Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2018 02:30:10 +0530 From: Manish Jain <jude.obscure@yandex.com> To: Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de>, FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Cc: FreeBSD Hackers <freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: FreeBSD boot manager customization for single-disk multiboot (4 x DOS) Message-ID: <38342ce8-990a-ce05-7ab9-9f7d6017f91b@yandex.com> In-Reply-To: <20181007234040.028639f8.freebsd@edvax.de> References: <20181007234040.028639f8.freebsd@edvax.de>
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On 10/08/18 03:10, Polytropon wrote:
> I'm crossposting to the freebsd-hackers@ list, hope that's okay.
> Replies from that list please keep me CC'd as I'm not subscribed
> to that list. Thanks in advance!
>
> I have a strange and unique problem to solve and would like to
> ask for pointers into the right direction (or at least pointers
> into wrong directions _not_ to take).
>
> My IBM Thinkpad 755C died. In fact, the very special PSU exploded.
> It provided special voltages (10V=, 20V=) on a special plug (4-pin
> semi-rectangular). Its special disk can't be placed into a comparable
> laptop as it's not a regular 2.5" unit - it's a little bit taller
> and therefore won't fit the usual (P)ATA 2.5" disk bays. There is
> some special software on that disk that I need to use from time
> to time, and there is no way to use a modern laptop (too fast,
> missing required connectors and drives, as well as low-level
> control over those resources). The software I have to use is
> very special and cannot be replaced by anything else.
>
> I can access (P)ATA laptop disks fine with FreeBSD and a USB
> disk adapter, so reading disk content and copying it to somewhere
> else is not a problem.
>
> I plan to dedicate a Fujitsu-Siemens Litebook LFL-G (500 MHz AMD
> CPU, 128 MB RAM) as a replacement. It will also obtain the functions
> formerly provided by a Toshiba T-2130CT laptop whose disk drive,
> power supply, battery, case etc. died. But the disk is still there.
> The Litebook will get a hard disk of 10 GB (or less, if I still
> have one) partitioned as follows:
>
> 1st slice: 100 MB MS-DOS 5.0 from the Toshiba T-2130CT
>
> 2nd slice: 500 MB MS-DOS 6.22 + NDOS from a different DOS system
>
> 3rd slice: 1000 MB "Windows '95" + NDOS hybrid that was on the
> IBM disk in the Thinkpad 755C
>
> 4th slice: remaining space: "Windows '98" as it came with that
> laptop (original CD and license key present)
>
> The intended use of "slice" indicates that there will be 4 "DOS
> primary partitions" on the disk. Staying with the "drive letters"
> from DOS, every OS should see the partition it booted from as C:,
> and it would be great if it didn't touch (or maybe even didn't
> recognize) any of the other partitions.
>
> I think I could even use a 500 MB disk and strip everything down
> to 50 + 100 + 150 + 200 MB as per the layout shown above! That
> would also be fully sufficient for the special purposes.
>
> What I'm asking for _now_ is a convenient way to select which OS
> to boot. I would not want to use today's GRUB because I don't plan
> to use Linux on that particular system. In my opinion, the FreeBSD
> boot manager will work nicely, but it will list all 4 systems with
> the name "DOS". From what I learned by reading its source, this is
> due to auto detection. I don't need that feature, I'd think about
> altering the code in order to hard-code 4 names, like this:
>
> F1 DOS 5
> F2 DOS 6
> F3 Win 95
> F4 Win 98
>
> Default: F1
>
> So if I needed to boot the system that formerly ran on the Thinkpad
> 755C, I'd press F3 and it would boot. Sure, I understand that there
> is a good chance that I have to reconfigure drivers and such (as
> it's a typical thing with "Windows"), but that won't be the big
> problem.
>
> I know everything has to fit 512 bytes (and the code of the boot
> manager illustrates this requirement very nicely by how the text
> for the possible boot options is stored and selected).
>
> Questions:
>
> Would you say this is a possible way to go? Or would you suggest
> that I refresh my assembly knowledge and write something myself,
> maybe using the existing FreeBSD boot manager as inspiration and
> organ donor? ;-)
>
> Or maybe there is something that can be installed and initially
> configured from DOS?
>
> Distant past... I know there _were_ multi-boot utilities decades
> ago, but I cannot remember any names. There is no luxury required,
> no GUI, no boot graphics - just a simple means to select the OS
> that should be booted.
>
> Oh, or maybe there is a long-forgotten functionality in the newer
> "Windows" versions ('95 and '98 will be finally installed, but
> none of then will ever see the Internet, of course), those also
> once contained some kind of strange boot manager?
>
> If everything fails, I could still try to use the FreeBSD boot
> manager "as is", with the following result predicted:
>
> F1 DOS
> F2 DOS
> F3 DOS
> F4 DOS
>
> Default: F1
>
> I'm not sure if it will recognize old-fashioned "Windows '95"
> as "DOS" or "Windows"...
>
>
>
> Thank you for any inspiration! :-)
>
>
>
Poly,
I suggest a better way than to use FreeBSD/Linux boot manager.
Create 1 primary partition + an EBR with 4 logical drives (with the
primary partition at the beginning of the disk).
Install 4 x DOS/Win into the logical drives (all using the first primary
partition as C:)
Finally and if needed, alter the boot.ini in C: as you wish.
Does that solve your problem, or compound it ?
Regards,
Manish Jain
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