Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!usc!wuarchive!udel!mmdf
From: TEMARI%ECAMV1.dnet.ge.com@vm1.nodak.edu
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: Shoelace, Boot sector, Partition sector
Message-ID: <34964@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
Date: 30 Oct 90 15:09:32 GMT
Sender: mmdf@ee.udel.edu
Lines: 13

The first byte of each partition entry contains the so called flag for active
partition, which happens to be 80h (i.e. hard disk 0).  According to Gordon W.
Ross (gwr@linus.mitre.org) the code he gave loads dl (i.e. the drive to read
the boot sector from) from the first byte of the partition table entry.  The
actual code was:  mov dx,(si) where si points to the partition table entry
to boot.  So what you would do to boot a different drive instead of passing
it in dl is to put it in the first byte of the partition table entry to boot.

Although I have not look at any disassembled boot sectors to confirm this.



Michael Temari                                      temari@ecamv1.dnet.ge.com