Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!udel!mmdf
From: UNM409%DBNRHRZ1.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (Volker A. Brandt)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: ST Minix with Supra hard drive
Message-ID: <38355@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
Date: 6 Dec 90 19:42:13 GMT
Sender: mmdf@ee.udel.edu
Lines: 42


Pat Barron writes:

>Well, I've solved part of my own problem - the part about not being able
>to boot Minix from floppy.  It turns out that, once you boot from the
>hard disk, I guess the SUPBOOT.SYS program rewires the RESET interrupt vector,
>and pressing the reset button no longer causes the "normal" thing to occur.
>I can boot Minix just fine from floppy if I power-cycle the machine first.

This is not the fault of your SUPBOOT program.  You see. there is a system
variable (a magic location where the ST keeps information) called _bootdev or
some such, where the ST saves the drive that the system last booted from AND
IT WILL BOOT FROM NEXT.  This is set to A: on cold boot and reset to C: when
booting from the hard disk partition C: succeeded.

There are two possible fixes for you:

 (a) Write a little program that sets this variable back to A:, then reset the
     machine.  You can even boot from RAM disks this way -- if they survive the
     reset.

 (b) Use any coldboot program (they are easy to write and float around), OR
     press Control-Alt-RightShift-Del if you have TOS1.4.

>I still can not get Minix to actually boot up completely, though - the 10.BOOT
>disk boots, sometimes prints the Minix banner message, and immediately gives
>"Kernel Panic: disk task got message from -1" (I messed up the wording of
>the error message in my previous message).  Someone suggested applying a patch
>that The Minix Centre was distributing for ST Minix and the Supra hard drive,
>but I've looked at my sources, and the patch is already installed.  This, BTW,
>is ST Minix version 1.1.

This sounds strange.  My ICD host adapter + Fujitsu SCSI drive work fine.  I
sometimes get a Memory Manager panic which is probably due to having exactly
4 MB RAM free.

Hope this helps some.

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Bitnet:  UNM409@DBNRHRZ1                              Volker A. Brandt
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