Changes between Version 22 and Version 23 of WikiStart


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Timestamp:
Apr 8, 2017, 4:12:31 AM (8 years ago)
Author:
martini
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  • WikiStart

    v22 v23  
    11= !AirBoot =
    22
    3 == Description ==
    4 Martin Kiewitz Boot Manager with on-the-fly partition detection[[BR]]
     3!AirBoot is a track0 Boot Manager.
    54
    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]]
     5That means it is stored at the very start of the disk, just after the Master Boot Record.
     6
     7!AirBoot is also an interactive Boot Manager, which means it presents a list of Operating Systems in a menu from which the user can select one to boot.
    148
    159== 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]]
     10!AirBoot was initially designed and developed by Martin Kiewitz, back at the time when LBA addressing was just becoming mainstream. Over time, Martin continued to add features and fix reported problems, which resulted in a stable and mature product.
     11
     12When huge harddisks (>512 GiB) became more mainstream, the OS/2 Boot Manager was not capable of correctly handling them.
     13After some investigation, it became clear that !AirBoot would be a very suitable candidate to replace the aging OS/2 Boot Manager, but a few things needed to be fixed first.
     14
     15Martin however, had moved on to other projects and was not developing !AirBoot anymore, but he kindly gave his permission to modify !AirBoot in any way required such that it could replace the OS/2 Boot Manager. With the release of eComStation v2.1 (2011), !AirBoot was ready to replace the OS/2 Boot Manager and so it was included in that release.
     16
     17It is safe to say that !AirBoot saved the day at a time when huge harddisks came along and the fight for primary partitions got worse.
     18
    3619'''Thank you Martin ! '''[[BR]]
    3720
    3821== Some !AirBoot Highlights ==
    3922=== 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]]
     23Because !AirBoot is written in (neat and compact) Assembler, it is small enough to fit in the track0 (nowhereland) space.
     24So, unlike OS/2 Boot Manager, !AirBoot does not require a primary partition, resolving the problem that occured with Windows 7 OEM installations.
     25And since OS/2 has had long time capability of booting from logical partitions, it could completely leave the dogfight for primaries.
    4626
    4727=== 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]]
     28When !AirBoot starts it scans all partitions on all disks and enumerates them in a list which is then presented.
     29Whenever partitions are added or removed, at the next boot !AirBoot presents these changes immediately.
    5230=== 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]]
     31!AirBoot contains a Setup mode which allows configuration directly from within !AirBoot itself.
     32No other tools required.
    5633=== 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]]
     34Under OS/2, huge harddisks are handled by using a special geometry.
     35!AirBoot understands this special geometry, allowing OS/2 to boot from partitions located above the 512 GiB boundary.[[BR]]
    6036=== 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]]
     37While the major focus of !AirBoot is booting OS/2, it has always been capable of booting other operating-systems.
     38It supports booting many versions of Windows and booting Linux is done by chainloading GRUB.
    6539
    6640== 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]]
     41Before installing !AirBoot, it would be a good idea to learn a little bit more about it.
     42This is especially true with regard to partitioning hard disks the way OS/2 likes it (use its volume manager) and the co-existance with other operating-systems.[[BR]]
     43
     44See the section below where to download !AirBoot or view its manual.[[BR]]
    7545
    7646== !AirBoot Downloads ==
    … …  
    10272was not already reported by somebody else:[[BR]]
    10373[http://trac.netlabs.org/air-boot/report][[BR]]
     74
     75== License ==
     76GNU General Public License v3.0
     77
     78== Credits ==
     79* Martin Kiewitz
     80* rousseaux