[Coco] Booting NitrOS-9 from MESS

[Robert Gault]

Robert Gault wrote:
> Mike Rowen wrote:
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I have MESS 147s compiled and running under Linux. I can bring up the CoCo
>> 3 emulator and I can access disk images,
>> however I have run into the MESS boot bug for NitrOS-9. I have found
>> references to the bug, but not the fix. I know some
>> of you on the list are running NitrOS9 in MESS. Any help is appreciated.
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Regards,
>> -Mike
>
> Any OS-9 disk image for MESS should use the .os9 extension. That should solve
> most problems.
>
> The current nightly build disk images for NitrOS-9 have bugs. The Level2 images
> seem to be based on Level3 since CoGrf is present instead of CoWin and CoVDG.
> Also the disk descriptors are bad in that there are 3 D0 and 2 DD in OS-9 boot.
>
> Which disks are you trying to boot? What information are you seeing on the
> screen? Are you trying to boot from "floppies" or .vhd images?
>
>

OK, I've found the source of the Boot problem with the nightly builds. It is 
indeed being caused by the descriptors D0 and DD. The rest of the disk images 
are correct regarding Levels and 6809/6309.

In addition to having multiple D0s and DDs, the images (which are either 
40-track double-sided or 80-track double-sided) contain D0 and DD for 35-track 
single-side disks. The descriptors do not match the disk image formats.

This is pretty much a Catch-22 situation unless you already have working boot 
disks. You need to dEd the OS9Boot file on the nightly builds and change the DD 
descriptor to the appropriate 40/80-track double sided format.