On 2013-04-21 15:48 (GMT+0200) Aleve Sicofante composed: > I have a single 40GB disk and I need its first partition for other > purposes, so I want to install FreeDOS on the second partition of the > disk (that's the last 1GB of the disk, BTW). The process seems to be > the same as if chose the first partition, but when I'm finished, > FreeDOS won't boot. It will boot indeed if I install it on the first > partition.
> Regarding the boot method, I honestly don't know the differences > between the boot methods presented at the end of the installation > process. I've chosen between 1 and 2, with no results (I haven't tried > 3 and 4). > Is it possible to install FreeDOS on the second partition at all or is > it mandatory to use the first partition? If it's possible, what do I > have to do to make it boot? What boots when you turn it on depends on the content of the MBR. With generic DOS-compatible code in the first part of the MBR, what boots depends on a flag in the last part of the MBR containing the partition table. The bootable flag needs to be moved from the first partition's entry there to the second one's entry. Without other software, once you do that, the first partition will no longer be bootable unless the flag is moved back. To work around this several solutions are available involving either replacing the MBR code and/or installing a boot manager and/or reconfiguring one already present in a current installation to present a menu at boot time to choose what to boot. What you would then have is a multi-boot system, meaning a system with two, three or more operating systems installed and bootable. Any number of utilities, including FDISK, can quickly and simply move the bootable flag. Some call it "make startable" or "make active" or "activate". More info: http://fm.no-ip.com/PC/partitioningindex.html -- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Precog is a next-generation analytics platform capable of advanced analytics on semi-structured data. The platform includes APIs for building apps and a phenomenal toolset for data science. Developers can use our toolset for easy data analysis & visualization. Get a free account! http://www2.precog.com/precogplatform/slashdotnewsletter _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
