Date: Tue, 27 Feb 1996 14:48:17 -0700 (MST) From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org> To: craig@union4.su.swin.edu.au (Craig Silva) Cc: questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: how to use NT boot loader? Message-ID: <199602272148.OAA06079@phaeton.artisoft.com> In-Reply-To: <199602271219.MAA22297@union4.su.swin.edu.au> from "Craig Silva" at Feb 27, 96 11:19:18 pm
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> I am trying to work out how to get NT to give me a choice to load Freebsd. [ ... ] > Can anyone point out where I might be going wrong. Here is a method that has been reported to be successful at 3 sites and to have failed at 0 sites: Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers. =========================================================================== >> Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 12:05:29 +0100 >> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org >> From: richard@harlequin.co.uk (Richard Brooksby) >> Subject: Booting FreeBSD from the Windows NT Loader >> Sender: owner-questions@freebsd.org >> Precedence: bulk >> Content-Length: 2482 >> >> I run my PC with Windows 95, Windows NT, and FreeBSD. I had some problems >> with the FreeBSD boot selector and Windows 95, so I started investigating >> other ways to boot. (Has anyone else had problems with Windows 95 and >> booteasy, by the way?) >> >> I discovered that the Windows NT loader can be configured to run other boot >> sectors from files in the DOS partition. The boot loader's INI file >> (usually C:\BOOT.INI) just needs to be edited to point at the file >> containing the sector. >> >> DON'T ATTEMPT THIS UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. I think you must be >> ready to edit partition tables by hand using a sector editor before you >> start mucking about with them, in general. I've had to do this on several >> occasions to avoid trashing Windows NT, which is a bit sensitive about >> them. Make backup copies on floppy disks and make sure you have the >> utilities to put them back if things should go wrong. >> >> To boot FreeBSD from the NT loader, copy your existing boot sector for the >> FreeBSD partition to a file on the DOS C: drive. Something like this will >> do the trick: >> >> dd if=/dev/wd0c of=<path to C>/freebsd.sec bs=512 count=1 >> >> (Change wd0c to sd0c if you boot from a SCSI disk. You could copy the >> appropriate file from /usr/mdec instead, but I'm typing this from memory on >> my Mac and couldn't tell you which ones offhand. Read the manual.) >> >> Then alter the BOOT.INI file on C: so it contains a line like this under >> the "[operating systems]" heading: >> >> c:\freebsd.sec="FreeBSD" >> >> The NT boot loader will then give you FreeBSD as an option. You can make >> it the default by editing the "DEFAULT=" line in BOOT.INI in the obvious >> manner. >> >> You can also add other boot sectors for other systems, although I haven't >> tried it with the Linux LILO boot loader. >> >> Once you have this working, you can restore the original master boot record >> for DOS or Windows 95 use by running "FDISK /MBR" from DOS. You are less >> likely to have trouble with Windows 95, Windows NT, or OS/2 booting and >> partitioning if you keep the default MBR. >> >> I would be interested to hear from anyone else who uses this trick. Please >> send me some mail if you try it, successfully or not. >> >> FYI, I'm running: >> - FreeBSD 2.0 with a locally patched kernel >> - Windows 95 beta (as released on the Microsoft Developer's Network) >> - Windows NT 3.51 retail version >> >> --- >> Richard Brooksby <richard@harlequin.co.uk> >> Manager & Developer / Memory Management / Symbolic Processing / Harlequin >> +44 1223 873881 (voice) +44 1223 872519 (fax) ===========================================================================
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