> On Jul 1, 2024, at 3:47 PM, Eric Auer via Freedos-user > <freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > > > Hi Jerome, > >>> I basically wonder about something like a third choice, next to >>> "auto-fdisk & auto-format" and "exit to DOS", which lets the user >>> run FDISK interactively and then returns to the installer. >> It only auto partitions in normal mode when no partitions exist. If >> partitions exist and are not usable by DOS, you are sent to FDISK to modify >> them. If partitions exists and is usable by DOS, partitioning is skipped. >> Or, use advanced mode to not auto-partition a drive without partitions. >> The installer will not proceed beyond the partitioning phase of installation >> until there is a partition that will be usable by FreeDOS. >> The usable partition is only formatted if it is not readable and requires >> formatting. It does not reformat a drive that is readable by DOS. >> Whether in advanced mode or normal mode, neither partition or formatting >> occurs without a prompt to the user. > > So basically the trick is that steps which have already been > done by the user or by an earlier install are indeed skipped > and the trick to continue after "exit to DOS" is to manually > do whatever you want to do manually, then boot the install > medium again, or start the install tool again, without the > need to pass special arguments regarding where to continue?
Yep. > > Good to know! Now I wonder how it could be advertised better, > because "exit to DOS" sounds a bit like aborting or giving up > the install process. One thing the installer could do when that > option is selected would be to show a final message to the user > after leaving full screen mode, with instructions on how to > proceed. Another thing would be to give "exit to DOS" another > name which somehow implies the possibilities to continue :-) Possibly. But, if you are exiting the installer to do partitioning and/or formatting manually, odds are good you would know how to get back into the installer. But as you pointed out, they may not be aware that they can still use the installer to complete the install without having it “undo” their work. It may be possible to add something like “if you are exiting the installer to manually format or partition your drive, you can restart the installer once you have finished to complete the installation.” >> The installer never wipes. It only partitions and formats drives when >> required. > > Thanks :-) > >> However, if a previous version of DOS is installed on the drive, it will >> prompt to backup those files along with any of the conflicting system files >> and directories. > > Nice :-) > >>>> To install non-destructively (for example, if you >>>> already did FDISK + FORMAT + SYS, and don't want the installer >>>> to run SYS again) you can run this: >>> >>>> SETUP ADV > > If I understand you correctly, it will automatically > not run FDISK or FORMAT anyway, when I already have, > so the difference would only be in asking me whether > to write boot sectors when the ADV option got passed? There are a lot of differences in advanced mode. Transferring system files and writing the MBR are just two of them. You can also change the install directory or drive. You can adjust which packages get installed. You can select to compress the backup files. You can have the installer clean out the DOS directory of old files. If an error occurs during install, you can choose to continue anyway. And some other stuff. In ADV mode, those types of options pre-select the choice the installer was going to perform. But gives the option to change the setting. You can actually switch into and out of advanced mode without exiting the installer. Anytime the installer is waiting for you to make a choice, you can press CTRL+C. It brings up a continue, or exit to DOS prompt. But also contains the option to switch modes. > >>> If the installer already has that ability, it could be advertised >>> more :-) >> You mean like the ability to switch to and from advanced mode without >> exiting the installer? > > No, just the ability to continue where one has left > by that "exit to DOS" choice in any of the dialogues > which ask the user whether to do large impact things. > Which already is there, which is good to know :-) > > Regards, Eric > > PS: Thanks for the new monthly test distro update! :-) > You welcome. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Freedos-user mailing list > Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user :-) Jerome _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
