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From: jreece@sousa.intel.com (John Reece)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.setup,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Howto: Use NT loader to boot Linux, FreeBSD, or whatever
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 96 22:05:57 GMT
Organization: Not an Intel spokesman
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Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.setup:39079 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:13220
People keep asking, so here's what works for me.
The general idea is that one copies the first sector of your
native root Linux or FreeBSD partition into a file in
the DOS/NT partition. Assuming one names that file
something like c:\bootsect.lnx or c:\bootsect.bsd (inspired by
c:\bootsect.dos) one can then edit the c:\boot.ini file to come
up with something like this:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows NT"
C:\BOOTSECT.LNX="Linux"
C:\BOOTSECT.BSD="FreeBSD"
C:\="DOS"
This procedure assumes that DOS, NT, Linux, FreeBSD, or whatever
have been installed into their respective fdisk partitions on
the *same* disk. In my case DOS & NT are in the first fdisk
partition, Linux in the second, and FreeBSD in the third.
I also installed Linux and FreeBSD to boot from their native
partitions, not the disk MBR, and without delay.
Mount a DOS-formatted floppy (if you've converted to NTFS) or
the FAT partition, under, say, /mnt.
In Linux:
dd if=/dev/sda2 of=/mnt/bootsect.lnx bs=512 count=1
In FreeBSD:
dd if=/dev/rsd0a of=/mnt/bootsect.bsd bs=512 count=1
Reboot into DOS or NT. NTFS users copy the bootsect.lnx
and/or the bootsect.bsd file from the floppy to C:\.
Modify the attributes (permissions) on boot.ini with:
attrib -s -r c:\boot.ini
Edit to add the appropriate entries from the example
boot.ini above, and restore the attributes:
attrib -r -s c:\boot.ini
If Linux or FreeBSD are booting from the MBR, restore
it with the DOS fdisk /mbr command after you reconfigure
them to boot from their native partitions.
John Reece
Usually not an Intel spokesman