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From: terry@cs.weber.edu (A Wizard of Earth C)
Subject: Re: how do I undo 386BSD boot blocks?
Message-ID: <1993Feb12.024645.20918@fcom.cc.utah.edu>
Sender: news@fcom.cc.utah.edu
Organization: Weber State University (Ogden, UT)
References: <C2B059.JCA@space.physics.uiowa.edu> <1lelqg$dfc@terminator.rs.itd.umich.edu> <1993Feb12.010335.26398@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov>
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 93 02:46:45 GMT
Lines: 62
In article <1993Feb12.010335.26398@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov> kaleb@seaview (Kaleb Keithley) writes:
>In article pauls@css.itd.umich.edu (Paul Southworth) writes:
>>In article ljg@space.physics.uiowa.edu (Larry Granroth) writes:
>>
>>fdisk /mbr
>>
>>That will over-write the master boot record to prepare it for DOS.
>>
>>>(Maybe this should be added to the FAQ?)
>>
>>Actually it is in INSTALL.NOTES.
>>
>
>There are some poor assumptions about telling people to use 'fdisk /mbr'.
There is an alternate method in INSTALL.NOTES. Basically, you don't need
to fdisk the mbr for a valid one to be written -- you just have to invalidate
it. This can be accomplished with either of the following:
1) low-level format the disk.
2) boot dist.fs or fixit.fs and type dd if=/386bsd of=/dev/wd0a
>First, not everyone has DOS. Some of us have OS/2, or some version of
>System V/386. I'm certainly not going to buy a copy of DOS just so I
>can 'fdisk /mbr', and I know on one would actually suggest that anyone
>make a bootleg copy.
>
>Second, not everyone that has DOS has DOS 5. DOS 5 is the first version
>that has the /mbr option. See the above.
>
>Third, and I've said this before, and yes, I've heard that the *real* 0.2
>is supposed to address this, and yes, I know that there's a better version
>of bootblocks on agate; never the less, 386BSD shouldn't be messing with
>the master boot record. Other UNIX implementations achieve what the 386BSD
>bootblocks do with a "boot partition", i.e. the vanilla master boot record
>boots a small executive in a "boot partition", which in turn boots UNIX.
>
>There's a de facto, if not published, standard. It should be followed.
>Anyone want to make a change to TCP/IP? Or X? Aw, come on, they're only
>little changes! And they'll be so much better for the change! No? I
>didn't think so.
1) Frankly, you are lucky that the people doing research using 386BSD
are willing to share it with you before it's commercial quality,
assuming that that will ever be the case.
2) Alternate deinstallation are also described in the INSTALL.NOTES.
Terry Lambert
terry@icarus.weber.edu
terry_lambert@novell.com
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.
--
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"I have an 8 user poetic license" - me
Get the 386bsd FAQ from agate.berkeley.edu:/pub/386BSD/386bsd-0.1/unofficial
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