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Any restrictions on how I divide the disk up? Frequently Asked Questions for FreeBSD 2.X : Installation : Any restrictions on how I divide the disk up?
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2.16. Any restrictions on how I divide the disk up?

Yes. You must make sure that your root partition is below 1024 cylinders so the BIOS can boot the kernel from it. (Note that this is a limitation in the PC's BIOS, not FreeBSD).

For a SCSI drive, this will normally imply that the root partition will be in the first 1024MB (or in the first 4096MB if extended translation is turned on - see previous question). For IDE, the corresponding figure is 504MB.

Frequently Asked Questions for FreeBSD 2.X : Installation : Any restrictions on how I divide the disk up?
Previous: Which geometry should I use for a disk drive?
Next: What about disk managers? Or, I have a large drive!