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SubjectRe: Confirmation requested
Wayne Johnston wrote:
>
> After trying in vain to get Linux running on my PC I have been advised that
> it can't be done - at least, not if I want to maintain a DOS partition on
> the same PC. I've been told that the boot sector hack that allows DOS to
> recognize a hard drive over 512 MB is incompatible with Linux. Is there
> really nothing I can do apart from investing in new hardware?

Were you told this by someone that knew anything about Linux or was it a
dos weenie (I'd guess the latter)?
Yes, you should be able to run Linux using loadlin (see below).

>
> That's the basic question. Here are some of the details...
>
> I have my disk divided like this below. I use hda4 as a minimal boot
> partition for diagnosing problems with hda2. There have been nothing but
> problems. I have installed Linux (Slackware) three times but it keeps
> getting scrambled.
>
> Boot Begin Start End Blocks ID
> /dev/hda1 * 1 1 407 205096 6 Dos 16-bit >=32M
> /dev/hda2 408 408 814 205128 83 Linux native
> /dev/hda3 815 815 855 20664 82 Linux swap
> /dev/hda4 856 856 1024 85176 83 Linux native
>
> My disk geometry is 1086 cylinders, 16 heads, 63 sectors, 547 MB.
>
> When my system boots, I see the following...
>
> >> SAMSUNG WideDisk BOOT DRIVER VERSION 1.01
> >> MASTER IDE DRIVE: SAMSUNG SHD-30560A (APRO-5) SSI
>
> This, I've been told, is the root of my problem.
>
> Wayne Johnston
> 311 College Street
> Kingston ON K7L 4M3
> (613) 544-5851
> waynej@kos.net

I have a similar problem with a Western Digital 2.5G IDE drive. I am
surprised that you are having this problem with a 547M drive! However,
here's what I did (pick paths on your DOS partition that are appropriate
for you).

I installed loadlin in c:\sys\loadlin. I created a dir in there called
linux-2.0 and when I build a new kernel, I copy zImage there and edit my
loadlin parameter files. I have a little script in my /root/bin
directory that will do the copy for me.

In config.sys (you'll probably want to pick different names for things):

-- Cut here --
[MENU]
MENUITEM=4DOS,Normal / 4DOS / QEMM
MENUITEM=NO_NET, Normal(^) without the Network
MENUITEM=Linux,Linux Default Run Level
MENUITEM=Linux_4,Linux Run Level 4
MENUITEM=MSDOS,Microsoft's Stuff
MENUITEM=DV,Desqview
MENUITEM=PURE
MENUDEFAULT=Linux,5

>bunch of DOS / 4Dos / Qemm stuff <

[Linux]
shell=c:\sys\loadlin\loadlin.exe @c:\sys\loadlin\linux-2.0\paramsd.def

[Linux_4]
shell=c:\sys\loadlin\loadlin.exe @c:\sys\loadlin\linux-2.0\params4.def
-- cut here --

C:\sys\loadlin\linux-2.0\paramsd.def looks like this (fix it for your
zImage name and root partition):

-- cut here --
C:\sys\loadlin\linux-2.0\zimg2_0.27
root=/dev/hda4
ro
vga=extended
-ja
-v
-- cut here --


and C:\sys\loadlin\linux-2.0\params4.def looks like this (to boot up in
run level 4 which will start mgetty and answer my phone, something I
don't want happening during the day, but I do at night):

-- cut here --
C:\sys\loadlin\linux-2.0\zimg2_0.27
root=/dev/hda4
ro
vga=extended
4
-ja
-v
-- cut here --

You can add other linux boot params to these files as needed.

Good luck.

Robert
--
mailto:rwuest@ix.netcom.com
Empowered by Linux.

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