[Coco] New Improved Nitros9 Booting

[mike delyea]

I like to use cobbler to make boot disks - what effect will the new
bootloader have - if any.

On Sun, Feb 12, 2012 at 3:29 PM, Boisy G. Pitre <boisy at tee-boy.com> wrote:

> 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
>
> Join our forums at http://www.tee-boy.com/forums/ to exchange ideas and
> information with other WeatherSnoop enthusiasts.
>
>
>
>
> 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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>
>
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