Re: [Freedos-devel] Ré : why 1.3 loads CDROM when after fdisk, a valid MBR is present and BIOS is configure to boot hard disk before CDROM?

[Bernd Böckmann via Freedos-devel]

> Am 18.01.2025 um 12:54 schrieb Eric Auer via Freedos-devel 
> <freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net>:

> To test this, you first had to boot from something else than C.
> So either C initially contained no partitions, or you first used
> the boot menu of the BIOS to boot from CDROM. In the first case,
> the installer could have completed the install BEFORE rebooting.

No, all a tested was if the BIOS is capable to hand over to the next boot 
device via INT 18 if the hard disk IPL issues it. For this to test, I do not 
have to boot from CD first.

The test setup is as follows: The hard disk contains the new IPL, and there is 
one active partition without a valid VBR (have not tested the case yet when no 
partition is active). Boot order is C:, CRDROM, A:. If I see the IPL error 
message, and after that the CD boots, then the hand over occurred.

> I think I prefer the following style: Configure the BIOS to boot
> from CDROM. Then boot the installer, partition the drive, reboot,
> again to CDROM, format the drive and install, take the CDROM out
> and reboot to the installed system.

Sure, that would be best! But the problem is that it is not easy to configure 
for exampled VMware to boot from CD without editing some configuration file. 
This whole process started because as soon as there are partitions AND a valid 
IPL on disk, WMware boots from hard disk, breaking the FreeDOS install process 
with the new FDISK. Because after the installer created a partition and 
initiated a reboot, VMware boots from hard disk (like said before, FDISK 1.4, 
like Microsoft FDISK, puts a proper IPL into the boot sector).

> One interesting question is whether DOS can be made to recognize
> changed partitions without having to reboot. At least you do not
> (should not) need a reboot between FORMAT and use of drives.
> 

Should be possible, but not without fiddling around with the internal data 
structures of the kernel, I guess. But this would be a complicated and 
dangerous undertaking, as drive letters may change while the system is running.

Bernd




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