| 6 | | With the introduction of newer Windows versions (Vista/7), that use a separate boot-partition,[[BR]] |
| 7 | | problems occured when using IBM Boot Manager, the default boot-manager supplied with eComStation.[[BR]] |
| 8 | | Also the introduction of huge harddisks (>502GiB) caused compatibility issues. |
| | 6 | == Welcome == |
| | 7 | AirBoot is a track0 Boot Manager.[[BR]] |
| | 8 | That means it is stored at the very start of the disk,[[BR]] |
| | 9 | just after the Master Boot Record.[[BR]] |
| | 10 | [[BR]] |
| | 11 | AirBoot is also an interactive Boot Manager,[[BR]] |
| | 12 | which means it presents a list of Operating Systems in a menu[[BR]] |
| | 13 | from which the user can select one to boot.[[BR]] |
| 10 | | While the v1.06 version of AiR-BOOT could almost be used as a replacement for the aging IBM-BM,[[BR]] |
| 11 | | a couple of things needed to be fixed. |
| | 15 | == A Little History == |
| | 16 | AirBoot was initially designed and developed by Martin Kiewitz,[[BR]] |
| | 17 | back at the time when LBA addressing was just becoming mainstream.[[BR]] |
| | 18 | Over time, Martin continued to add features and fix reported problems,[[BR]] |
| | 19 | which resulted in a stable and mature product.[[BR]] |
| | 20 | [[BR]] |
| | 21 | When huge harddisks (>512 GiB) became more mainstream,[[BR]] |
| | 22 | the OS/2 Boot Manager was not capable of correctly handling them.[[BR]] |
| | 23 | After some investigation, it became clear that AirBoot would be a very[[BR]] |
| | 24 | suitable candidate to replace the aging OS/2 Boot Manager,[[BR]] |
| | 25 | but a few things needed to be fixed first.[[BR]] |
| | 26 | [[BR]] |
| | 27 | Martin however, had moved on to other projects and was not[[BR]] |
| | 28 | developing AirBoot anymore, but he kindly gave his permission to modify[[BR]] |
| | 29 | AirBoot in any way required such that it could replace the OS/2 Boot Manager.[[BR]] |
| | 30 | With the release of eComStation v2.1 (2011), AirBoot was ready to replace[[BR]] |
| | 31 | the OS/2 Boot Manager and so it was included in that release.[[BR]] |
| | 32 | [[BR]] |
| | 33 | It is safe to say that AirBoot saved the day at a time when[[BR]] |
| | 34 | huge harddisks came along and the fight for primary partitions got worse.[[BR]] |
| | 35 | [[BR]] |
| | 36 | '''Thank you Martin ! '''[[BR]] |
| 13 | | This was done upon the v1.06 code-base resulting in v1.07.[[BR]] |
| 14 | | With the release of eComStation v2.1, AiR-BOOT replaces IBM Boot Manager. |
| | 38 | == Some AirBoot Highlights == |
| | 39 | === No Primary Partition Required === |
| | 40 | Because AirBoot is written in (neat and compact) Assembler,[[BR]] |
| | 41 | it is small enough to fit in the track0 (nowhereland) space.[[BR]] |
| | 42 | So, unlike OS/2 Boot Manager, AirBoot does not require a primary partition,[[BR]] |
| | 43 | resolving the problem that occured with Windows 7 OEM installations.[[BR]] |
| | 44 | And since OS/2 has had long time capability of booting from logical partitions,[[BR]] |
| | 45 | it could completely leave the dogfight for primaries.[[BR]] |
| 16 | | AiR-BOOT is in active development to enhance it's functionality and user experience.[[BR]] |
| 17 | | It's goal is to have all operating-systems, great-and-small, peacefully live together on your disks. |
| | 47 | === On The Fly Partition Scanning === |
| | 48 | When AirBoot starts it scans all partitions[[BR]] |
| | 49 | on all disks and enumerates them in a list which is then presented.[[BR]] |
