[Coco] NitrOS-9 boot configuration tool

[Brett Gordon]

For example:

Last week, when trying to modify my boot kernel,  I managed to make
"/DD" point to a different drive than drive 0 (I used "ded" to edit my
boot file).   After that hurdle, I successfully booted os9, but then
realized I didn't have a "/x0" anymore...  so after a hour of kludging
around the makefiles, I gave up and "modbusted" and old OS9BOOT ripped
out its old "/x0" descriptor and used "merge" to cat my new OS9Boot
with the old "/x0".   I did everything non-officially, and I know this
wasn't the "correct" way,  but worked however, and faster than
figuring out any of the existing os9 utilities, makefiles, or the
machine-dependent module build directories.

Using the "hardcore" utils like DED and DMODE and MERGE, was quite
easier (for me) than figuring out the proper utils.  I guess I'm
trying to say that the bootfile, is quit an easy format to work with,
but has to be totally crappy for new users.  We definately need a nice
gentler way of building a sane OS9BOOT.   I'll give Bill, or anyone
working on a nicer way, any support I can.


On Sat, Nov 8, 2014 at 3:29 PM, Bill Pierce via Coco
<coco at maltedmedia.com> wrote:
>
> Nick... that's exactly what the NitrOS9 repo does... build bootdisks form Linux or Windows (using MinGW or CYGWin)
> To get it build anything other than what is already offered, you must download and modify the sources in your own local copy of the repo and build it.... but wait... that's a bigger can of works than making a bootdisk in OS9 from preassembled files... a MUCH bigger can of worms... more like a barrel of rattlesnakes!
> In this case you will be ASSEMBLING ALL the files in the repo and need to know what each file is, what it does, what machine/system it's being used own as the repo builds for Coco 1, 2, 2b, Deluxe, & 3,  Dragon64, Dragon Alpha, and Atari, all in L1 & L2 all from one set of sources!
> The makefile alone could scare the hell out of geek with a Masters in Computer Science as it is written in uncommonsensaneese :-P
>
>
>
> Bill Pierce
> "Today is a good day... I woke up" - Ritchie Havens
>
>
> My Music from the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer 2 & 3
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> Co-Contributor, Co-Editor for CocoPedia
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>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nick Marentes <nickma2 at optusnet.com.au>
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Sat, Nov 8, 2014 2:58 pm
> Subject: Re: [Coco] NitrOS-9 boot configuration tool
>
>
> On 9/11/2014 3:24 AM, L. Curtis Boyle wrote:
>> Heh.. this is something else that Bill and I had planned for NitrOS9 and never
> got to. We were going to have the user making the bootfile pick out the device
> descriptors they needed (this is where the database part would come in… to show
> which version of /d0 one was picking for example: Floppy, no Halt Disto floppy,
> no halt Sardis floppy, etc.)), but it would use the device descriptor itself to
> figure out which driver and file manager was required for each, since the names
> of those is stored in the descriptor already anyways (and used by the OS
> itself).
>> Of course, there are “fixed” ones that every normal boot would need (RBF, SCF,
> IOMAN, etc.) that would always automatically be put in (maybe an option for
> “customized” versions).
>>
>> L. Curtis Boyle
>> curtisboyle at sasktel.net
>>
>>
>
> Is it possible to write a program on the PC to build the NitOS-9 boot
> image(dsk)?
>
> All the require drivers and modules would be collected in a folder on
> the PC hard disk and a program listing everything that the user simply
> "tick's a box" on the drivers/modules he wants?
>
> The program would generate a DSK file with a NitrOS-9 boot image all
> configured and this can be run on an emulator or used by Drivewire, SDC etc.
>
> That way users can easily and quickly create custom boot disks whenever
> needed.
>
> Nick
>
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-- 
Brett M. Gordon,
beretta42 at gmail.com