Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!wuarchive!usc!ucselx!bionet!agate!ucbvax!UAIMZA.MATHEMATIK.UNI-MAINZ.DE!Kapffer
From: Kapffer@UAIMZA.MATHEMATIK.UNI-MAINZ.DE
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Xenocide and RAMFast
Message-ID: <9101142004.AB01931@UAIMZA.Mathematik.Uni-Mainz.DE>
Date: 14 Jan 91 20:04:36 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 20

>    I also encountered a little quirk I never knew about.  I forgot to change
>the boot slot from Slot 7 when I moved the RAMFast, but the system managed to
>find the first partition and boot from it anyway!  Does the GS automatically
>poll each slot until it finds something to boot?  I thought this only happens
>when the Startup Slot is set to 'Scan'.
>
Setting the startup drive to a specific slot just means to ignore possible
bootable devices in higher numbered slots, i.e. scanning starts at the
named slot and works down. "Scan" and "Slot 7" are therefore identical in
behaviour.

A possible scenario where this comes to use:
  - Hard disk controller in slot 2,
  - 3.5" connected to the disk port controlled by slot 5 firmware and
  - 5.25" drives bootable through slot 6 firmware.
With slot 5 as the startup drive the system won't try to boot from the
5.25" drive (saving some time), uses a 3.5" startup disk if present or goes
straight to the hard disk.

                                       - Matthias Kapffer