choosing bootdevice

Hi, I'm a newbee on OS4 world.

On installation Guide of OS4, there's written we can choose the partition system by using the variable os4_bootdevice.

I have lot of systems on my machine and would like to choose my bootdevice with this option, but dont know who to use it.
For exemple,
what I have to do to boot on a first time on my DH0 partition and later choose to boot on the DH3 partition?


Help please.

Thx

@sergius

You can read all about it in the Documentation/Kickstart/bootmenu.doc, but basically, you have to do somthing like this:

Create a subdirectory inside the Kickstart directory of your normal boot partition, most likely your first one (DH0:)? Call it e.g. KS-DH3, if you want to add DH3: as an alternative boot partition.

Move (not copy) your entire Kickstart directory contents from DH3: to DH0:Kickstart/KS-DH3.

Create a link where the Kickstart was on DH3, pointing to where it is now:

> cd DH3:
> makelink Kickstart DH0:Kickstart/KS-DH3 soft force

This makes sure that future updates to Kickstart modules while having booted from DH3 actually update the correct Kickstart.

Edit the kicklayout file in your DH0:Kickstart directory, add a blank line below your existing definition(s), and after that insert the definition from the kicklayout file from DH3:, which you just moved together with the modules to the KS-DH3 subdir. Then, for each of the entries in the new definition, correct the path of the file to be Kickstart/KS-DH3/<file> instead of just Kickstart/<file>. Also remember to give your inserted definition a unique name in the LABEL line.

Finally, add to your new definition a line such as:

Kickstart/KS-DH3/BootDevice

- and create the actual BootDevice "kernel module" like this (assuming your current directory is DH0:):

> echo >Kickstart/KS-DH3/BootDevice "DH3"

(these names are case sensitive, make sure you get them right).

Now, when you do a cold reboot, you should see your new definition as a new item in the boot selection menu in UBoot. Just use the cursor keys or a number key to select it instead of the default one, and the SLB should load the Kickstart modules from your subdirectory and continue to boot the OS with DH3: as SYS:.

BTW, you can delete the kicklayout file from your KS-DH3 subdirectory, once you're done copying its contents to the main kicklayiout file, you won't be using it again.

Hope this works out for you, it's mostly from memory - but my memory of this procedure is quite good, I've done it lots of times .

Best regards,

Niels

So, Sergius, did you try this? Or did anyone else?

I'd like to know whether my description was correct and understandable.

This is slowly becoming sort of a FAQ, and if I succeeded in creating a usable answer, it might be an idea to clean it up a bit and submit it as a tutorial or something.

Best regards,

Niels