Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2018 19:28:55 +1100 From: Ian Smith <smithi@exemail.com.au> To: Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de> Cc: questions@freebsd.org Subject: re: FreeBSD boot manager customization for single-disk multiboot (4 x DOS) Message-ID: <50139023-EF23-4464-8E99-4958CB3A3044@exemail.com.au>
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Hi there heroic wanderer, it's been a while=2E=20 I only rarely read questions@ these days, from the archives, but this one = I thought maybe I could help with=2E I'm in a care situation, tapping thi= s out in K9mail on a small phone, so will try to be concise=2E =20 I've read the thread=2E Manish is trying to help but his DOS familiarity = doesn=E2=80=99t go back far enough=2E I started at 2 and used 3=2E3 (with = Desqview), later 5=2E0 for years running Fidonet mailer, BBS, message edito= r, DOS command space and other tasks in 6 MiB RAM =2E=2E so had to learn ho= w to really squeeze things in - as did you, I gather=2E=20 Correct, you cannot boot DOS from a non-primary partition=2E Maybe you co= uld use GRUB, it installs after the MBR on track 0 side 0 so shouldn't get = in the way=2E I dont think you need to install linux to install GRUB? That said, I don'= t use it myself=2E To add linux to the 4-DOS mix would need an extended pa= rtition, leaving only 3 primaries for 3 x DOS=2E Same deal with OS/2, with= its great boot manager=2E=20 boot0=2Es MBR code is VERY tight with about ZERO free space as I recall = =2E=2E however there's code there - still was at 9=2Ex I think - for a 1=C4= =B6 (2 sector) version written by the same author (Robert Nordier IIRC, I d= on't have a system to hand)=2E That should have plenty of room for more la= vish labels, and may in fact include such code? If you have a spare system= you could assemble that and test=2E Of course you'll have a backup MBR (directed more at other readers :) One thing to watch is that esp=2E earlier versions of DOS may want to use= the first slice explicitly? I'm not sure, but I'd start with earliest ver= sions first, and test each as you go=2E=20 Please CC me on any replies=2E=20 cheers, Ian
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