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1990-10-14
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FlexBoot(TM) V0.9 - Boot any partition on a hard disk
Copyright Cowan Systems, 1990. All rights reserved
FlexBoot will replace your master boot record, which also contains the
partition table, with a new version which asks which partition you want to
boot. This installation procedure will let you customize the behavior of
FlexBoot to your preferences. You can specify which is the default partition
to boot, how long FlexBoot should wait before booting the default, the names
you prefer for each partition on the disk, and extra names for future systems
you may install on the disk.
Warning to people with actual IBM machines: FlexBoot does not run ROM basic
when no valid partitions are found on the disk, unlike the standard IBM boot
program.
FlexBoot is shareware: you may try it out and copy it freely, but if you
continue to use it, you should contribute so I can stay in business. You are
encouraged to contribute $20 US$ or C$ (C$ for Canadians only) to:
Cowan Systems
6 Axford Bay
Port Moody, B.C., Canada
V3H 3R2
If you contribute $30, a return address, and a written non-disclosure agreement
which I find acceptable, I will send you the source for FlexBoot.
WARNING!
--------
If your hard disk does not boot by the standard method wherein the ROM BIOS
reads the first sector from the hard disk, and then that master boot record
uses the ROM BIOS INT 13h to read a boot record from one of the partitions on
the hard disk, then DO NOT attempt to use FlexBoot, it will not work!!!!!
If you are using some strange partitioning software on your hard disk which
puts more than 4 main partitions on the disk (one of them can be an extended
partition which contains other partitions), then FlexBoot may not work! Use
it at your own risk - I have NOT tried it in such circumstances!!!!
In any case, you should feel comfortable with what you are doing before trying
to install FlexBoot - it was not designed to be foolproof! Whatever you do,
make sure you have a back-up floppy with which you can restore the boot record
on the hard disk if things go wrong. The FlexBoot install program can restore
the original master boot record for you, but only if you can re-run it!
FlexBoot IS PROVIDED WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND! USE IT AT YOUR OWN
RISK! If you don't like it, don't pay for it! I and my friends have installed
it on about 5 different machines and have had no problems, except that some
versions of SCO UNIX clobber FlexBoot's master boot record when they install,
so you have to re-install FlexBoot after installing UNIX. So far I don't know
anyone using SCSI disks so there may be problems in that area.
Operation of FlexBoot Master Boot Record
----------------------------------------
FlexBoot scans the partition table and builds a list of partitions which could
possibly be booted. This list is output to the screen:
FlexBoot: aaaa bbbb cccc?
and FlexBoot waits for you to choose one of the partitions by typing the first
letter of the partition name. If you don't respond within the timeout period,
FlexBoot will boot the default partition. You can also press the <Enter> key
while FlexBoot is waiting and it will boot the default partition immediately.
The timeout period and the default partition can both be set with the install
program.
FlexBoot contains a boot selection table which it uses to build the list of
bootable partitions. Any partition type which is not in the boot selection
table is deemed to be not bootable. The boot selection table contains five
entries, so all partitions on your hard disk can be bootable if you wish. The
extra entry lets you put an extra partition type into the list in anticipation
of installing another operating system in the future. The install program will
let you specify the contents of the boot selection table.
Operation of FlexBoot install program
-------------------------------------
FlexBoot can set up the partition table for many operating systems besides
MS-DOS, but you must run FlexBoot from an MS-DOS system. FlexBoot uses the
ROM BIOS to read and write the disk partition table.
When you first run FlexBoot, it will greet you with a screen containing more
or less the same information as the introduction above. It will then ask if
you want to continue:
Push <Enter> to continue, anything else to quit...
If you push anything other than the <Enter> key (that is the main return/enter
key, not the one on the keypad), the install program will quit. Assuming you
push <Enter>, the install program will then prompt you for the disk to set up.
Normally, only the first hard disk drive (0) is bootable, but you may want to
set up a second drive (1) which you will later change to being the first drive
(perhaps on another computer). The prompt is:
Will set up disk drive 0, enter another number to change...
Just push <Enter> to set up drive 0 or type the drive number to set up another
drive. FlexBoot will then read the master boot record/partition table and
save it in a file. If it has trouble reading the record, it will say:
Unable to read master boot on drive %c, try another drive
and let you try another drive. Break out if you don't want to retry. If all
is ok at this point, FlexBoot will save the original boot record in the file
"ORIGBOOT.DRn" in the current directory, where n is the drive number (0 or 1
usually). If it cannot, it will quit with one of the messages:
Can't save original boot record in origboot.drn, quitting
File origboot.drn exists but does not contain a boot record
If the ORIGBOOT.DRn file already exists and its contents are different from the
current master boot record, FlexBoot will ask if it is ok to overwrite it, or
if you want to restore the master boot record to the file contents:
File origboot.drn exists, overwrite (O) or restore (R) it?
If FlexBoot recognizes the current master boot record as a FlexBoot version, it
will instead ask:
FlexBoot already installed, restore previous?
