If you have two partitions with the kickstart/kicklayout file they should show up. (the partition might need to be set to bootable?) You just "need" to insert a bootdevice into the kicklayout so that it will boot from the correct device. (otherwise it will load the kickstart you have selected and then boot from the parition with the highest bootpriority)
check out the sys:documentation/kickstart dir to find out more about the bootdevice and how to set it up. There should be a file called bootdevice or similar in there somewhere.
First: you need to check your uboot vars... open an shell and enter nvgetvar. make sure amigaboot_quiet = N is off and os4_bootdevice = auto. If not go into uboot and change them.
cold reboot and you should see a menu (SLB) before kickstart starts to load. hit space to pause it. it should list FE and U6 with FE in green text.
anytime you want to boot into a different version just press the number beside the name that you want and it 'should' load kickstart and workbench from the same partition.
Edit:
Forgot to add that both partitions MUST be bootable and have a priority of 0.
Amiga user since 1985 AOS4, A-EON, IBrowse & Alinea Betatester
In DH0: there is Kickstart/Kicklayout (OS4.1FE specific). I added a dh0:kickstart/KE_Safe/AmigaOS_4.1.6/ directory with all the modules from DH3: ( OS41:Kickstart/#? ).
Now you have to edit the original OS4.1FE:Kickstart/Kicklayout file, Quote:
; Format: ; ~~~~~~ ; The file lists one or more configurations.
@Mikey_C I don't believe it's possible with the Sam440's firmware, although I'd be happy to be proved wrong. (The X1000's firmware automatically detects multiple bootable volumes, and gives a list for choosing... no such thing on Sam440 AFAIK.)
edit: Cass's work-around/kludge might well work... however, I wanted something which automatically worked without me needing to copy one Kickstart folder to another volume every time I update it.
I wanted something which automatically worked without me needing to copy one Kickstart folder to another volume every time I update it
You could achieve that by creating a link called Kickstart in your secondary boot partition, pointing to the relevant subdir on the primary one where you copied the Kickstart files. That way, updates will automatically take effect on the copy (which is the Kickstart you use).
If you still have a Kickstart dir on the secondary volume, rename that first, or delete it altogether.
I vaguely remember having achieved dual boot some years ago, (on another system maybe amithlon) manipulating startup-sequence and having a choice requester in there,pointing, if that was the choice to the startup-sequence on the secondary partitition Of courrse you had to reassign sys: at least.
But then if something happens with the primary volume, you won't be able to boot ?
Then you just boot from CD and rename the Kickstart dir back on the partition(s) you want to boot from - although it might be a bit outdated by then, because all the updates went to the linked copy. But it will often be enough to let you boot.
Alternatively, after booting from CD, format your primary partition and restore your daily backup from last night .
er... isn't that the whole point? it's an older installation that WON'T be updated
That's not the case for me anyway, where I have (1) a Beta partition (which gets beta updates), and (2) a Public partition (which only gets public updates).
You could achieve that by creating a link called Kickstart in your secondary boot partition, pointing to the relevant subdir on the primary one where you copied the Kickstart files.
Are you SURE that would work? I have a feeling that the Kickstart loading process isn't clever enough to handle soft/hard links.
No, Kickstart is loaded from its real location (on the primary drive). The common Kicklayout file on that partition has a config entry where the paths of the modules point to the relevant subdirectory.
The only purpose of the soft link is to make AmiUpdate etc. think the Kickstart is located locally on the booted partition, and therefore have it updated transparently in its real path.