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bootos(HW)


bootos -- load and run an operating system from a partition

Syntax

bootos [ ? | partition_number | filesystem_name | id=filesystem_id ]

dos

win

Description

bootos is a standalone program that can be called from boot(HW). It loads and runs an operating system from a root disk partition other than the currently active partition.

If you enter bootos at the boot prompt without any arguments, it prints a usage message.

The command bootos ? displays the current partition table for the root disk. The following information is displayed for each partition:

bootos partition_number boots the operating system on the specified partition number.

bootos filesystem_name boots from the first partition containing a filesystem with the specified name. Valid filesystem_names, which can be specified in upper- or lowercase, are:


ccpm
concurrent CP/M filesystem

dos | win
matches any DOS Windows filesystem; bootos cannot distinguish between these

dos_12
DOS 12-bit FAT (file access table)

dos_16
DOS 16-bit FAT

dos_32
DOS 32-bit FAT

dos_ext
DOS extended partition

novell
Novell filesystem

nt | os2 | os2_hpfs
NT(TM), OS/2, or OS/2 HPFS filesystem; bootos cannot distinguish between these

pcix
PCIX filesystem

unix
UNIX system filesystem

xenix
XENIX filesystem

bootos id=filesystem_id boots from the first partition containing a filesystem with the specified ID.

You can boot the system from a DOS partition by entering the command dos at the boot prompt. This is equivalent to entering bootos dos and boots the first DOS partition found on the disk.

dos is implemented as a link to bootos in the boot filesystem. When the system has booted, this filesystem is normally mounted on /stand in the root filesystem. To create an equivalent boot command for another filesystem type you can add an alias entry to /etc/default/boot. For example, to create an alias to boot an NT partition:

   nt=bootos nt
Alternatively, you can create a symbolic link to bootos in the /stand directory. The link must have the same name as a filesystem name that bootos recognizes. This example creates a command to boot a XENIX partition:

ln -s /stand/bootos /stand/xenix

Diagnostics


bootos: no filesystem on requested partition
The specified partition does not contain a filesystem.

bootos: requested filesystem partition not found
The specified filesystem cannot be found on the root disk.

command: no partition table
The root disk's masterboot partition table is missing or corrupt. (command is the name the bootos program was invoked with.)

Limitations

bootos cannot distinguish between NT, OS/2, and OS/2 HPFS filesystems; if necessary, you can specify a partition by its number.

bootos does not change the active partition on the root disk; to do this, use fdisk instead.

Files


/stand
mount point for the boot filesystem

/bootos
bootos executable

/dos
link to bootos

/etc/default/boot
editable boot defaults file

/stand/etc/default/boot
non-editable boot defaults file which is overwritten at system shutdown

See also

boot(HW), fdisk(ADM)
© 2003 Caldera International, Inc. All rights reserved.
SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 -- 11 February 2003