ropers ha scritto: > On 10/10/2007, Christopher Bianchi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Nick Guenther ha scritto: >> >>> On 10/10/07, Christopher Bianchi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> >>> >>>> Hello everyone. My situation is this: >>>> i've a laptop, a Sharp pc-ax10 with Windows 2000 preinstalled , without >>>> cdrom, floppy. I wish install OpenBSD on it. Naturally bios can't boot >>>> from USB. >>>> So i've thinked to boot the bsd.rd , but how ? The faq explain the >>>> procedure from an older OpenBSD operating system... i've Windows 2000 on >>>> it. >>>> >>>> Is it possible ? and if is possible, in which way ? Where i must put the >>>> bsd.rd and in which way i can boot from him ? >>>> >>>> I've tried google, but nothing :-( >>>> >>>> Thanks for the attention >>>> >>>> >>> Can your BIOS boot from the network (PXE)? If you can set up a PXE >>> server with "pxeboot" as the boot image then you can boot that way. >>> >>> Alternatively you can pull out the hard drive, plug it into a >>> different computer or a USB-to-IDE converter, install there, and then >>> put it back. >>> >>> -Nick >>> >>> >>> >> Thanks for the attention Nick, but 1) i can't boot from pxe ( damn Sharp >> ) and 2) i wish an elegance solution without pull out the hard disk. Thanks >> > > DISCLAIMER: I'm talking out my arse here, and I don't know if what > you're hoping to do is even possible. That said, here are my thoughts > on the matter: > > (1) The only way to hand off control from one operating system to > another operating system is to make a program run exclusively (not > preemptively multitasked ( > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preemption_%28computing%29#Pre-emptive_multitasking > )) and with full access to the entire computer, including all of the > memory (ie. outside of memory protection ( > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_protection )). > > (a) To use unix terminology, you would need to start the system in > single user mode ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_user_mode ), > and then you would need a program that can load the OpenBSD kernel and > hand off control to it. In some very rare cases, programs like this do > exist. I remember (unsuccessfully) trying to install NetBSD on an old > Apple PowerBook 145B many moons ago. Because the firmware (ie. the > "BIOS") of this Motorola 68K based laptop did not support loading a > non-Apple OS, the solution there was to load Mac OS 6 or 7.whatever, > and then run a Mac OS program that would seize control of the entire > machine and load NetBSD. (This would have worked, except that my > machine had too little RAM and HDD space.) The old Mac OS was not a > proper preemtive multitasking OS w/ memory-protection; and writing a > program to load another OS from it was only possible because of these > limitations. Windows 2000 however is built on NT (OS/2) technology and > has memory protection and preemtive multitasking. No a program like > that old NetBSD boot loader cannot exist for Windows. However, a kind > of single user mode does exist for Windows 2000, it's called the > recovery console ( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/229716 ). However, > the recovery console is sadly not installed by default; you can either > boot it from the Windows 2000 install CDs (which you say you can't > boot), or it can be installed by running "winnt32.exe /cmdcons". > However, if the recovery console isn't already installed, then the > Windows 2000 installation files probably aren't on your HDD either, > and you'd then need to run "winnt32.exe /cmdcons" from the Windows > 2000 install CD (which, again, you say you can't access). Even if you > have the recovery console installed, I have no clue how to get custom > programs installed into it. This might be extra hard to do, because, > to quote Wikipedia: "[The Recovery Console] is independent of the > (...) operating system." And, to quote Annoyances.org: "The Recovery > Console looks like DOS, but it isn't DOS." I don't know if even a > single non-MS program for the recovery console exists. That probably > means that a BSD loader program that you could run from the recovery > console is a (big fat opium-) pipe dream at best. > > (b) However, Windows OSes have a reputation of being not the most > secure of operating systems. Hypothetically speaking, if you knew a > kernel exploit and or virus/trojan that would allow you to insert > arbitrary code for exclusive execution deep into the windows kernel, > then you could theoretically use that type of vulnerability to write a > BSD loader. Your best bet there may be to insert your boot loader > early in the NT boot process by somehow patching either Ntdetect.com, > NTLDR, or ntoskrnl.exe. (Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ntoskrnl.exe > , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTLDR , and > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ntdetect.com .) This would of course > quite possibly also wreck your Windows 2000 installation, except if > the inserted code somehow presented the user a boot menu to select > whether to load the BSD kernel or continue to load Windows. The way > I've followed IT news for a while, I am fairly sure that no such > program currently exists. I am unsure how involved it would be to > write one, and I am not a programmer. > > (c) An almost certainly better option would be NOT to attempt to go > root and hijack the entire PC from inside a fully booted Windows 2000 > session, but to either patch the boot sector and/or MBR, and insert > your boot loader there. There are plenty of boot managers out there > that do similar things, however I know none that would allow you to > drop in an OpenBSD kernel file and boot that as is. Some hacking may > be required. Not suitable for small children due to choking hazard, > and always read the label. > > (2) You may find it much easier to install OpenBSD inside a VirtualPC > or QEMU emulator running on Windows 2000. > > (3) A USB floppy or CD drive may not allow you to boot, but may allow > you to install stuff on your laptop (that's not much better than > copying files onto the notebook over your network connection, but it > may at least allow you to pop in a windows 2000 install CD and maybe > even install the recovery console). > > (4) Does your Lappy have PC card slots? ( > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Card ) IIRC, some PCMCIA CD-ROM or > floppy drives even allowed the BIOS to recognise them and/or allowed > the user to boot from them. > > (5) An interesting solution to a similar problem exists in the case of > Ubuntu Linux, in the form of their install.exe ( > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/install.exe ). > AFAIK this works as follows: > The Ubuntu install.exe program is a regular Windows program, loaded > from within Windows. Instead of trying to commandeer the Windows 2000 > session, it merely installs a file on the existing Windows NTFS > partition, modifies the boot sector, and prompts the user to reboot. > When the user then reboots their PC, a boot manager is loaded from the > boot sector. If Windows 2000 is selected, booting continues as before, > but if Ubuntu is selected, then the NTFS-3G ( > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS-3G ) driver is loaded (?presumably > still from the bootsector or MBR?) and once the program can access the > existing NTFS partition it then accesses only the file that was > installed on the NTFS partition, and that (huge) file is actually a > disk image, containing an entire Ubuntu installation, which is then > booted. It's an interesting solution, and if you write really good > code, then you might be able to use the Ubuntu project's solution and > adapt it to OpenBSD. Personally though, that kind of hacking would be > way over my head. > > (6) Given the above (and given the absence of other options), you may > want to reconsider your aversion to cracking the lappy's case and > swapping its HDD. This might in fact be the easiest of options. > > Good luck! > > --ropers > > Thanks for the special attention Ropers :-)
Mmm i've tried qemu, but i wish install really OpenBSD on it. I've a pcmcia but this notebook can't boot from it. The idea to crack the windows kernel is awesome, but i haven't the skills ! In this moment i'm looking this guide to install grub from windows: http://marc.herbert.free.fr/linux/win2linstall.html#life-of-a-linux-installer Anyway, the last solution will be remove the hd with some cracking stuff. Thanks all for the answers :-)
