volkoffb@ratserv.csus.edu (Brian Volkoff) (03/05/91)
Greetings. For the longest time I've wanted to get Minix running on my personal machine, but have never gotten the chance to see if it would run or not. With the demo, I finally did. Sort of. I'm having a bit of a problem with the demo. I have a 1.2MB Teac drive (with a WD controller) in my 386SX. I formatted a disk as 360k, then used RAWRITE to copy the demo onto the disk. Rebooting the computer I would get a panic error, invalid root filesystem or somesuch. I tried using this same disk on three other clones (a 286, and two other 386SXs, all with 1.2MB drives) with no success. Giving up on using the 5.25" drive, I tried formatting a 3.5" disk and writting the demo to it. I rigged up a way of getting a 3.5" disk formatted as a 360k disk, copied it over, and voila! it works. Now my question... why??? Do I really need a 360k drive to use the 5.25" disk (or perhaps, do I need to format the disk on a real 360k drive? -- I have none, so I cannot try this)? Now that I do have Minix running, is that a good indication that the full- blown Minix will work? I'd like to get the system up initially with the least bit of hassle, but I'm willing to hack... thrash more likely :-) on it for hours after I do have it going (or mostly going). Thanks.
twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) (03/06/91)
In article <1991Mar5.055145.7352@csus.edu> volkoffb@ratserv.csus.edu (Brian Volkoff) writes: >Greetings. > >For the longest time I've wanted to get Minix running on my personal machine, >but have never gotten the chance to see if it would run or not. With the >demo, I finally did. Sort of. > >I'm having a bit of a problem with the demo. I have a 1.2MB Teac drive >(with a WD controller) in my 386SX. I formatted a disk as 360k, then used >RAWRITE to copy the demo onto the disk. Rebooting the computer I would >get a panic error, invalid root filesystem or somesuch. I tried using >this same disk on three other clones (a 286, and two other 386SXs, all with >1.2MB drives) with no success. Giving up on using the 5.25" drive, I tried >formatting a 3.5" disk and writting the demo to it. I rigged up a way >of getting a 3.5" disk formatted as a 360k disk, copied it over, and voila! >it works. Now my question... why??? Do I really need a 360k drive to >use the 5.25" disk (or perhaps, do I need to format the disk on a real >360k drive? -- I have none, so I cannot try this)? > >Now that I do have Minix running, is that a good indication that the full- >blown Minix will work? I'd like to get the system up initially with the >least bit of hassle, but I'm willing to hack... thrash more likely :-) on >it for hours after I do have it going (or mostly going). > >Thanks. I too have finally found time to download the demo disk to give it a try. I also have a 1.2 Meg 5.25" on a 386. I've formatted a DD disk as 360k and rawrite the demo disk onto the floppy. I have used the 360k format on my 1.2 Meg for a good 3 years with no problems so that shouldn't be a problem. But like you, I can't get it to work either. What happens with me is I would reboot with the demo disk, the first menu comes up, I choose = and the cursor moves to the next line as if it accepted my command but then just sits there. Then the next key I press, the system reboots. It doesn't matter how long I wait or what keys I pressed (including F3), I hangs and when I pressed a key, it reboots. I tried changing the root device to f0 instead of the default ram disk and same thing. It onlu hangs after the = or u or any of the start commmand. I have a 386, ati ega wonder, 1.2 Meg 5.25" and a 1.44 Meg 3.5". Any suggestions? Thanks. Thomas.
