.sup.faq.
This file describes how to setup sup on your machine. You may also
want to look at `/usr/src/share/FAQ/other/FreeBSD.*.supfile',
which are a set of supfiles for supping from freefall.cdrom.com
6.0.1: When I compile a kernel with multi-port serial code, it tells me
that only the first port is probed and the rest skiped due to
interupt conflicts. How do I fix this?
The problem here is that FreeBSD has code built-in to keep the kernel from
getting trashed due to hardware or software conflicts. The way to fix this
is to leave out the irq settings on other ports besides the first. Here is
# Multiport high-speed serial line - 16550 UARTS
device sio2 at isa? port 0x2a0 tty irq 5 flags 0x501 vector siointr
device sio3 at isa? port 0x2a8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr
device sio4 at isa? port 0x2b0 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr
device sio5 at isa? port 0x2b8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr
You may also want to look at the multi-port serial FAQ in
/usr/src/share/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/multi-port.serial.FAQ.
6.0.2: FreeBSD is supposed to come with support for QIC-40/80 drives but
when I look, I can't find it.
You need to uncomment the following line in the generic config file (or add
it to your config file) and recompile.
controller fdc0 at isa? port "IO_FD1" bio irq 6 drq 2 vector fdintr
#tape ft0 at fdc0 drive 2
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6.0.3: Does FreeBSD support SYSV IPC, shared memory, etc?
Yes, FreeBSD supports SYSV IPC. This includes shared memory, messages and
semaphores. You need to add the following lines to your kernel config to
options "SHMMAXPGS=64" # 256Kb of sharable memory
options SYSVSEM # enable for semaphores
options SYSVMSG # enable for messaging
7.0 System Administration
-------------------------
7.0.1: How do I add a user easily? I read the man page and am more confused
than ever! [Alternatively: I didn't read the man page, I never read
Look at Gary Clark's perl package "AddIt", which may be found in
/usr/src/contrib/adduser.
7.0.2: I'm trying to use my printer and keep running into problems. I tried
looking at /etc/printcap, but it's close to useless. Any ideas?
Yes, you can pick up Andreas Klemm's apsfilter package from:
ftp.germany.eu.net:~ftp/pub/comp/i386/Linux/Local.EUnet/People/akl/apsfilter-1.11.gz
This is a compleate package for printing text, PS and DVI files. It
requires ghostscript and dvips. For a smaller package where you just
want to print simple text files and postscript or just plain want a
simpler package, look in the file: /usr/src/share/FAQ/programs/printcap01.gz
This includes a printcap for a epson printer and a filter for postscript.
NOTE: We're looking for printcap entrys for all printers. If you have
one, or a filter for one, please send it or mail us a pointer to
FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com. Thanks!
8.0.1: Where can I get information booting FreeBSD `diskless', that is
booting and running a FreeBSD box from a server rather than having
Look in the directory /src/sys/i386/netboot for the file netboot.doc.
8.0.2: I've heard that you can use a FreeBSD box as a dedicated network
router - is there any easy support for this?
After a fashion, yes. There is a standard `router floppy' that you can
boot on a FreeBSD machine to configure it as a network router. [>>>> put
pointer to router floppy image here ]
8.0.3: Does FreeBSD support SLIP and PPP?
Yes. See the man pages for slattach and/or pppd if you're using FreeBSD
to connect to another site. If you're using FreeBSD as a server for other
machines, look at the man page for `sliplogin'.
9.0.1: When I do a set line in kermit it locks up, whats the problem?
The problem here is that FreeBSD thinks it's talking to a incoming
modem connection, and is waiting for carrier to come up on it before
completing the open. To disable modem control, do an:
stty -f /dev/ttyXX clocal
(Where `ttyXX' is the tty port you're using). If you use a given port
only for outgoing connections, you may wish to put this command in
your /etc/rc.local to avoid having to do it every time you reboot
NOTE: Anyone wishing to submit a FAQ entry on how to get tip and cu working
would have it much appreciated! We all use kermit over here! :-)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you see a problem with this FAQ, or wish to submit an entry, please mail
us at FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com. We appreciate your feedback, and cannot
make this a better FAQ without your help!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Clark II - Our head FreeBSD FAQ maintanance man
Jordan Hubbard - Janitorial services (I don't do windows)
Robert Oliver, Jr. - Invaluable feedback and contributions
The FreeBSD Team - Kvetching, moaning, submitting data
And to any others we've forgotten, apologies and heartfelt thanks!
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