PC World 1999 August/PCWorld_1999-08_cd.bin/doc/HOWTO/unmaintained/mini/Linux+OS2+DOS

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[ 15 January 1998
  The Linux Linux+OS2+DOS mini-HOWTO is not being maintained by
  the author any more.  If you are interested in maintaining the
  Linux+OS2+DOS mini-HOWTO, please get in touch with me at
  <[e-mail]>. ]

Linux + OS/2 (+ DOS) mini-HOWTO, version 0.2. May 20, 1996.
by Hamish Moffatt, [e-mail].
Please send all corrections, suggestions, etc to this address.

Thanks go to Matthieu Willm <[e-mail]> for his post
on this subject in comp.os.linux.setup, which prompted me to
write this mini-HOWTO.

Table of Contents
0.  Legal things
1.  Introduction
2.  Before you read this document
3.  The actual installation
3.1   Some background
3.2   Install Linux
3.3   Install LILO
3.4   Add Linux to OS/2's Boot Manager menu
3.5   If you get LILO rather than OS/2 Boot Manager when you reboot
3.6   Advanced options
4.  If you've already installed Linux, but not OS/2 ...
4.1   Installing OS/2
4.2   Troubleshooting
5.  If you've already installed both Linux and OS/2 ...
5.1   If you can boot OS/2 but not Linux
5.2   If you can boot Linux but not OS/2
6.  Getting LILO to boot OS/2 ...
7.  The end.

0. Legal things

The instructions in this HOWTO will change the boot loader on your
computer. During the course of these instructions some mistakes
may make your system unable to boot either Linux or OS/2 or DOS,
or perhaps none of the above. Make sure you have your Linux boot
and root disks, your OS/2 Installation and Disk 1 diskettes,
and your DOS Setup disks if relevant handy before you begin.
The writer takes no responsibility for any damage incurred during
the process of these instructions; there is no warranty, guarantee
etc whatsoever.

1. Introduction

When I first got interested in Linux, in about August 95, I was told
that while it should be possible to have OS/2 Boot Manager and Linux
coexist, it "just didn't work." When I actually got around to installing
OS/2 and Linux together on a new PC, it turned out that it works perfectly
and isn't actually too hard. This mini-HOWTO should help you get these
two working together.

Note: in this document, I will describe how to have OS/2 Boot Manager
boot Linux (via LILO). There is a short section later on on having
LILO (Linux's loader and boot manager) boot OS/2.

2. Before you read this document

In this mini-HOWTO I assume you have already installed OS/2 (and also
DOS if you wish) on your system. If you've already installed Linux
but not OS/2, or both OS/2 and Linux, see section 4 or 5 respectively.

Note that you need to have OS/2 Boot Manager installed. If you have OS/2
and DOS on the same partition (and you switch between them with BOOT /DOS
and BOOT /OS2), then you're using Dual Boot, not Boot Manager. You need
to read the LILO documentation or mini-HOWTO on booting another (non-Linux)
operating system. This HOWTO is for Boot Manager only.

3. The actual installation
3.1 Some background

So, you have OS/2 and maybe DOS already installed. (In this HOWTO my
examples will have DOS also installed). Your partition table might
look something like this;

   Device Boot  Begin   Start     End  Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1           1       1     254  512032+   6  DOS 16-bit >=32M
/dev/hda2         256     256     786 1070496    5  Extended
/dev/hda3   *     255     255     255    2016    a  OS/2 Boot Manager
/dev/hda5   *     256     256     509  512032+   7  OS/2 HPFS
/dev/hda6   *     510     510     763  512032+  83  Linux native
/dev/hda7   *     764     764     786   46336+  82  Linux swap

Here hda1 contains DOS, hda3 is Boot Manager, hda5 is the OS/2 (boot)
partition, and hda6 is the Linux (boot) partition. If your OS/2 partition
is FAT rather than HPFS, that's fine -- these instructions apply just
the same. Also, while OS/2 Boot Manager must be on /dev/hda somewhere,
OS/2 and Linux could be on /dev/hdb, hdc, or hdd, etc. (OS/2 BootMan has
no problems booting OS/2 from a second disk, so it should have no problems
booting Linux from a second disk. I haven't been able to get DOS to boot
from a second disk, though.)

