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Date:      Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:59:48 -0400
From:      dieterbsd@engineer.com
To:        hackers@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re:  multi-boot bootstrap?
Message-ID:  <8CDBBA235B59E56-11D4-42F9@web-mmc-d02.sysops.aol.com>

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> Now, how are you going to multiboot OpenBSD and NetBSD on a PowerPC=20
machine
> from the same hard disk.

I didn't say anything about a requirement for booting multiple OSes
from the same disk.  I said:

>> Go through all the disks and look
>> for bootable partitions.  Extract the GPT partition labels for
>> these partitions.  Present a menu of choices.

There can be multiple disks.  (Assuming the hardware supports that.)
I haven't worked with PowerPC machines and it has been a very long time
since I worked with Sparc.  I'm more familiar with Alpha, which would=20
take
some hacking to boot more than one OS per disk, but some rocket=20
scientist
decided to drop FreeBSD support for Alpha, so I suspect that no one here
cares about Alpha.

> From what I know, one or the other can only be as
> the first entry and it then has to be set from the forth prompt.
> So, you will need two disks to boot , saya: OpenBSD, NetBSD, FreeBSD,=20
Linux,
> and MacOSX or a combination of these.
>
> On PPC boxes with OpenFirmware 3.x, you actually need to set the=20
active
> partition if you want to boot Linux and/or freebsd from the forth=20
prompt if
> both are on the same disk.

Can these PPC boxes boot from GPT disks?  "active partition" sounds=20
MBRish.
Perhaps they can use the "protective MBR" trick?






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