FreeDOS can boot from a logical partition \ VOGONS

FreeDOS can boot from a logical partition

Topic actions

First post, by Kahenraz

Posted on 2022-07-20, 14:54

Kahenraz Offline

Rank l33t

Rank: l33t
Posts: 4480
Joined: 2004-01-22, 04:57

During testing, I found that it was possible to boot FreeDOS from a logical partition without the need for a bootloader on that partition, or for it to be "active". I formatted a large 400GB logical partition at the end of a disk as FAT32 from a Linux live CD and then copied over a FreeDOS installation as a bunch of files. I was then able to successfully boot by chainloading KERNEL.SYS via the GRUB4DOS bootloader.

This is particularly useful as a means to save on a primary partition when configuring a system to boot multiple operating systems. This has the added benefit of the partition being able to remain visible, with its contents accessible from other operating systems such as Windows 98.

Reply 1 of 2, by FreemanGord

Posted on 2024-12-20, 06:44

FreemanGord Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: 2024-12-20, 06:35

Hi. I would like to do something similar. I have multiple operating systems using the primary partitions. FreeDOS is installed on the first dos drive, C:.

Would you be able to tell me what steps I should take to do this? I did try to install grub4dos, and am still attempting, but not doing too well. I would like to configure and install grub4dos to a partition or partition boot sector.

Reply 2 of 2, by Kahenraz

Posted on 2024-12-20, 08:09

Kahenraz Offline

Rank l33t

Rank: l33t
Posts: 4480
Joined: 2004-01-22, 04:57

I do not have a retro system put together to examine this configuration anymore. The key part is installing Grub4DOS to the MBR and the pointing it to boot the FreeDOS partition. You'll have to read up on the documentation on how to do this.

The MBR is easily clobbered by installing another OS, so it's best to do this from a bootable floppy.

Go to top of page Go to top of page

Back to Milliways