3.2 Install Linux

At this point, you should install Linux. You are best to create your
DOS and OS/2 (and extended, if necessary) partitions using OS/2's FDISK,
then creating your Linux partitions with Linux's fdisk. Some people have
reported that sometimes OS/2 thinks the partition table is corrupt and
won't let you add Linux to the Boot Manager menu later, so you might have
to try creating ALL your partitions with OS/2's FDISK, and using Linux's
fdisk later to change the partitions to the right types. See the fdisk
documentaton for further information on changing partition types.
(Thanks to [e-mail] (Till Bubeck).)

Your distribution's installation program should ask you about installing
LILO; Slackware's does. You do want LILO installed (OS/2 Boot Manager cannot
boot Linux directly, since it's doesn't understand Linux's file system format.
Also, adding LILO gives you a chance to choose between different versions
of Linux, add boot parameters so Linux can find all your hardware, etc.)

3.3 Install LILO

Slackware will ask you WHERE you want to install LILO; the SuperBlock
(partition table, master boot record etc), the Linux partition's boot
sector, etc. The boot manager that lives in the SuperBlock is your master
boot manager - you want this to be OS/2's Boot Manager, so you need to install
LILO (Linux's boot manager) in the boot sector of your Linux partition.
In the partition table example above, this would be on /dev/hda6.
(NOT /dev/hda, which would be the master boot record, where OS/2 BootMan
lives.)

Finish your Linux installation. If the installation hasn't run it for you,
run /sbin/lilo. You MAY need to create your own /etc/lilo.conf, which is
the LILO configuration file; it tells LILO where it can find the Linux
kernel (the operating system itself) on your hard drive, etc. A very
simple one might be

  boot = /dev/hda6
  delay = 50
  vga = normal
  ramdisk = 0

  image = /vmlinuz
    root = /dev/hda6
    label = linux
    read-only

boot specifies the partition where LILO will install itself; this should be
/dev/hdax, not /dev/hda (or hdb, as appropriate).

3.4 Add Linux to OS/2's Boot Manager menu

Now you have Linux installed and ready to go, but after you reboot, you won't
be able to boot it. All that's left now is to tell OS/2 Boot Manager about it.
Reboot, and select OS/2 from the Boot Manager menu. (If you get a "LILO"
prompt instead of Boot Manager, read section 3.5 below).

Boot up OS/2, and run FDISK. Move to your Linux partition (listed as
"Type 83" -- OS/2 doesn't seem to know Linux's partition types). Press Enter,
and from the menu select "Add to Boot Manager menu." Enter an appropriate
name (eg Linux), then press F3, save and exit.

When you reboot, your OS/2 Boot Manager menu should include Linux. When you
select it, you should see "LILO " for about five seconds, then Linux should
boot. If it does, you're all finished. Enjoy!

3.5 If you get LILO rather than OS/2 Boot Manager when you reboot

If when you reboot, you get "LILO ", rather than OS/2 Boot Manager, then
you've installed LILO in the superblock (/dev/hda), rather than on a
partition (/dev/hda6 or whatever). To fix this isn't too hard, luckily.
Boot up your OS/2 Installation floppy, and exit to the command prompt.
Run FDISK, then save and exit. Boot Manager should be back when you reboot.
However, now you can't boot Linux again. Get out your Linux boot and root
disks, and mount your Linux partition. You can either boot completely from
diskettes, then type

  mount /dev/hda6 /mnt

once you can log in, or (depending on your distribution), you can mount
your hard drive instead of the root floppy. On Slackware, you can do this
by typing

  mount root=/dev/hda6

at the LILO prompt you get as soon as you've booted the boot disk.

Now, edit your LILO config (either /mnt/etc/lilo.conf or /etc/lilo.conf,
depending on which of the above methods you used), and change the
"boot = " line to say /dev/hda6 (or whatever) instead of /dev/hda.
Then run

  /mnt/sbin/lilo -C /mnt/etc/lilo.conf

or

  /sbin/lilo

depending on which method you used before. Reboot again, and OS/2 Boot
Manager should be back. See section 3.4 on adding Linux to the OS/2
Boot Manager menu.

3.6 Advanced options

If you want to save a few seconds during booting, you can get "delay = 0"
instead of 50 in your /etc/lilo.conf. Using the delay gives you a chance
to boot another operating system, but you're using OS/2 Boot Manager for that,
so you may not need it. (However, LILO also gives you the chance to boot
different Linux kernel versions, and you may want that).

