RE: [9fans] winnt boot method - hand editing boot.ini

RE: [9fans] winnt boot method - hand editing boot.ini

[Richard Miller]

>  > Perhaps, if someone has figured out how to boot Plan 9 with it, grub
>  > would do the trick.  It boots the NT based OS's just fine with it's
>  ...
>  Configuring means running some non-Plan 9 operating system
>  (usually Linux).  That's not acceptable, mainly because I might
>  not have the operating system du jour on the machine in question.

I understand and agree with Russ's point here; but it's still a useful
option for someone who wants to add Plan 9 to a system which already has
grub.  For example, I bought a T21 with Linux pre-installed as a way of
avoiding the Microsoft Tax.  After setting up a 9fat partition with pbslba,
I just had to add this to the grub menu.lst file:

title = brazil
root = (hd0,5)
chainloader = +1

-- Richard

RE: [9fans] winnt boot method - hand editing boot.ini

[Jason Gurtz]

> [...]  After setting up a 9fat partition with pbslba,
> I just had to add this to the grub menu.lst file:
>
> title = brazil
> root = (hd0,5)
> chainloader = +1

Thanks for that post, I'm sure I'll use that at some time or another.

~Jason

--

Re: [9fans] winnt boot method - hand editing boot.ini

[Lyndon Nerenberg]

    Russ> I'm sick of configuring things.  I want a boot
    Russ> manager that just says ``here are the partitions i found; pick
    Russ> one to boot.''

Another option is FreeBSD's boot0, which operates exactly as you describe.

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/src/sys/boot/i386/boot0/boot0.s

--lyndon

RE: [9fans] winnt boot method - hand editing boot.ini

[Russ Cox]

> Perhaps, if someone has figured out how to boot Plan 9 with it, grub
> would do the trick.  It boots the NT based OS's just fine with it's

Our kernels make no attempt at being multiboot compliant,
and we need some special environment setup anyway (plan9.ini
contents are left at a certain address in memory).  The other problem
with grub, as I understand it, is that it requires config info.
I'm sick of configuring things.  I want a boot manager that just
says ``here are the partitions i found; pick one to boot.''
Configuring means running some non-Plan 9 operating system
(usually Linux).  That's not acceptable, mainly because I might
not have the operating system du jour on the machine in question.

> I use Smart BootManager ( http://btmgr.sourceforge.net/ ).  Though I
> don't use it as my regular boot manager, I use it all the time on older
> hardware to boot from CD when the BIOS won't support it.

This is exactly what I was looking for.  Thanks!

Russ

Re: [9fans] winnt boot method - hand editing boot.ini

[Jack Johnson]

Russ Cox wrote:
> Another option is to install something like Partition Magic
> and let it handle the boot menu.  (Anyone know of a good
> free program like that, just for selecting the primary partition?)

I use Smart BootManager ( http://btmgr.sourceforge.net/ ).  Though I
don't use it as my regular boot manager, I use it all the time on older
hardware to boot from CD when the BIOS won't support it.

-Jack

RE: [9fans] winnt boot method - hand editing boot.ini

[Jason Gurtz]

> Another option is to install something like Partition Magic
> and let it handle the boot menu.  (Anyone know of a good
> free program like that, just for selecting the primary partition?)

Perhaps, if someone has figured out how to boot Plan 9 with it, grub
would do the trick.  It boots the NT based OS's just fine with it's
chainload functionality.  Find it here:
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/grub-download.html

Re: [9fans] winnt boot method - hand editing boot.ini

[Russ Cox]

You need to copy the first sector of your Plan 9 partition
into a file bootsect.p9 on your NT drive, and then use
something like (this is from my Win2000 system):

[boot loader]
timeout=3600
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
c:\bootsect.p9 = "Plan 9 from Bell Labs"

There are a few gotchas.  First, make sure your
9fat has the right PBS before you copy the first
sector.  For example,

	disk/format -b /386/pbslba /dev/sdC0/plan9
	dd -bs 512 -count 1 < /dev/sdC0/plan9 > bootsect.p9

will probably do the right thing.
Note that format -b doesn't do anything other than
replace the PBS code.  In particular it doesn't format
the disk.

The other gotcha is that I vaguely recall reading that
sectors you put in the [operating systems] section have
to be on a FAT drive for the boot loader to find them.
This seems unlikely, since the boot loader clearly reads
NTFS to get at the boot.ini file.  But if it is true, then you're
just out of luck.

Another option is to install something like Partition Magic
and let it handle the boot menu.  (Anyone know of a good
free program like that, just for selecting the primary partition?)

Russ

[9fans] winnt boot method - hand editing boot.ini

[Joel Salomon]

I am installing plan9 on a dual-boot system with windows xp. The nt
boot method can apparently not write to an NTFS partion. What can I
add to windows' boot.ini to make plan9 appear on the boot menu?
Joel