Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!occrsh!uokmax!apple!usc!samsung!munnari.oz.au!bruce!cechew
From: cechew@bruce.cs.monash.OZ.AU (Earl Chew)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: Booting MINIX AT from HD / Wrong CRC
Message-ID: <3028@bruce.cs.monash.OZ.AU>
Date: 7 Sep 90 00:54:04 GMT
References: <1324@nixhhs.UUCP>
Organization: Monash Uni. Computer Science, Australia
Lines: 45

In <1324@nixhhs.UUCP> claus@nixhhs.UUCP (Peter Kahl) writes:


>I am also running MS-DOS 4.01 on my PC (no flames please) and I wish to boot
>either MINIX or MS-DOS from my harddisk. My knowledge of MINIX and MS-DOS
>is not very deep so far. Sometimes blue-eyed, I took the following steps:

>- installed 4 partitions on my 120 MB harddisk, all partitions starting on an
>  even cylinder, all partitions having an even number of sectors,
>- copied MINIX Boot Floppy to /dev/hd2 (using dd)
>- copied MINIX Root File to /dev/hd3 (using dd)
>- made partition 2 the active one (with FDISK of MS-DOS and fdisk of MINIX, I
>  tried both versions).

Minix 1.5.10 does not require the use of all these evasive measures ---
although it is better to be safe than sorry.

Copying the Minix boot floppy to /dev/hd2 was not a good idea. This is because
the boot floppy is floppy specific and won't work at all on the hard disk. It
contains embedded to code read data from floppy disks (via the BIOS) and won't
work at all on the hard disk. You would be better off using shoelace. This will
permit you to boot from either DOS and Minix partitions (selectable at boot
time) and it will allow you to boot directly from a Minix file system (ie boot
/dev/hd3 in your case).

You can use the Minix boot floppy to boot Minix (and place the ram disk image
in /dev/hd3 -- I think) as ast suggests. I prefer to use shoelace since it then
allows you to throw the boot floppy away. You can boot directly from the hard
disk.

>- What did I do wrong?
>- Why is the floppy bootable, but the same code on the harddisk not?
>- What is the way around this problem?

>Did anybody solve this problem? I remember having seen some stuff in this

Shoelace is available from either the Adelaide or Nodak archives. Maybe NLMUG
has a copy in Europe. I'm not sure. I take a copy over there if they care to
send me a ticket :-)

Earl
-- 
Earl Chew, Dept of Computer Science, Monash University, Australia 3168
EMAIL: cechew@bruce.cs.monash.edu.au PHONE: 03 5655447 FAX: 03 5655146
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