I have executable code for my simple OS in a binary file (jsec2.bin) created using nasm assembler. I have been running it from a flash drive with a boot sector that loads the executable to memory and jumps to it.  File jsec2.bin is not bootable by itself. I want to start running it with qemu - no flash drive involved.  I do not want qemu to use a virtual flash drive either. I want to use the qemu floppy image switch, -fda. However the -fda switch will only work if there is a aa55 boot sector mark at the end of the first sector of the image.

qemu-system-i386 -fda jsec2.bin will not work.  Here's some other possibilities:

1) I need an image of a bootable floppy with a bootsector that jumps to a file named jsec2.bin just like an msdos boot sector jumps to the file named IO.SYS contained in the file system on the disk. Is there a tool that I can adapt to this purpose?

2) possibly there is some way to make a grub floppy image or iso that boots the executable in jsec2.bin.  If there is a way using a grub tool?

Actually, both of these ideas suck because I want to use qemu for running the code as I develop it and these ideas are slow and cumbersome.  Any suggestions will be appreciated.  Thanks   Bill S.


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