[Coco] How do you modify os9boot file

[Allen Huffman]

> On Apr 11, 2020, at 7:20 PM, phil pt <ptaylor2446 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> How can I add a new device descriptor to a exist os9boot using a real coco.
> Can you plese provide the steps to do it?

The best thing for stock OS-9 was to get Burke & Burke’s EZGEN utility. (There is another I have never used that may be better - KWIKGEN I think it is called. I just don’t know how to use it.)

EZGEN could edit a boot file and insert or remove modules. It would either use a temp file, then when done, make that temp file the new boot (slower but safer) or edit the boot file in place (dangerous!). If you screw up, you have a bat boot. But you can do that even with a temp file, but at least you can abort with no harm.

Say you have stuff like this in your boot file:

...
vdgint
term
windint
w0
w1
…

And you wanted to delete w1… You could do something like

ezgen -dm /d0/os9boot

I think that’s -descriptive and -manual.  Then it goes to a prompt and lets you “link” to a module, then go “next” to the next one, etc, and you can “delete” and “insert”.

So I think you’d type something like

l w1
d
q

That would link to w1 so that’s where ezgen was pointing, then delete it, then quit to write it out. You could easily add and change things without ever making a new boot disk.

The software and manual should be on the archive site but if you are starting new, KWIKGEN may be better.

		— Allen