| | 50 | Whenever partitions are added or removed,[[BR]] |
| | 51 | at the next boot AirBoot presents these changes immediately.[[BR]] |
| | 52 | === Built-in Setup === |
| | 53 | AirBoot contains a Setup mode which allows[[BR]] |
| | 54 | configuration directly from within AirBoot itself.[[BR]] |
| | 55 | No other tools required.[[BR]] |
| | 56 | === Support For Huge Harddisks === |
| | 57 | Under OS/2, huge harddisks are handled by using a special geometry.[[BR]] |
| | 58 | AirBoot understands this special geometry, allowing OS/2 to boot from[[BR]] |
| | 59 | partitions located above the 512 GiB boundary.[[BR]] |
| | 60 | === Operating System Agnostic === |
| | 61 | While the major focus of AirBoot is booting OS/2,[[BR]] |
| | 62 | it has always been capable of booting other operating-systems.[[BR]] |
| | 63 | It supports booting many versions of Windows and booting Linux is[[BR]] |
| | 64 | done by chainloading GRUB.[[BR]] |
| 19 | | == Downloads == |
| | 66 | == Before Using AirBoot == |
| | 67 | Before installing AirBoot,[[BR]] |
| | 68 | it would be a good idea to learn a little bit more about it.[[BR]] |
| | 69 | This is especially true with regard to partitioning harddisks the way[[BR]] |
| | 70 | OS/2 likes it (use its volume manager) and the co-existance[[BR]] |
| | 71 | with other operating-systems.[[BR]] |
| | 72 | [[BR]] |
| | 73 | See the section below where[[BR]] |
| | 74 | to download AirBoot or view its manual.[[BR]] |
| 29 | | AiR-BOOT is a [http://www.netlabs.org Netlabs] project. |
| 30 | | The project URL is [wiki:/ "AiR-BOOT"] |
| 31 | | |
| 32 | | The maintainers monitor usual eComStation mailing lists and newsgroups. |
| 33 | | |
| 34 | | You must be logged into TRAC to create tickets. |
| 35 | | Please login with your [http://www.netlabs.org Netlabs] login id. |
| 36 | | If you do not have a login id, you can request one at http://www.netlabs.org/en/site/member/member.xml. |
| 37 | | If you have troubles acquiring a [http://www.netlabs.org Netlabs] login id send an e-mail to |
| 38 | | {{{ |
| 39 | | #!html |
| 40 | | <a class="mail-link" href="mailto:community@netlabs.org"><span class="icon"> </span>Netlabs Community Mailing List (community at netlabs.org)</a> |
| 41 | | }}} |
| 42 | | |
| 43 | | == License == |
| 44 | | Air-boot is open source software under the GNU GPL V3+ license. |
| 45 | | |
| 46 | | == Problems == |
| 47 | | If you encounter problems while using AiR-BOOT, please submit a ticket at the link below.[[BR]] |
| 48 | | (Be sure to state the version you are using)[[BR]] |
| 49 | | [http://svn.netlabs.org/air-boot/newticket][[BR]] |
| 50 | | For questions and / or suggestions you can e-mail to: rousseau.ecsdev#at#gmail.com[[BR]] |
| 51 | | |
| 52 | | == Original Author == |
| 53 | | '''Martin Kiewitz'''[[BR]] |
| 54 | | The last version by the hand of Martin:[[BR]] |
| 55 | | [http://sourceforge.net/projects/air-boot/files/AiR-BOOT/v1.06/ AiR-BOOT v1.06 (2009/06/08)][[BR]][[BR]] |
| | 94 | === Reporting Problems === |
| | 95 | The preferred way is through Netlabs Track,[[BR]] |
| | 96 | and you can create a new ticket using the following link:[[BR]] |
| | 97 | [http://trac.netlabs.org/air-boot/newticket][[BR]] |
| | 98 | (note: you need to be logged-in to netlabs to create a ticket)[[BR]] |
| | 99 | [[BR]] |
| | 100 | But, before you report a new problem,[[BR]] |
| | 101 | please check if the problem you are about to report[[BR]] |
| | 102 | was not already reported by somebody else:[[BR]] |
| | 103 | [http://trac.netlabs.org/air-boot/report][[BR]] |