Actually, if you press shift immediately after you select Linux from the
Boot Manager menu, you get the "LILO: " prompt anyway. LILO loads very
quickly though, so this can be harder than it sounds.


4. If you've already installed Linux, but not OS/2 ...
4.1 Installing OS/2

You have Linux installed, and when you boot your PC you get the LILO
prompt. You want to install OS/2. This might actually be easier than installing
OS/2 before Linux, actually.

Boot Linux, and edit your /etc/lilo.conf file. Change the "boot = " line to
the name of your linux partition, eg /dev/hda6, instead of the name of
your boot drive, eg /dev/hda. Then run /sbin/lilo to install LILO again.
This will install LILO in the boot sector of your Linux partition, so that
OS/2 can boot it later.

Now, install OS/2. When you create your OS/2 partitions in OS/2's FDISK,
*do* install Boot Manager, and make sure you add your OS/2 (and DOS)
partition to it. Also, add your Linux ("Type 83" in OS/2 FDISK) partition
to the menu too. (Press Enter on the Linux partition, and select
"Add to Boot Manager menu", and enter a suitable description). You should
now be all set to boot Linux and OS/2 from the Boot Manager menu.

4.2 Troubleshooting

If, when you select Linux from the Boot Manager menu, you get Missing
Operating System, Non-system disk or disk error, etc, then you didn't
get LILO installed properly in your Linux partition's boot sector.
Use your Linux boot (and maybe also root) disk to edit your lilo.conf
file again as in section 4.1, and make sure you run /sbin/lilo.
(Section 3.5 gives some information on how you can boot Linux from
floppies and get access to your Linux partition on hard drive).

If you get LILO when you reboot, instead of OS/2 Boot Manager, then
BootMan wasn't installed properly. Boot the OS/2 Installation disks
again, quit to the command prompt (F3), and run FDISK. Make sure
Boot Manager is installed, and that the BootMan partition is marked
Bootable.

5. You've already installed both OS/2 and Linux ...

Both LILO (Linux's boot manager and loader) and OS/2 BootMan like to
be the master boot manager on your system. If you've already installed
both of these using default options, then you probably can't boot
one of these two at the moment (the one you installed first won't
be bootable).

OS/2 BootMan HAS to be the master boot manager, but LILO can be moved
so it only boots Linux.

5.1 If you can boot OS/2 but not Linux

You need to boot Linux (using your boot and root floppies if need be;
see section 3.5 on how to get to your Linux hard disk partition from
the boot/root disks).

Edit your /etc/lilo.conf and change "boot = " to the name of your Linux
partition (eg /dev/hda6) rather than your boot drive (eg /dev/hda).
Run /sbin/lilo. (Section 3.5 gives more details about getting to
these files).

Now, boot OS/2 and run FDISK. Select your Linux partition ("Type 83"),
and select "Add to Boot Manager menu" from the pop-up menu. You should
now be all set.

If you reboot and Linux still isn't listed, check that you added it
properly in the last step. If Linux is listed but you get missing system
or non-system disk errors when you select it, you might not have
got LILO installed correctly in the first part of 5.1.

5.2 If you can boot Linux but not OS/2

See the instructions in 5.1. To boot Linux, just boot from your hard
drive as normal; to boot OS/2, use the Installation diskette, and
exit to the command prompt (F3) to run FDISK.


6. Getting LILO to boot OS/2 ...

Theoretically, LILO could boot OS/2; that is, at the LILO prompt you
could hit Shift and enter OS2 or whatever. I have tried this, and it
didn't work. However, my OS/2 is on /dev/hdb6, which may complicate
things.

In /etc/lilo.conf, you need to add

  other = /dev/hda5
    label = os2

(if your OS/2 partition is /dev/hda5). You should also add

    table = /dev/hda

(or hdb) so that Linux can check for the partition, but I got
missing partition errors when running /sbin/lilo.

If your OS/2 is on your second hard drive, you also need to add

    loader = /boot/os2_d.b

else /sbin/lilo won't run successfully (it requires a special loader
to boot OS/2 from a second hard drive, and os2_d.b is it).

If you've been able to get this working, please let me know.


7. The end.

Please send your comments, suggestions, questions (as a last resort, please)
to me at

  [e-mail]

The latest version of this mini-HOWTO should be at

  http://yallara.cs.rmit.edu.au/~moffatt/linux-os2/