Re: [Freedos-user] re: FreeDOS FDISK issue with Windows Build
Hi Eric, As we cannot go and steal the MS DOS boot sector, you have to do that yourself ;-). Either use MS DOS SYS or use FreeDOS SYS and a copy of the MS DOS boot sector in a file OK, maybe that's the answer! I'll give it a try. (however, you report that the take boot sector from file failed for you - probably BECAUSE you tried to override the kernel name at the same time, which ONLY works for FreeDOS boot secs). Hmmm, yes that could explain why it didn't work. Does this mean FreeDOS cannot install an NT boot sector and call NTLDR? Disk Error Press any key to restart This is odd. Which sector contained that? Or is it a message from the BIOS? Well, I did some Google searches, and people were saying it's the BIOS, but I didn't believe them, so I looked at the NT boot sector and I'm pretty sure it's a message from the boot sector, NOT the BIOS. I have no idea what triggers this message though, and it's VERY rare. PS: Please rename the FDISK 1.2.1-k not working thread, contents seem to belong to this thread Well that thread was all about booting FreeDOS on an IBM eServer and how to get hold of specific FreeDOS files, whereas this thread is nothing to do with FDISK 1.2.1-k, but rather about boot sectors created by FreeDOS and how Windows deals with them (not!) and is based on FDISK 1.3.0 beta:) -- Gerry Hickman (London UK) --- SF.Net email is Sponsored by the Better Software Conference EXPO September 19-22, 2005 * San Francisco, CA * Development Lifecycle Practices Agile Plan-Driven Development * Managing Projects Teams * Testing QA Security * Process Improvement Measurement * http://www.sqe.com/bsce5sf ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] re: FreeDOS FDISK issue with Windows Build
Hi Eric, previous o/s. To fix it requires changing attribs on BOOT.INI, editing it, then re-apply attribs... You could write a small batch script to automate that... I explained in an earlier post why that is not practical nor desirable. FreeDOS Beta9sr1: ... 4. reboot 5. FORMAT C: Did you verify that the reboot is needed? I know we recommend it, but you never know... Well probably do DO need it. Just wondering ;-). Yes! The reason is not really related to FreeDOS though. The reason is that when I first boot my hardware with FreeDOS CD, the hard drive either has no partitions at all, or only has NTFS partitions. This means that my RAMDISK ends up as C. If I create a partition on the first physical drive and then type FORMAT C:, it will try to format the RAMDRIVE! Rebooting fixes this, suddenly you get a FAT16/32 C: drive and your RAMDRIVE is on D: Default boot sector of FreeDOS FORMAT probably. Windows decides that this is not the default Windows or MS DOS boot sector, so it takes the safe route and assumes that anything other than Windows is another OS. Yes, why does Windows have to be so helpful! I would recommend two things: Use FAT32/LBA partition type, and format with FORMAT C: /A for easier conversion to NTFS. I'm already doing that, but note that the CONVERT.EXE program supplied with Windows 2000 cannot convert to NTFS on 4K boundaries, it FORCES 512b as I stated in my earlier post. This will also be a good test whether our FAT32 format is Windows compatible even for convert. It is, but you lose the 4K cluster size unless you use the updated CONVERT.EXE supplied with XP's deployment tools and I don't know if it can be hacked to work with Windows 2000. You could zap it, but you could try if running MS DOS SYS C: to put a MS DOS boot sector on the drive makes Windows behave more as intended Yes, but if I have to use MS-DOS it defeats the whole purpose of having a build environment that's both open-source and free from Microsoft. I do need to try FreeDOS SYS to see if it fixes the problem. It's a bit strange having to force an o/s onto a C: drive in order to get Windows to see it as NOT having an o/s:) (assuming that it will not suggest Windows users to boot MS DOS ;-)). Well, I guess our users could be given the option to boot into FreeDOS, but they'd start whining about not being able to run Outlook and Word:) the MS DOS boot sector. As MS DOS does not support FAT32, you can use Win98 DOS SYS instead. Yikes! The dreaded Win98! -- Gerry Hickman (London UK) --- SF.Net email is sponsored by: Discover Easy Linux Migration Strategies from IBM. Find simple to follow Roadmaps, straightforward articles, informative Webcasts and more! Get everything you need to get up to speed, fast. http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=7477alloc_id=16492op=click ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
[Freedos-user] re: FreeDOS FDISK issue with Windows Build
Hi Gerry, The summary of the issue, is that Windows thinks there's a previous operating system on the C drive, even though FreeDOS has _never_ been installed on that C drive. It causes a boot loader menu to appear in Windows every time the computer is started offering Windows or the previous o/s. To fix it requires changing attribs on BOOT.INI, editing it, then re-apply attribs... You could write a small batch script to automate that... FreeDOS Beta9sr1: ... 4. reboot 5. FORMAT C: Did you verify that the reboot is needed? I know we recommend it, but you never know... Well probably do DO need it. Just wondering ;-). This is not a bootable disk. Please insert a bootable floppy and try again... Default boot sector of FreeDOS FORMAT probably. Windows decides that this is not the default Windows or MS DOS boot sector, so it takes the safe route and assumes that anything other than Windows is another OS. OSCHECK is actually smarter in detecting other operating systems :-). Now I'm wondering ... is that text string above FreeDOS related? If so then it seems I'm correct about what's happened. I would recommend two things: Use FAT32/LBA partition type, and format with FORMAT C: /A for easier conversion to NTFS. This will also be a good test whether our FAT32 format is Windows compatible even for convert. C:\=Previous Operating System on C: The last line should not exist, and would not be there under MS-DOS. You could zap it, but you could try if running MS DOS SYS C: to put a MS DOS boot sector on the drive makes Windows behave more as intended (assuming that it will not suggest Windows users to boot MS DOS ;-)). You can also use attrib and del after that to delete the MS DOS kernel: Microsoft always seems to use potentially bootable boot sectors, even if you do not use SYS, so Windows should be able to detect that this is a MS DOS disk but not bootable because kernel is missing when it sees the MS DOS boot sector. As MS DOS does not support FAT32, you can use Win98 DOS SYS instead. Eric --- SF.Net email is Sponsored by the Better Software Conference EXPO September 19-22, 2005 * San Francisco, CA * Development Lifecycle Practices Agile Plan-Driven Development * Managing Projects Teams * Testing QA Security * Process Improvement Measurement * http://www.sqe.com/bsce5sf ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
