[Coco] NitrOS-9 Cobbler Problems

Mon Jan 4 03:29:28 EST 2010

Bob Devries wrote:
> Hmm,
> It's entirely possible that HDB-DOS will only work with a single-sided 
> (35 track?) virtual disk. In that case the sector with $4F53 in it 
> will be at sector $264. I haven't had any experience with HDB-DOS.
>
> DECB looks for the boot track at track 35 sector 1 side 1, regardless 
> of the type of floppy is in the drive.
>
> How about making the 720k descriptor into a single-sided one, format 
> it, and re-doing the cobbler? To keep the same disk size, you would 
> need to change the number of sides from 2 to 1, and the number of 
> tracks from 80 to 160.
>

I tried the mb-dw script, unmodified, and it created a single-sided disk 
image that has over 1000 tracks.  The boot record was apparently in a 
different location from $4C8.  But it still didn't boot.  I'm now going 
to hack up a copy of one of the disk images that comes with Drivewire, 
erase all extraneous stuff, and put the slideshow on that.  If that 
doesn't boot, I really don't understand what's going on...

JCE

> Regards, Bob Devries
>
> -- 
> Besides a mathematical inclination, an exceptionally good mastery of 
> one's native tongue is the most vital asset of a competent programmer.
>
> Edsger W.Dijkstra, 18 June 1975
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joel Ewy" <jcewy at swbell.net>
> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 4:41 PM
> Subject: Re: [Coco] NitrOS-9 Cobbler Problems
>
>
>> Bob Devries wrote:
>>> Yes, Joel,
>>>
>>> You can use 'ded' to access the disk this way:
>>>
>>> ded /dx@
>>>
>>> Where x is the drive number where your virtual disk resides. Then 
>>> use the 'S' command and type 4C8 in response to the 'SECTOR =' 
>>> question. 'Q' quits back to the command line prompt after the 
>>> ubiquitous 'are you sure' prompt.
>>>
>>
>> Ok, I'm coming to the conclusion that the bootable disk images made 
>> for Drivewire don't have the boot block in the same place as a floppy 
>> disk.  I just tried running the mb.dw3 script to make a new bootable 
>> disk image. However, I used it on an existing, blank, 720K disk image 
>> and I modified the script so it wouldn't format the image file.  On 
>> that disk image, and on the one I had made previously with Cobbler, 
>> sector $4C8 begins with $4F53 as we expect.  And neither image boots 
>> from HDB-DOS at cold start.
>>
>> I examined sector $4C8 on two different NitrOS9 Drivewire 
>> distribution images, and in neither case did I find $4F53.  So 
>> apparently HDB-DOS expects to find the boot block in a different 
>> place when it boots from a Drivewire server than when booting from a 
>> floppy disk.
>>
>> I guess there's no reason my disk image has to map exactly to a 
>> floppy disk for the Drivewire version, as long as the data I'm 
>> putting on the disk can fit on a differently-constituted bootable 
>> floppy image, which I'm now realizing will have to be developed 
>> separately.  Hmmph.
>>
>> JCE
>>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Besides a mathematical inclination, an exceptionally good mastery of 
>>> one's native tongue is the most vital asset of a competent programmer.
>>>
>>> Edsger W.Dijkstra, 18 June 1975
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joel Ewy" <jcewy at swbell.net>
>>> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>>> Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 3:58 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [Coco] NitrOS-9 Cobbler Problems
>>>
>>>
>>>> Bob Devries wrote:
>>>>> If cobbler has done its job right, then you shoul see $4F53 at the 
>>>>> beginning of sector $4C8 on a 720K disk.
>>>>>
>>>>> If it's not there, then cobbler failed somehow.
>>>>>
>>>>> Be sure that your descriptors are properly set before you use 
>>>>> cobbler.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm assuming you're using a virtual disk with HDB-DOS? Do you have 
>>>>> the DRIVE ON/OFF command set to make drive 0 the virtual drive 
>>>>> instead of the real one?
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for the response, Bob.
>>>> I'm using only virtual disks at this point, though I have been able 
>>>> to access the real floppy drives using the /d0 and /d1 device 
>>>> descriptors. I wouldn't think that HDB-DOS' DRIVE ON/OFF command 
>>>> would have any play in OS-9.  But in any case, I'm booting OS-9 
>>>> immediately on power-up, so I don't think that's relevant.
>>>>
>>>> I'm not quite sure how to check the contents of sector $4C8.  Would 
>>>> that be the proper LSN if I use 'ded' on the whole disk?
>>>>
>>>> JCE
>>>>
>>>>> I'm sure there's other issues, but that's all I can think of right 
>>>>> now.
>>>>>
>>>>> -- 
>>>>> Besides a mathematical inclination, an exceptionally good mastery 
>>>>> of one's native tongue is the most vital asset of a competent 
>>>>> programmer.
>>>>>
>>>>> Edsger W.Dijkstra, 18 June 1975
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joel Ewy" <jcewy at swbell.net>
>>>>> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>>>>> Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 3:08 PM
>>>>> Subject: [Coco] NitrOS-9 Cobbler Problems
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hey everybody,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I've been working on a demonstration of using 8-bit composite 
>>>>>> (NTSC) artifact colors that I'd like to distribute as a 720K 
>>>>>> NitrOS-9 disk image file, bootable over Drivewire 3.  (I may also 
>>>>>> make a version that will boot from a regular 720K floppy.)  The 
>>>>>> slideshow is all ready to go, but I'm having problems making a 
>>>>>> bootable disk image.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I started with a NitrOS-9 image file that, IIRC, was distributed 
>>>>>> with Drivewire.  It is 'nos6809l2.dsk'.  I made some other disk 
>>>>>> image files using the Toolshed tools (os9 format -ds -t80 
>>>>>> diskname.dsk) and copied my converted image files onto them, then 
>>>>>> loaded them up into the Drivewire server.  No problem.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Then I made another blank image the same way, and immediately 
>>>>>> used cobbler to put an OS9Boot file on the disk.  Doesn't cobbler 
>>>>>> add the proper code to the boot track?  I copied a shell, merged 
>>>>>> with a few utilities, grfdrv, and sysgo.  I tested it by hitting 
>>>>>> reset, and (after I got all the appropriate files copied) it 
>>>>>> seemed to boot and run the slideshow.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> However it doesn't boot cold.  After typing 'DOS' HDB-DOS simply 
>>>>>> returns to the 'OK' prompt.  So it seems as if the boot track is 
>>>>>> not being laid down.  I tried 'os9gen -q=os9boot' and I tried 
>>>>>> deleting the OS9Boot file and re-running cobbler, but neither of 
>>>>>> these things made any difference. What am I forgetting?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm almost done with this demo... So close...  Need to get some 
>>>>>> other work done... :-)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> JCE
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -- 
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>>>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>>>>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>>>>
>>>>>
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