Re: GRUB question

Robert Hull <Robert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

On Tuesday 15 August 2006 08:03, Allan Adler <ara@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote in comp.os.linux.misc:
When I installed Linux, I designated /dev/hda1 with mount point /mnt/c
as vfat. When the installation CD formated the HD, didn't it already
format /dev/hda1 as vfat?

Did you tell it to format, or did you just tell it the filesystem type?

I'm not sure exactly what I told it beyond the file system type, but I
do remember it printing something about formatting the disk. I think it
did format the vfat partition. The reason I think so is that last night,
after posting the message you are replying to, I used the floppy I made
with dd from fd1440.img to boot the machine. I think it didn't completely
install FREEDOS but along the way it complained about an old DOS system
already on the disk. Also, when it finally settled down and gave me the
A: prompt, I executed "dir c:" and it showed me:
TEMP <DIR>
FDCONFIG.SYS
FREEDOS.BSS
KERNEL.SYS

The directory TEMP contains COMMAND.COM. I then rebooted from the HD and
selected DOS from the boot menu, but it still didn't boot DOS. When it
booted Linux, I looked at /mnt/c and things were exactly as dir c: had
described them. In Linux, I can copy the rest of the stuff on the FREEDOS
diskette to the HD and will do so later. I'm not sure what the file kernel.sys
is; maybe it is FREEDOS and maybe it is syslinux. Anyway, it seems like a
tempting thing to mention in /boot/grub.conf, e.g.
rootnoverify(hd0,0)/mnt/c/kernel.sys

Third, the lines I was told to add to /boot/grub/grub.conf were:
title DOS
rootnoverify(hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Exactly what does that cause to happen when I select DOS from the boot
menu? In particular, what does "chainloader +1" mean? I have the
ignorant impression from these lines that grub will look somewhere on
/dev/hda1 for instructions on how to boot DOS.

That's right. It will load the FREEDOS boot routines after you have
installed them using the FREEDOS installer.

Linux Utilisateur suggested some procedures but declined to take any
responsibility for them. I'd like to see some documentation that goes
into more detail. I read the Grub info file this morning and found it
very informative, but it doesn't go into that. Is there any documentation
that does?

Where would that be? I
don't know much about hard drives and partitions, but I am under the
impression that a partition can have its own MBR and that this has
nothing to do with any other MBR, including that of the HD.

Come out from under that impression, the real world can be found
outside.

If I say that I have a certain impression of something and if that
impression is incorrect, the correct response, should you choose to
respond, is to tell me where to get correct information. The same applies
to naive questions such as those I asked about working from Linux instead
of using the FREEDOS installer. I ask my questions based on the little I
know and maybe that doesn't make for very informed questions much of the time.
For you to simply dump on me for not knowing anything is to proclaim as your
own discovery that which I have already proclaimed in my signature below.

Do you want people to use Linux or not? If so, don't expect everyone to
be an expert on it before they use it. At least I'm trying to climb the
learning curve instead of using the machine like an appliance.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler <ara@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.
.

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