Creating a system to boot 4 different OS types.
Greetings. Well, I am getting ready to attempt a quad-boot system. I wish to boot one of the following configurations: First CONFIG: - WinNT - FreeBSD - Linux - NetBSD Second CONFIG: - WinNT - FreeBSD - Linux - OpenBSD I am still oscillating between OpenBSD/NetBSD, anywayI am currently dual booting WinNT and Linux. I found documentation to put Linux and FreeBSD together. The two or three main issues for me are: 1) Choosing the right bootloader. I believe the WinNT OS loader would work, but I am not completely sure about LILO for booting the above 4 OSes. 2) Since I cannot place a *BSD slice in an extended partition, it appears I will have to do something like (sorry for using Linux device naming scheme): /dev/hda1 WinNT /dev/hda2 Linux /dev/hda3 BSD/386 (FreeBSD) /dev/hda4 BSD/386 (OpenBSD or NetBSD) I think this should work. The only thing is that one of the BSD slices will need to share its swap space with Linux, which is not a problem. 3) I guess the stuff in (2) should work. Another question would be if the swap partition in one of the BSD slices can be shared with the another BSD variant (i.e. swap space in FreeBSD slice '/dev/hda3' can be used by NetBSD or OpenBSD slice '/dev/hda4')? I searched, I read but did not find all of the information. I am holding off posting to the other two BSD lists until I hear (hopefully) something back from this list. TIA. -Steve -- Steven J. Hill - Embedded SW Engineer Public Key: 'finger [EMAIL PROTECTED]' FPR1: E124 6E1C AF8E 7802 A815 FPR2: 7D72 829C 3386 4C4A E17D To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
Re: Creating a system to boot 4 different OS types.
Steve Hill wrote: > > Well, I am getting ready to attempt a quad-boot system. I wish to boot > one of the following configurations: > >First CONFIG: > - WinNT > - FreeBSD > - Linux > - NetBSD > >Second CONFIG: > - WinNT > - FreeBSD > - Linux > - OpenBSD > > The two or three main issues for me are: > > 1) Choosing the right bootloader. I believe the WinNT OS loader would work, >but I am not completely sure about LILO for booting the above 4 OSes. LILO should work for you. At work I have it triple (quad) booting Win98/Win2000, Linux, FreeBSD. You may want to choose LILO as it may be the only one to work with Linux in this configuration - see below. > 2) Since I cannot place a *BSD slice in an extended partition, it appears >I will have to do something like (sorry for using Linux device naming >scheme): > > /dev/hda1 WinNT > /dev/hda2 Linux > /dev/hda3 BSD/386 (FreeBSD) > /dev/hda4 BSD/386 (OpenBSD or NetBSD) > >I think this should work. The only thing is that one of the BSD slices >will need to share its swap space with Linux, which is not a problem. The easiest thing to do is have Linux use up only one of the four DOS partitions, as you have listed above. Unfortunately, it wants to use up a whole partition for swap. The way around that is to use a DOS "extended" partition into which you put both the main Linux filesystem partition, and a swap partition, each taking up the equivalent of a "logical drive" in DOS terms, e.g. /dev/hda5 and /dev/hda6. (FreeBSD, of course, only takes up one DOS partition, which you can subdivide into filesystem(s) and swap) BUT - the only bootloader I know of that will let you boot an OS from a DOS extended partition is LILO - that's why it may be what you want to use. So you'll probably want to install Linux last, so that the only choice is using up the only remaining partition, instead of having it grab two. You might have to create the DOS extended partition using windows tools... And don't forget that you'll have to have *all* boot partitions below the "8 GB" limit. Your (last) filesystem can extend beyond 8GB, but you have to ensure that the boot files for it are below 8 gig, due to the 1024 cylinder BIOS boot limitation... > 3) I guess the stuff in (2) should work. Another question would be if the >swap partition in one of the BSD slices can be shared with the another >BSD variant (i.e. swap space in FreeBSD slice '/dev/hda3' can be used by >NetBSD or OpenBSD slice '/dev/hda4')? Don't know about this - you probably can - but unless you're short on disk space, there's no need to do it. As I said above, you partition up your slice (DOS partition) into filesystems plus swap in a single DOS partition. Gary To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
Re: Creating a system to boot 4 different OS types.
