RH8.0, WinXP Pro, FreeBSD 4.8 Problem

Hi, i'm happy to say that i getting away from the dark side(MS).
Yesterday i decided to install RH8.0 on my box that has Win Xp Pro. i installed RH8 without any problem, it booted up with no problems or any kind of errors. I was looking for information in how to set up my modem in RH, since only Win Xp had access to the internet, and i remembered that i had a FreeBSD4.8 CD, and i installed FreeBSD too. But when the istallation was complete i booted up the computer and it only had to OS to boot from Win XP/RH , i couldn't boot up FreeBSD. I tried installing FreeBsd again an i did and since the first time i selected "None" in the part were it ask you if you want to create a boot manager, the second time i created a boot manager, when the boot manager was created at boot up time it apeared :

F1 ??
F2 Linux
F3 ??
F4 Freebsd

and i couldn't boot up the other OS not even FreeBSD.


BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
*This is the first time i come in contact with any Linux OS and FreeBsd
*This is also the first time i install any Linux Os and FreeBsd
*The partitions were made in 1 drive (C:)
*I don't have any kind of skills or knowledge with Linux OS's but i'm willing to learn.



----Another mistake that i made was that when i set up the FreeBsd Boot manager it didn't set an active partiton. Since the my box wouldn't boot i decided to insert my Win Xp CD to
re-install and i noticed that it had the repair option, i selected it and started copying the necesary files and when it reboot, nothing happend. :confused: i stared at my little box with floppys and i saw a Win 98 Boot up disk i booted up from the Floppy and Fdisk , Display Partition, and it gave me the message No active partition Set, i set my Win Xp partition as the Active partition, restarted the computer and it booted up to the Win Xp installation, but i already had lost my data--------(if at first i had inserted the win 98 boot up disk and set the Win xp partition as the active partition i would still have my files ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) could some one explain this to me ???.


i Had to re-install Win Xp ,RH8 and FreeBsd 4.8, but i still have the same problem is the OS selection i only have Win XP and RH, and i think i need to re- install Win Xp.

Any comment, suggestions, good linux links to tutorials that had worked for any of you, that arent complicated for new Linux users.


I would really apreciate your help.

ok first, Free BSD doesnt Like Windows, it wouldnt boot it for me either.

"BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
*This is the first time i come in contact with any Linux OS and FreeBsd
*This is also the first time i install any Linux Os and FreeBsd
*The partitions were made in 1 drive (C
*I don't have any kind of skills or knowledge with Linux OS's but i'm willing to learn.
"

RTFM.

http://www.freebsd.org

learn. i dont know why everyone refers to Microsoft so badly but think, you could get online with Windows and had no probs unless you ****ed aound with things you didnt understand.

Now for Free BSD, you shouldv waited till you had some experiance. RTFM and your prolly going to have to format everything and start reading.

for new Linux users...actually you said your using red hat. http://www.redhat.com

go read and learn how these OSs work, you prolly did something during install and it screwed up. so go read the for newbies section on BSD and Linux sites and then try again.

Honestly BSD is hard to get working for dual boot. Start with Linux and after you have a good understanding of partitioning and MBRs THEN try BSD.

"Another mistake that i made was that when i set up the FreeBsd Boot manager it didn't set an active partiton."

see why RTFM is important? :)

you didnt set anything as bootable and didnt figure out why nothing would boot huh? lol. dont worry just RTFM and try again AFTER youv read and understand a lil better.

Thanks for your response, i think that i should re format and start from scrath. At least i learn something, like my grandmother used to say "hechando a perder se aprende" (by messing things up you learn).

Weird, I have a dual boot box w/ XP and FreeBSD on it, had XP on it first on the first slice of the first HD, popped in the CD for FreeBSD, installed, chose to use the bootmanager, and BAM, it worked great the first time. . .now X, that was a different story all together.

lol yea X on BSD is almost as easy as writing binary code.

"*This is the first time i come in contact with any Linux OS and FreeBsd
*This is also the first time i install any Linux Os and FreeBsd"


Ouch! you walked in unprepared many newbies do the same
thing they use Windows & get the shock of there life when they
enter the world of BSD and Linux cold turkey they don't know how to use
the VI editor or even switch shells from csh to ksh :( I'd suggest
starting with something very light like 'Linux for Dummies' and take it
very slow learn all the basic stuff like the important commands
how to move around the operating system, how the file structure
works the same for FreeBSD.

FreeBSD First Steps

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO...ers/index.html

BSD Explained

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO...bsd/index.html

How to get best results from the FreeBSD-questions mailing list

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO...ons/index.html

This is important to read if you don't want to look silly or get flamed on
a mailing list.


Here are books I'd suggest to ease the pain:
_____________________________________

Sams Teach Yourself FreeBSD in 21 days
by Micheal Urban

This is an excellent book for newbies it's very well layed
out and easy to follow

FreeBSD an Open Source Operating System for your
Personal Computer
By Annelise Anderson

It covers everything you need to know comes with
a freebsd cdrom this is the book I recommend
to my friends when they need a place to start
besides the FreeBSD manual.

Absolute BSD
By Micheal Lucas

If you need FreeBSD reference this book is it you
don't get any better :)

Unix Bible, Second Edition
Yves Lepage, Paul Iarrera
ISBN: 0-7645-4687-2
Paperback
750 pages

Some other helpful resources:
_________________________

Dru Lavigne at Orielly writes columns covering Freebsd
read those she writes good stuff and you can learn alot:

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/73


Hope this helps you out :)

Doc