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From: nemossan@uitec.ac.jp (Sakurao NEMOTO)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.unix.sysv386,comp.unix.bsd,comp.os.linux,comp.os.minix
Subject: booting-up "386bsd" from the 2nd-Hard-Drive
Summary: 386bsd can be booted up from the second-Hard-Drive
by assistIPL originally made for Minix.
Keywords: MXboot, HDD-boot, minix, PC/clones, 386bsd-0.1
Message-ID: <1207@uitecgw.uitec.ac.jp>
Date: 25 Aug 92 04:54:59 GMT
References: <1144@uitecgw.uitec.ac.jp> <1165@uitecgw.uitec.ac.jp> <1188@uitecgw.uitec.ac.jp>
Followup-To: comp.os.minix
Organization: Univ. Industrial Tech., Sagamihara, JAPAN
Lines: 80
Usually, IBM-PCs cannot be booted up from the second-Hard-Drive, and every
drive can have upto 4-partishons. Thus only 4-Operating-Systems can be
booted up in one machine, normally. Don't you think this is inconvenient?
NEC-pc9801, ex., can be booted from the second-drive, either.
This restriction can be avoided using "assistIPL" made by takamiti@mix,
(mix is Japanese commercial BBS, and sister BBS of BIX). Takamiti@mix
devised this system for "Minix".
In case of 386bsd, booting-up from the second-drive is easily made, if
your system has one IDE-HDD and one SCSI-HDD (this is my case), using this
assistIPL. If you have two-IDEs or two-SCSIs, you are necessary to modify
kernel. I don't know the case of "linux", but I hear linux can use "Shoelace"
originally made for Minix, so I hope linux can also be booted up in the same
manner by assistIPL.
1. Official Minix from Prentice-Hall does not support booting from
Hard-drvies.
2. There are three proposal (as far as I know) to boot-up Minix from
HDD. They are
Shoelace
MXboot
Minix Boot Monitor
proposed in this order.
3. I'm using MXboot, which is rather simple method to boot up Minix
from HDD, and MXboot enables to select partitions at the time of
booting, (you need not use "fdisk" for booting-up other OSs.)
Moreover, MXboot enables to select Hard-Drives to be booted up.
4. MXboot-package (assistIPL of it) is
a. It looks like usual masterIPL, if you specify nothing. The
system will be booted-up from the first-drive and the parti-
tion where boot-flag is set.
b. You can select the partition to be booted-up. You can set it
as active or you can remain it as non-active, and boot-up from
the partition.
c. If the OS supports it, assistIPL enables to boot-up the OS from
the second-drive. This is the case of Minix under MXboot, and
I've found 386bsd in ONE-IDE and ONE-SCSI is the case, too.
5. In order to achieve this, assistIPL is used, which is the replacement
of masterIPL.
I have installed assistIPL by Minix's fdisk, modified by takamiti@mix,
to install assistIPL.
If you do not have Minix, you must make such tool as
Merge 446-bytes of assistIPL code with 16*4 bytes of partition-
table and 2 byte of boot-sector-ID.
Then it must be over written to the masterIPL of the drive.
This may be done by "symdeb" in PC/MS-DOS, but it is rather dangerous
so, I donot reccomend.
I have one-IDE and one-SCSI on a 386-clone. Both of them have been installed
assistIPL, and now using as
IDE * /dev/hd1 for MS-DOS (Dos-5/V from IBM-Japan)
* /dev/hd2 16-bit minix-1.5
* /dev/hd3 32-bit minix-1.5 (mounts /dev/sd3 at /usr)
/dev/hd4 (may be swap of 386bsd?)
SCSI /dev/sd1 (data-area of Dos-5/V?)
** /dev/sd2 32-bit minix, currently v1.5, I hope to install v1.6
/dev/sd3 (mounted by /dev/hd3 at its running time)
** /dev/sd4 386bsd
I can set the "*" partition to automatic-booting, and the "**" partition
to manual boot up by assistIPL.
2 weeks ago, I have posted "minix-V" packages and "documents for MXboot"
to comp.os.minix, fj.sources and fj.os.minix. I hope to refer it.
(Tue) Aug 25 13:50 JST(+0900) 1992 nemossan@uitec.ac.jp
(NEMOTO Sakurao, Univ.Indust.Tech. Sagamihara 229 JAPAN)
(Tel: +81 427 63 9136 >DIALin< Fax: +81 427 63 9011)