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List:       openbsd-misc
Subject:    Re: System Commander
From:       kjell () pintday ! org
Date:       2001-09-30 17:30:03
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> > Include dmesg, disk geometry (fdisk, disklabel output) and the details
> > of the crash in any reply.
> 
> 	I can't give the dmesg because it never boots.  :-(

If it is just an MBR issue, you can boot off a floppy, and tell it:
boot hd0a:/bsd at the boot> prompt.

> 	I notice that there seems to be no way in the install program to use
> anything other than wd0a (root) and wd0b (swap).  Does anyone know why? 

Well, you can change that, but I don't think that's what you're looking to do here


> 	1)  How do I install to (disklabel) partitions other than a and b?

You don't need to.
wd0 refers to your first _hard drive_. Unless you're trying to installed and boot from
a second physical drive, you don't need to change this

a and b refer to the slices within the disklabel of the A6 (openbsd) partition

In other words, it doesn't matter which of the 4 partitions OpenBSD is installed to,
wd0a is correct so long as it is the first hard drive, and your disklabel is correct.

> 	2)  How do I boot from the (disk) partition beginning, since the MBR is
> unavailable?

Terminology again. the MBR is the 512 bytes at the start of your drive that,
in this case, launches System Commander. Afterwards, system commander
transfers execution to the partition boot record (or PBR), which is the
start of the partition to which you installed OpenBSD.

So I can't answer this, because the MBR is working fine.

You can try two things:
1. Try booting from a floppy. At the boot> prompt, you should be able
to do an "ls" of your root partition (ls hd0), If you can, try
booting directly from here: boot hd0a:/bsd

2. Failing that, boot completely from the floppy and try mounting your
OpenBSD partition to ensure everything got put there correctly.

3. If the first step failed, but the second was okay,
you can try reinstalling your bootblocks
(this will fixup the PBR): 
# cd /usr/mdec; ./installboot /boot biosboot wd0

-kj

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