Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 3aoo-cvfd AT dea.spamcon.org wrote:

> sindi keesan wrote:
> > BL2 for some reason uses ro in its boot file.
>
> That's the way Slackware 7.1 does it.
>
> > BL3 uses rw.  Why?
>
> BL3 has a simpler startup routine.  With BL2 I tried
> to maintain compatibility with Slackware.  BL3 is
> different.
>
> > Does some routine during boot act differently in the two versions?
>
> Oh, yes.  Quite different.

This is very interesting, because BL2 almost always boots with loadlin
from DR-DOS (not after a failed boot of BL3) whereas BL3 never does (loop 
or HD version) on 3 of my 4 best computers.  (PI 233 DFIs with 3 ISA 
slots).  I even tried booting BL3 with the same kernel as BL2, and loadlin 
is the same, and they were in the same partition.  So the difference is 
probably something to do with the startup routine.

How difficult would it be for me to boot BL3 with the startup routine used 
in BL2?  I would like to see if this fixes my problem.  It is a nuisance 
to have to reboot from Win9X boot floppy in order to go into linux and I 
want to use DR-DOS (not Win9X DOS) on that computer for DOS sometimes.

On another computer with Win9X DOS (a PII with only 2 ISA slots) I also 
need to boot from floppy disk or reboot without system files (to use linux 
with XVESA).  Which makes four computers that need to boot linux after 
rebooting from DOS floppy disk after using DOS.  Booting from floppy disk 
is slow.  And I tend to forget and leave the disk in.

Does LILO let you have a boot menu that offers a choice of:

booting into BL3
booting into BL2
booting into DR-DOS (to use DOS)
booting into Win9X DOS with system files (to use Win or DOS)
booting into Win9X DOS without system files


Has anyone else but me and Hal had trouble booting linux with loadlin on 
any computers?  I think he said his problem was with the later Slackwares, 
and Win9X boot disk fixed it.  Does Slackware 9 use a different routine 
from 7.1?

Sindi