I've had problems getting Windows NT to boot using bootloaders from other OSes. I'd suggest installing NT last and putting it on the first partition. If it doesn't pick up any of the other OSes you can add them in easily using BootPart (http://www.winimage.com/bootpart.htm). It's a free utility to add others OSes to the NT boot menu. I'm running a Dual-Boot Windows NT and FreeBSD machine. I installed FreeBSD after Windows NT to replace a linux install and BootPart did the trick. -steven alexander -Original Message- From: Gary T. Corcoran <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Steve Hill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sunday, May 28, 2000 9:14 PM Subject: Re: Creating a system to boot 4 different OS types. > >Steve Hill wrote: >> >> Well, I am getting ready to attempt a quad-boot system. I wish to boot >> one of the following configurations: >> >>First CONFIG: >> - WinNT >> - FreeBSD >> - Linux >> - NetBSD >> >>Second CONFIG: >> - WinNT >> - FreeBSD >> - Linux >> - OpenBSD >> >> The two or three main issues for me are: >> >> 1) Choosing the right bootloader. I believe the WinNT OS loader would work, >>but I am not completely sure about LILO for booting the above 4 OSes. > >LILO should work for you. At work I have it triple (quad) booting >Win98/Win2000, Linux, FreeBSD. You may want to choose LILO as it >may be the only one to work with Linux in this configuration - see below. > >> 2) Since I cannot place a *BSD slice in an extended partition, it appears >>I will have to do something like (sorry for using Linux device naming >>scheme): >> >> /dev/hda1 WinNT >> /dev/hda2 Linux >> /dev/hda3 BSD/386 (FreeBSD) >> /dev/hda4 BSD/386 (OpenBSD or NetBSD) >> >>I think this should work. The only thing is that one of the BSD slices >>will need to share its swap space with Linux, which is not a problem. > >The easiest thing to do is have Linux use up only one of the four DOS >partitions, as you have listed above. Unfortunately, it wants to use >up a whole partition for swap. The way around that is to use a DOS >"extended" partition into which you put both the main Linux filesystem >partition, and a swap partition, each taking up the equivalent of a >"logical drive" in DOS terms, e.g. /dev/hda5 and /dev/hda6. (FreeBSD, >of course, only takes up one DOS partition, which you can subdivide into >filesystem(s) and swap) > >BUT - the only bootloader I know of that will let you boot an OS from >a DOS extended partition is LILO - that's why it may be what you want to use. >So you'll probably want to install Linux last, so that the only choice >is using up the only remaining partition, instead of having it grab two. >You might have to create the DOS extended partition using windows tools... > >And don't forget that you'll have to have *all* boot partitions below >the "8 GB" limit. Your (last) filesystem can extend beyond 8GB, but >you have to ensure that the boot files for it are below 8 gig, due to >the 1024 cylinder BIOS boot limitation... > >> 3) I guess the stuff in (2) should work. Another question would be if the >>swap partition in one of the BSD slices can be shared with the another >>BSD variant (i.e. swap space in FreeBSD slice '/dev/hda3' can be used by >>NetBSD or OpenBSD slice '/dev/hda4')? > >Don't know about this - you probably can - but unless you're short on disk >space, there's no need to do it. As I said above, you partition up your >slice (DOS partition) into filesystems plus swap in a single DOS partition. > >Gary > > >To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message > To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
RE: Creating a system to boot 4 different OS types.
Hmm. I think booteasy will allow you to put FreeBSD on a second disk. That way you can have n-way booting, where n is limited only by the number of OS's on the market today. :-) Kees Jan To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
Re: Creating a system to boot 4 different OS types.
Steven Alexander wrote: > > I've had problems getting Windows NT to boot using bootloaders from other > OSes. I'd suggest installing NT last and putting it on the first partition. The partition number does not really matter, what really matters is that Windows wants to be in the very first tracks of the disk. This is legacy left from DOS which always had the same mania. > If it doesn't pick up any of the other OSes you can add them in easily using > BootPart (http://www.winimage.com/bootpart.htm). It's a free utility to add > others OSes to the NT boot menu. I'm running a Dual-Boot Windows NT and > FreeBSD machine. I installed FreeBSD after Windows NT to replace a linux > install and BootPart did the trick. NT (as well as 95/98) silently overwrites the master boot record. To restore it just boot from the FreeBSD CD-ROM (or diskette), go into the custom install and do the first step - the slice (FreeBSD-speak for partitions) editor. Don't change anything, just press "w" and when menu is presented select the MBR with menus. Complete this write and reboot. The new master boot loader is ready. > From: Gary T. Corcoran <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >LILO should work for you. At work I have it triple (quad) booting In my hunble opinion LILO is the most brain-damaged boot loader I ever saw. The FreeBSD master boot loader with menus is IMHO much better. -SB To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
Re: Creating a system to boot 4 different OS types.
Sergey Babkin wrote: > > Steven Alexander wrote: > > > > I've had problems getting Windows NT to boot using bootloaders from other > > OSes. I'd suggest installing NT last and putting it on the first partition. > > The partition number does not really matter, what really matters is > that Windows wants to be in the very first tracks of the disk. This > is legacy left from DOS which always had the same mania. While this may have once been true, I don't believe it holds for modern versions of Windows. That is, at least for Win98 and Win2000. Whether the kluge known as Windows NT (4) still has that requirement I don't know. In any event, unless you have a specific requirement to use the old Windows NT4, I'd wouldn't touch it with the proverbial 10-foot pole. I'd use Windows 2000 instead if I needed "NT" compatibility. > NT (as well as 95/98) silently overwrites the master boot record. Quite true, so be prepared to restore it. I was surprised, however, when an install of the final release of Windows 2000 did NOT overwrite my master boot record (MBR). After the install I still had LILO in the MBR, so I could still boot FreeBSD and Linux... Gary To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
Re: Creating a system to boot 4 different OS types.
"Gary T. Corcoran" wrote: > > Sergey Babkin wrote: > > The partition number does not really matter, what really matters is > > that Windows wants to be in the very first tracks of the disk. This > > is legacy left from DOS which always had the same mania. > > While this may have once been true, I don't believe it holds for modern > versions of Windows. That is, at least for Win98 and Win2000. > Whether the kluge known as Windows NT (4) still has that requirement I > don't know. In any event, unless you have a specific requirement to use It does. More interesting, if asked to be installed in non-first partition it still silently installs itself in the geometrically first partition on the disk (and then don't boot because it sets up its boot loader to boot from the partition it was asked too). -SB To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