If you don't want to continue at all at this point, press Ctrl-C or Ctrl-Break
to quit the installation process.
If you decide to restore the old master boot record, and the partition table in
the saved copy is not exactly the same as the partition table in the current
master boot, FlexBoot will ask:
Partition table in origboot.drn is not the same as master boot,
are you sure you want to restore it?
Reply Y to do the restore anyway, anything else to go back to the overwrite or
restore prompt.
If you are continuing with the installation at this point, FlexBoot will
display the following information about the disk and the partition table. IF
THIS INFORMATION IS NOT CORRECT, DO NOT LET THE INSTALLATION COMPLETE! Press
Esc to quit.
Disk n has nnn cylinders of nn tracks each with nn sectors/track
Partitions:
# Type Start C,H,S End C,H,S Sectors
Boot selection table will contain the following entries. Please edit the
names to make the first letters unique (independent of case) and fill in the
00 entries if you want. Hit <Enter> when done editing or <Esc> to quit.
tt:name tt:name tt:name tt:name tt:name
Known types are: 01:DOS2 02:Xenx 04:DOS3 06:DOS4 07:OS/2 40:Minx 63:Unix
(These names aren't strictly correct: type 01 is really 12-bit FAT which can be
used for DOS2, DOS3 or DOS4; type 04 is 16-bit FAT limited to 32MB which can be
used for DOS3, DOS4 or OS/2; type 06 is 16-bit FAT bigger than 32MB; type 07 is
HPFS.)
The FlexBoot boot program matches entries in the boot selection table with the
partition table at boot time, so you should try to set up the boot selection
table for maximum flexibility in your situation. If you have more than one
partition of the same type, you can put multiple tt:name entries in the boot
selection table with the same type (tt) field. All name fields in the table
must start with different letters. For instance, if you have two type 06
partitions, one of which contains OS/2 and the other DOS 4, you could put the
following entries in the table:
04:DOS4 04:OS/2
The first 04 entry will be used for the first 04 partition and the second for
the second one, so make sure that the DOS partition comes before the OS/2 one
in the partition table. Even though there are only 4 partitions in the
partition table, the boot selection table can contain up to 5 valid partition
types. You can use the extra type(s) to provide future flexibility to change
the partitions on the disk without having to re-install FlexBoot, or you can
just leave them at 00:unkn.
Use the <Tab>, <BackTab>, <Home>, <End>, <<->, <->>, <Del> and normal alpha and
number keys for editing the boot selection table. <Del> resets the current
entry back to 00:unkn.
Once you have finished editing the boot selection table, press <Enter> to
continue the installation process or <Esc> to abort it. If you continue,
FlexBoot will next prompt for the default partition:
Enter default partition name 1st char or <Esc> to default to active:
Choose one of the partitions by typing the 1st character of its name in the
boot selection table, or press <Esc> to have FlexBoot default to the partition
which is currently marked as the active one. The next prompt is for the
timeout before FlexBoot boots the default partition:
How many seconds should FlexBoot wait before booting default (3):
Usually 3 seconds is a reasonable timeout. It provides enough time to enter
the single character required to boot a partition other than the default one
and it doesn't introduce too long a delay in the boot process when you want to
boot without paying attention to the screen. The next prompt controls whether
or not FlexBoot will rewrite the master boot record to mark the just booted
partition the active one:
Should FlexBoot mark booted partition as active one?
The default answer is No (N). Note that some operating systems re-read the
master boot record (rather than using the copy in memory which is passed to the
partition boot record). Those operating systems will not boot correctly with
FlexBoot unless you let it rewrite the master boot record. Some versions of
Unix behave this way. If you have told FlexBoot that the default partition is
the active one, you may also want to have it change active partitions when you
boot another partition. That way the default partition becomes the last booted
one.
Finally, FlexBoot will ask if you want to install the master boot program:
Previous master boot record is in file %s, run FlexBoot again to
restore it. To be safe ensure you have a bootable floppy disk and copy
%s to it before installing FlexBoot. Ok to install?
If you reply Y to the above prompt, you will be asked yet again to make sure
that you haven't made a typing mistake:
Last chance, are you SURE you want to install FlexBoot?
If all goes well, you will then see:
Master boot sector written successfully
and FlexBoot will quit. If writing the master boot record doesn't work, you
will instead see:
Error writing master boot sector, disk is probably unbootable
Panic at this point! Actually, you will have to restore the original boot
record using some means other than FlexBoot - if FlexBoot can't write its own
master boot record, it is unlikely it can restore the old one. Of course if
you are running some virus protection program which prevents writes to the
master boot record, then the write operation will fail but nothing will really
be wrong.
Other possible messages are:
Last chance, are you SURE you want to restore old boot record?
Installation aborted
FlexBoot boot program is invalid, unable to install
Fixes and Bug Reports
---------------------
I will be happy to try to fix probems if you give me an intelligible problem
report. You may send it to my address above, or via the Internet to:
Bruce_Cowan@CC.SFU.CA