how do you make a 'bios boot' partition for Fedora 17

[marko]

I'm trying to install Fedora 17 beta on my machine with one spinning disk and one SSD using the anaconda partitioning "custom" mode.

This fails with the "you have not created a bootloader stage 1 target device" error which they say here means you need to make a "bios boot" partition as the File system type. (this error page is for Fedora 16 but I think this applies to F17 too):

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F16_bugs#Error_.22you_have_not_created_a_bo otloader_stage1_target_device.22_appears_in_partit ioning_menu

But Anaconda has no file system type "bios boot" in the menu, so how do you make it? is the only way to run a separate tool like gparted live cd to make the bios boot partition first?

Isn't this a mistake that the anaconda custom mode has no way to make a required partition?

[smr54]

Are you sure? If you make a partition (I believe it can be either logical or primary), then choose partition type, (or maybe it says use as, I've forgotten) I think there will be some sort of BIOS boot option in there. Note that the BIOS boot partition shouldn't be more than 2 MB (yes, MB, that's not a typo).

[marko]

Well, I looked and looked and didn't see "bios boot" as a file system or partition type, I was installing Fedora 17 beta from DVD after my preupgrade attempt from 16 to 17 bombed.
With the bios boot issue I gave up and went back to Fedora 16. I didn't make a 1MB partition because I didn't know what to label the mount point

[sonoran]

Arch Wiki to the rescue:
For a BIOS-GPT configuration, create a 2 MiB partition using cgdisk or GNU Parted with no filesystem. The location of the partition in the partition table does not matter but it should be within the first 2 TiB region of the disk. It is advisable to put it somewhere in the beginning of the disk before the /boot partition. Set the partition type to "EF02" in cgdisk or set <BOOT_PART_NUM> bios_grub on in GNU Parted.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Grub2

[marko]

Sonoran:

UPDATE - this explained it for me:
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=275361

[thom12]

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Upgrading_Fedora_using_yum

Fedora 16 -> Fedora 17

[smr54]

I just checked this on F17 Beta net install, and in the format section, the BIOS Boot option was there. (I repeat, this was F17 beta, not F16, so I don't remember if it was there or not.)