Re: Booting VSTa

> From: Andrew Valencia <vandys@cisco.com>
>
> [Dave Hudson <dave@humbug.demon.co.uk> writes:]
>
> >want 2 or more images on a floppy. Under Linux with all of the device
> >support in one 400k compressed kernel I only need one kernel image, but I
> >soon run out of space doing this with VSTa since the kernel and boot servers
> >are loaded below 640k.
>
> Please remember that your boot servers should *only* be a disk driver, and
> a filesystem. You can run all other drivers off the filesystem, as well as
> any other filesystems. This is why I didn't add > 1M support for my boot
> loader--if you're loading that much on boot, you're not taking advantage
> of a microkernel's abilities.

There are two related issues:
 - a simple boot disk/procedure for normal use, and
 - a standalone boot method for handling systems where problems have occured
   [ ie a corrupted FS ]

It would be nice if the boot procedure could be the same for both uses.
And the second case potentially needs many more boot time servers, since it is
not guaranteed that they will be loadable from the normal medium.

I have some preference for a separate BFS partition
 - we want a special list of sectors to load, lets not duplicate the work that
   partitions already do in isolating and identifying sectors.

Since a great deal of flexibility exists in what is placed on the BFS
(from almost nothing to almost everything ;) and the space is not necessarily
wasted I like the added security of having boot code in a guaranteed
stable/clean partition.

FWIW SVR4 uses/requires a BFS.

- JonT

-- 
Jonathon Earnshaw Tidswell            | Telephone:  +61 2 957 3549
Hydrographic Sciences Australia P/L   | Facsimile:  +61 2 959 3594
PO Box 85 Cammeray NSW Australia 2062 | E-mail:     jont@hsa.com.au
Disclaimer: I think my thoughts are my own, and I believe my writings are too.
"These are my opinions, others may have similar ones, but these are MINE."