[Coco] New Improved Nitros9 Booting

[Boisy G. Pitre]

Congratulations! This is a huge step for NitrOS-9, as it breaks the dependency between the booter and the bootfile.  Not having to worry about a boot track, not having to do an os9gen or cobbler... way cool.  The best part is that the new boot method works just fine with the old boot track method.  No changes are made to the OS9Boot file, and CCBKRN can exist in the root folder with the old style boot track on track 34. 

However, I would like to see this as the new way of booting NitrOS-9.  We're not ready for that just yet.  For this to be part of the NitrOS-9 Project proper, I think we need to support Level 1.  I've spoken to Brett about this and there are some challenges, though I think it can still be done.

It's a first BIG step, however, and I think this will eventually be the ONLY way to boot NitrOS-9 on a CoCo.

Best Regards,
Boisy G. Pitre

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On Feb 12, 2012, at 10:27 AM, Brett Gordon wrote:

> Thanks to some invaluable help from Boisy, Aaron, and Mark of Cloud-9,
> and some good input from OS9 users on the IRC channel (WayneCa, Deek,
> LostWizard), CoCoBoot has reached a milestone in its development.
> 
> One of the original goals of CoCoBoot was to provide a new way of
> booting Nitros9.  Using CoCoBoot, you can now boot Nitros9 Level 2
> without a standard boottrack.  CoCoBoot loads OS9BOOT and a special
> KRN replacement, called CCBKRN, directly from the RBF filesystem of
> your choosing.
> 
> Some benefits to using CoCoBoot and Nitros9 together:
> 
> * OS9Boot can be just a regular file, fragmented, or not.
> * OS9Boot doesn't have to be called OS9Boot, it can be called
>  anything that the RBF filesystem supports.
> * OS9Boot doesn't have to be in the root directory
> * OS9Boot doesn't have to "installed" into the LSN0 by cobbler.
> * Have multiple OS9Boots... let CoCoBoot and you decide at boot-up
>  which one to load.
> * No more BOOT and REL modules taking up system memory space.  In fact,
>  using CoCoBoot will save you 3 whole pages (768 bytes) of system
>  memory.  BOOT and REL are simply not needed anymore.
> * Much more fun is possible when you have a SuperIDE Flash ROM.  Just
>  turn on your coco and watch Nitros9 bootup.
> 
> There are a few caveats:
> 
> * CoCoBoot only supports FDC, Glenside/SuperIDE, Drivewire. SCSI is
>  not directly supported.  SCSI users are probably best served by
>  making a small RBF system in DW or FDC that contains the OS9Boot
>  and CCBKRN you need to access your SCSI. (and yes, it is entirely
>  possible to put an RBF in low sectors on the disk, and have CoCoBoot
>  "up top").  I'm far from a OS9 guru, so if anyone could help me with
>  the os9 format commands to do this please email me!!!
> * A New KRN replacement, called CCBKRN, will have to be located
>  somewhere on a RBF filesystem.  Boisy has graciously rebuilt the
>  latest Nitros9 sources to include this module/file.
> 
> To get:
> 
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/cocoboot/files/noswiz_v1.zip/download
> 
> 
> This link will point you to a zip file that contains a pre-compiled
> CoCoBoot disk with a Nitros9 setup wizard.  I don't own a MPI, so I'm
> not sure how badly that's all been coded up, but feel free to email
> for help.  The wizard, like all wizards, only scratches the surface of
> the flexibility of CoCoBoot.  More interesting things can be done if
> you want to learn a little forth.  This wizard will, however,
> graciously reprogram your SuperIDE flash to install itself, if you own
> one!!!!
> 
> This Zip contains a bootable .dsk image and .wav files for cassette
> installation.  After booting you'll be able to make a real bootable
> floppy, flash your SuperIDE ROMs.   If anyone wants help making a
> HDB-DOS bootable version, just give me an email.
> 
> 
> Enjoy,
> 
> Brett M. Gordon
> beretta42 at gmail.com
> 
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