OS2 World Community Forum

OS/2, eCS & ArcaOS - Technical => Setup & Installation => Topic started by: ivan on January 07, 2022, 09:02:19 pm

Title: Quick question about boot manager
Post by: ivan on January 07, 2022, 09:02:19 pm
I want to setup a replacement computer system with multiple operating systems on it.

I have learned that the boot manager that comes with ArcaOS is useless on any of my AMD Ryzen based systems - it does not display any of the menus so it is impossible to select an OS.

Before I start this project I would like to know if anyone is using the old OS/2 boot manager in such a situation.  I know the primary partition limitations and since I only want three operating systems on this new system (Boot Manager, OS/2(ArcaOS), Linux Mint and Win7).  There will be several hard disks - the number will depend on how well the system will work.

The reason for this is because I am fedup with having 5 or more computers running at the same time all feeding into a KVM switch and two monitors, also on a HHDMI switch.

Any information and comments?  Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: Quick question about boot manager
Post by: Dave Yeo on January 07, 2022, 09:21:00 pm
BootManager only works with disks about 512MB's or smaller. Other then that it should be fine.
I wonder what is wrong with your HD's (likely partitioning) for Airboot not to work?
Title: Re: Quick question about boot manager
Post by: ivan on January 07, 2022, 09:52:51 pm
Thanks Dave.

The problem with Airboot is the moment it tries to start all I get is a moving notice from the monitor that it can't display the required resolution and I have to wait for Airboot to time out to get the default OS running - apparently it doesn't like the Ryzen built in graphics for some reason.

I did a wipe of the hard disk I tried it on and then got the KVM switch and an extra computer to run the other OS.,
Title: Re: Quick question about boot manager
Post by: Dave Yeo on January 07, 2022, 11:28:06 pm
Sounds like a bug if Airboot (or the BIOS) isn't setting the correct graphics resolution. You could file a ticket.
Eventually when AOS 5.1 is released, should be able to use an UEFI bootmanager. Of course all systems need to be able to boot from UEFI, not sure about Win7, Mint can here, even though it was a MBR install.
 
Title: Re: Quick question about boot manager
Post by: Dave Yeo on January 07, 2022, 11:30:02 pm
BTW, I screwed up and should have said that Bootmanager only works with HD's about 512 GB's or less. When I updated to a 1TB disk, it was invisible to Bootmanager and I had to switch to Airboot to boot anything on the 1TB disk.
Title: Re: Quick question about boot manager
Post by: Pete on January 08, 2022, 02:49:43 am
Hi

There was a trick to using 1Tb drives with BootManager involving using DFSee...  wipe start of partition (or similar menu option). LVM and BootManager then "see" the whole 1 TB drive instead of limiting it to 512Gb.


Regards

Pete
Title: Re: Quick question about boot manager
Post by: Olafur Gunnlaugsson on January 08, 2022, 05:08:23 pm
I want to setup a replacement computer system with multiple operating systems on it.

I have learned that the boot manager that comes with ArcaOS is useless on any of my AMD Ryzen based systems - it does not display any of the menus so it is impossible to select an OS.

Before I start this project I would like to know if anyone is using the old OS/2 boot manager in such a situation.  I know the primary partition limitations and since I only want three operating systems on this new system (Boot Manager, OS/2(ArcaOS), Linux Mint and Win7).  There will be several hard disks - the number will depend on how well the system will work.

The reason for this is because I am fedup with having 5 or more computers running at the same time all feeding into a KVM switch and two monitors, also on a HHDMI switch.

Any information and comments?  Thanks in advance.

I used the boot manager built into Windows 8 to boot into OS/2 and other OS's, a few years back. I have not tried it with Win 10 as I simply use the EFI/BIOS emulator switch built into the UEFI firmware to switch between two disks, one with GPT and one with MBR.
Title: Re: Quick question about boot manager
Post by: ivan on January 08, 2022, 11:40:17 pm
Thanks everyone, the fun should start monday if the parts all arrive.

The biggest problem was finding an AMD Ryzen based m/b that has 6 SATA ports, hard disks not a problem and I found a combination unit (slimline DVD and 3.5" hd draw) which makes using a case I have easy.