Booting xenix/microport unix from drives other than C:

[james]

Is it possible to boot Xenix or Microport's unix from a second hard disk? I
have two hard disks. I am considering using one for DOS and the other for
xenix/unix. Since (to the best of my knowledge) DOS must boot from drive C:,
this implies that Xenix needs to boot from drive D:. Is there a way of doing
this by running a boot program under DOS, or booting the computer from a
floppy disk (which then boots xenix/unix from D:)?
--
James R. Van Artsdalen ...!ut-ngp!utastro!osi3b2!james "Live Free or Die"

[John Plocher]

ja...@reality1.UUCP asks:

>Is it possible to boot Xenix or Microport's unix from a second hard disk?

NO - Xenix (IBM/uSoft 2.0) can ONLY boot from hard disk 0 (C:)
BUT - The Xenix boot routine allows you to select either the Xenix or the
DOS partition. This allows you to segregate your 20 meg drive 0
into 19.5M for Xenix, and 500K for DOS, which should be enuf to
put a config.sys and an autoexec.bat to movve you over to D:.
a judicious SUBST C:=D: then makes DOS think that Drive 1 (which
really is D:) is C:.
--
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[Howard D. Leadmon]

In article <6...@reality1.UUCP>, ja...@reality1.UUCP (james) writes:
> Is it possible to boot Xenix or Microport's unix from a second hard disk?

> Is there a way of doing this by running a boot program under DOS, or
> booting the computer from a floppy disk (which then boots xenix/unix from D:)?
> --
> James R. Van Artsdalen ...!ut-ngp!utastro!osi3b2!james

There may be a way to do this with XENIX, but I don't think so (I wouldn't
bet any money on it). What I have done for my customers that want to run both
(MS)PC/DOS is to set the machine up so that it boots XENIX as the default, then
I make a floppy that they can put in drive A: when they want to boot DOS. Below
is an example of what I would do.

1. First load XENIX (UNIX) on drive C:
2. Format and load DOS on drive D:
3. Format a floppy disk with system and install the following
AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the floppy disk (ie: DOS commands will be
located in D:\DOS)

--------AUTOEXEC.BAT-------

ECHO OFF
CLS
VERIFY ON
PATH=D:\;D:\DOS
PROMPT $P $G
D:
CD \

------End of File------

I hope this helps you out...

--
Sincearley,
Howard D. Leadmon
Fast Computer Services
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[Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX]

In article <6...@reality1.UUCP> ja...@reality1.UUCP (james) writes:
:Is it possible to boot Xenix or Microport's unix from a second hard disk? I

:have two hard disks. I am considering using one for DOS and the other for
:xenix/unix.

One way that has worked for me: Put Xenix or Unix on drive C:, make it the
active partition. Put the DOS partition where you want it, and don't make
it the active one. To boot DOS, boot from a floppy disk. DOS will search
for the first DOS partition and make that its drive C:.

To boot Unix, just open the drive door.

Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX Author of Pro-YAM communications Tools for PCDOS and Unix
...!tektronix!reed!omen!caf Omen Technology Inc "The High Reliability Software"
Voice: 503-621-3406 17505-V Northwest Sauvie Island Road Portland OR 97231
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[y]

Chuck's method has been in use here with Xenix V.2.1 for better than
6 months.
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[osbook]

In article <6...@reality1.UUCP> ja...@reality1.UUCP (james) writes:

Try this:

(The idea is to use a very small DOS partition on the C: disk
only to get things going. When you boot DOS, the system will immediately
switch to D:. This allows you to use all of D: for DOS and almost
all of C: for XENIX.)

1) Backup both DOS AND XENIX
2) Reinstall Xenix. When you get to the part where you partition the disk
give almost all the room to Xenix. Leave only a small partition for DOS.
3) Format the small DOS C: parition using /s (and, /v as a good habit)
4) Use FDISK to partition the D: DISK
5) Use FORMAT (without /s) and format D:
6) Restore all your DOS files to the D: disk
=======
7) Move CONFIG.SYS to the small C: partition
8) Write a small autoexec for C: that does nothing but
d:
autoexec

Here is what happens. When you boot Xenix, all works as usual.
When you boot DOS the basic DOS files and CONFIG are found in the C:
partition. However, the small C:AUTOEXEC effectively
starts DOS on the D: disk.

By the way, if you are using DOS and XENIX on the same computer,
you ought to write a couple of programs to automatically
switch from one OS to the other. If you do not know
how to do this, send me mail and I'll show you.