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  Original subject: Re: [TCLUG:9221] LILO: easier way to choose what OS to boot?

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-------- Original Message Text --------
Ok, just a thought, and a VERY hackish way to do things, but, one possibility
would be to have multiple lilo.conf files, all identical, except for the order
in which the 'defaults' are placed.

lilo.conf.win would have the default order of win, linux, et al.
lilo.conf.linux would have the order of linux, win, et al.

and so on...

Then, just rerun lilo:
#/sbin/lilo -C /etc/lilo.conf.win -v -v -v

to have win become the default, and:
#/sbin/lilo -C /etc/lilo.conf.linux -v -v -v

to have linux boot first.

Granted...this only works from linux side of things, and your other suggestions
would be nice to have...I've run into that problem many times...Particularily
with my wife....she boots up the box, hoping for windows, and get linux, and now
she has to reboot the machine, but she's afraid she'll break linux if she
does....and so on...

In her case, the solution I've found is to just always boot into windows for
her, and when I need to, I can override it to linux...but a switch would be
nice...perhaps a lilo for windows?

Hrm...another thought...

Install lilo to a group of floppies, and ALWAYS boot from the floppy...
to boot win, insert the WIN disk, to boot OS/2 put in that disk, and so on,
until you put in the LINUX disk to boot linux...

I'm thinking thats probably the best solution for you...its easy to impliment,
makes sense to the average user, and is pretty much what you need(Though I agree
a bit more robustness from lilo would be HAPPY).

Brian J. Ackermann


----------
>From: "Fred H. Olson" <fholson@cohousing.org>
>To: Tclug-list <tclug-list@listserv.real-time.com>
>Subject: [TCLUG:9221] LILO: easier way to choose what OS to boot?
>Date: Sat, Oct 16, 1999, 11:06 AM
>

> I've asked this question here before but got what I thought were
> unsatisfactory responses... so I decided to ask it again because it
> continues to be an annoyance.
>
> LILO ("LInux LOader") is a little piece of software that loads one of
> several operating systems at boot up.  Part way thru boot up it prompts
> for whether to load an alternate operating system. If there is no response
> to the prompt the default operating system is loaded after a timeout
> (15-30 seconds?).  If one actually uses more than one operating system, it
> is necessary to watch the boot up process ready to respond to the prompt
> before the timeout.  For me at least, this means sometimes I look away and
> miss the prompt and I get the default operating system when I want the
> alternate operating system.  Not a big deal but annoying when it happens.
>
> I think a much better design would would have the user indicate at the
> time the boot is initiated (power up etc) which operating system is
> desired.  This could be done by setting some sort of memory device - like
> a switch :) that LILO can read when it needs to know which operating to
> boot.  No universally available switch is available that I know of. One
> possibility is to have LILO use a "hook" (vector, indirect jump or
> similar) to a tiny bit of software that the user can optionally replace to
> supply the indicator to the desired operating system.  The default would
> be the current prompt, keyboard response, timeout system.  Alternate
> procedures might read a switch on a port (game port, handshake line on a
> spare serial port etc) or read a special file on a special floppy **)
> There are probably other possibilities I have not thought of.
>
> ** The trouble with the floopy idea is that if no floppy is ready you have
> to wait for it's timeout to choose the default.  Will floppies in the
> Intel world ever get an empty drive indicator?  An alternative is to have
> one floppy for each operating system and always use on or another.
>
> This would be quite trivial if one knew there way around the software
> which supposedly some Linux Users do (I dont at least not yet).  My
> previous post got little response,  if that's the case this time,
> where might be a better place to ask?
>
> Fred
>
> --
> Fred H. Olson  fholson@cohousing.org    Minneapolis,MN   55411
> (612)588-9532  Amateur radio: WB0YQM          List manager of:
> Cohousing-L  See http://www.cohousing.org and Nbhd-tc --  Twin
> Cities Neighborhood issues list.  See http://freenet.msp.mn.us
>
>
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