Re: boot floppies status report

[bruce@Pixar.com (Bruce Perens)]

> Do I understand it correctly that a user will be given a choice not to
> perform any of these actions? (my setup would need this for example --
> I have DiskManager booting LILO installed on /dev/hdb5, which boots
> kernel of another partition on hdb).

Lilo will install itself on the root _partition_. That's not what it used
to do. It used to install itself on block 0 of the disk, which is also called
the master boot record or MBR.

Various boot managers, including yours, will be able to chain to the
partition boot block. I will ask the user if they want our "mbr" program
installed on the master boot record of the same disk that holds the root
partition. They will have the option of leaving their current boot manager
(which may be the DOS MBR or something else) in place. If they say yes and
the disk is the first one on the controller, our "mbr" program will get
control at boot time. I will also ask if the Linux root partition should be
activated as the default one to be booted.

At boot time, "mbr" will transfer control to the partition boot
record on one of the first 4 physical partitions. The partition that has been
designated "active" will be the one it transfers to if there's no user input
when "mbr" starts. If the user is holding down the shift key when "mbr" starts,
it will print a list of the bootable partition numbers and "F" for floppy, 
which looks like this: "134F:" . The user may then press one of the numbers
or "F", and the selected partition or floppy will boot.

So, if you install the Linux root on one of the 4 physical partitions of the
first disk on your controller, you won't need a boot floppy. If you don't,
you'll need the floppy to start, and will have to set up your own boot manager
or read about LILO and configure that to make Linux boot from the hard disk.

By the way, Glebster, are you really using OnTrack Disk Manager to boot Linux?
If so, you are hereby elected our Disk Manager expert.

	Thanks

	Bruce
--
Bruce Perens <Bruce@Pixar.com> A campaigner for Clinton and against Censorship.
Toy Story: $183M and counting. At $184M it will beat the #1 movie of 1995.