Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!microsoft!gregj
From: gregj@microsoft.UUCP (Greg JONES)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc
Subject: Re: Moving OS2 to HPFS after installation?
Summary: Booting HPFS
Keywords: booting HPFS DLLs
Message-ID: <70800@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: 21 Feb 91 03:59:11 GMT
References: <1991Feb15.092956.20444@davasun.data.nokia.fi>
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
Lines: 53

In article <1991Feb15.092956.20444@davasun.data.nokia.fi>, jpk@davasun.data.nokia.fi (JP Koivisto) writes:
> I installed OS2 1.121 on the FAT drive C:.
> 
> Then I made a HPFS partition of F: (size 121 MB) after
> which I copied (with the FileManager, actually) to WHOLE
> C:\OS2 tree to F:\OS2 AND changed the relevant parts in
> CONFIG.SYS to point to the new location(s) on F: (LIBPATH,PATH,DPATH,etc)
> 
> I seemed so easy, BUT when I tried to boot, OS/2 complained just
> about EVERYTHING.
> 
> Couldn't find "F:\OS2\KEYBOARD.DCP" (or VIOTBL.DCP).  Fixed by changing
> the CONFIG.SYS to get them from C:\OS2.
> Then it couldn't find MSG.DLL, etc...
> 
> How does OS/2 boot when the ONLY partition is HPFS ?

The basic problem here is that OS/2 doesn't know how to find
files on a non-FAT partition until the FSD for that filesystem
has been loaded.  To load an FSD requires that many of the base
DLLs (DOSCALL1, VIOCALLS, etc.) be loaded, since the FSD may
need to display messages, etc. at load time.

When you boot from an HPFS partition, you have an extra system
file named OS2BOOT, which is a "miniature" version of the full
HPFS driver.  Since this mini-FSD knows how to find files on
HPFS drives, OS/2 can access any files at any time.  When you
boot from a FAT drive, the mini-FSD is not loaded, so OS/2 can't
get at files on any non-FAT drives until HPFS.IFS is loaded.

To get your system running the way you want, you can:

1) Reinstall with drive C as HPFS.  About all you'll need on
drive C then are the base device drivers (BASEDD01.SYS, and
a few other files).  Any DLLs, and any files referenced by
CONFIG.SYS, can be on HPFS partitions.

2) Keep on drive C (or any other FAT partition) the base OS/2
files.  This includes any .DCP files, *CALL*.DLL, BVH*.DLL,
MSG.DLL, NAMPIPES.DLL, NLS.DLL, OS2SM.DLL, SESMGR.DLL, COUNTRY.SYS,
any device drivers that load before HPFS.IFS, etc.  I think that's
all of the files (it's been a while since I tried this).  That's
certainly most of them.  I do know that any PM DLLs and executables
can be safely moved to a different drive, since PM loads after all
device drivers and file system drivers.  The swap file (SWAPPATH
in CONFIG.SYS) is another good candidate for moving to a different
drive.

Hope this helps.

uunet!microsof!gregj
Greg Jones, MS network development
[I just happen to work here.  Sheer coincidence.]