danr@ais.org (Daniel Romanchik) (03/07/91)
In article <1991Mar5.214921.1010@unixg.ubc.ca> twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) writes: > >I too have finally found time to download the demo disk to give it a >try. I also have a 1.2 Meg 5.25" on a 386. I've formatted a DD disk >as 360k and rawrite the demo disk onto the floppy. I have used the 360k >format on my 1.2 Meg for a good 3 years with no problems so that >shouldn't be a problem. But like you, I can't get it to work either. >What happens with me is I would reboot with the demo disk, the first >menu comes up, I choose = and the cursor moves to the next line as if it >accepted my command but then just sits there. Then the next key I press, >the system reboots. It doesn't matter how long I wait or what keys I >pressed (including F3), I hangs and when I pressed a key, it reboots. I >tried changing the root device to f0 instead of the default ram disk and >same thing. It onlu hangs after the = or u or any of the start commmand. >I have a 386, ati ega wonder, 1.2 Meg 5.25" and a 1.44 Meg 3.5". >Any suggestions? Thanks. > >Thomas . What may be happening is that once minix boots up it is looking for files on the A: drive. If you computer is like mine, the 3.5" drive is the A: drive. I put the demo on a 3.5" drive and rebooted, and everything ran fine. Good Luck, Dan
ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) (03/07/91)
In article <1991Mar5.214921.1010@unixg.ubc.ca> twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) writes: >What happens with me is I would reboot with the demo disk, the first >menu comes up, I choose = and the cursor moves to the next line as if it >accepted my command but then just sits there. I'm surprised at this behavior and don't know what is causing it. I do know that MINIX regards a 360K diskette in a 1.2M drive as a quite different beast than a 360K diskette in a 360K drive or a 1.2M diskette in a 1.2M drive. These combinations all have different minor device numbers. Perhaps the problem is related to this somehow. Could the people who have had this problem do the following: 1. Format a 360K DD diskette on a 360K drive (i.e., a friend's machine). In theory, formating a DD diskette as 360K on a 1.2M drive is not really supposed to work due to the different drive head width. 2. Copy the demo file to the 360K diskette. 3. Try booting it on a friend's machine that actually has a 360K drive. Better yet, if possible, do everything on a machine with a 360K drive, and then try booting the 360K disk on the machine with only a 1.2M drive. Then post a message to the net reporting the results. My suspicion is that there is something wrong with the use of 360K diskettes in 1.2M drives, but I don't know what. Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)
taylor-d@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Douglas Taylor) (03/07/91)
In article <9229@star.cs.vu.nl> ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) writes:
%Better yet, if possible, do everything on a machine with a 360K drive, and
%then try booting the 360K disk on the machine with only a 1.2M drive. Then
%post a message to the net reporting the results. My suspicion is that there
%is something wrong with the use of 360K diskettes in 1.2M drives, but I don't
%know what.
%
%Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)
I just installed the Minix demo on my machine (CompuAdd 286-10) as follows:
1. Formatted 360K disk in my 360K drive (drive B:)
2. Copied demo file to the disk (drive C: -> drive B:) using rawrite.exe
3. Put disk in drive A: (1.2 M) and rebooted.
I haven't done much more than boot up the system and peek at the various
directories, but so far I have had no problems whatsoever.
--
Doug Taylor | Nothing real can be threatened.
The Ohio State University | Nothing unreal exists.
doug_taylor@osu.edu | - A Course in Miraclestwong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) (03/08/91)
In article <4BN-4T#@irie.ais.org> danr@ais.org (Daniel Romanchik) writes: > What may be happening is that once minix boots up it is looking for >files on the A: drive. If you computer is like mine, the 3.5" drive >is the A: drive. I put the demo on a 3.5" drive and rebooted, >and everything ran fine. > No, My 1.44 Mb drive is drive A:. Good point though. Thomas.
twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) (03/08/91)
In article <1991Mar7.171259.28779@unixg.ubc.ca> twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) writes: >In article <4BN-4T#@irie.ais.org> danr@ais.org (Daniel Romanchik) writes: >> What may be happening is that once minix boots up it is looking for >>files on the A: drive. If you computer is like mine, the 3.5" drive >>is the A: drive. I put the demo on a 3.5" drive and rebooted, >>and everything ran fine. >> >No, My 1.44 Mb drive is drive A:. Good point though. ^^^^^^^ Ooops, have to correct myself. I have a 1.2Mb in Drive A: and a 1.44 Mb in Drive b:. But I'll try things on a 360K drive as suggested before. Thomas.
twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) (03/08/91)
In article <1991Mar7.130127.23132@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> taylor-d@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Douglas Taylor) writes: > >I just installed the Minix demo on my machine (CompuAdd 286-10) as follows: > >1. Formatted 360K disk in my 360K drive (drive B:) >2. Copied demo file to the disk (drive C: -> drive B:) using rawrite.exe >3. Put disk in drive A: (1.2 M) and rebooted. > >I haven't done much more than boot up the system and peek at the various >directories, but so far I have had no problems whatsoever. OK, I've tried this. I went to an old XT we have lying around with 360K drives. Formatted a disk on the 360K, rawrite to the disk, ran (rebooted) it on the XT and pow, she works! So I grab the disk, rushed over to my 386, put it into my 1.2Mb drive a:, rebooted, no go. As with before, it dies after I press the "=". The cursor moves to the next line, the next key I press reboots. That's strange because I've been using my 1.2Mb for 360K disk for a good 3 years (in fact, 90% of the disks we have are 360K. A bunch of the machines in our department are still XTs. I only use 1.2Mb for backups. And even then, I use 1.44Mb more than 1.2Mb) Oh well, Minix is not DOS so maybe 360K on a 1.2Mb with Minix is a no go. But the disk works on a true 360K though. Better figure out a work around because I suspect most new systems people are puchaseing (386s, 486s) will have a 1.2Mb instead of a 369K floppy drive. Thomas.
kjh@pollux.usc.edu (Kenneth J. Hendrickson) (03/08/91)
In article <9229@star.cs.vu.nl> ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) writes: > 1. Format a 360K DD diskette on a 360K drive (i.e., a friend's machine). > In theory, formating a DD diskette as 360K on a 1.2M drive is not really > supposed to work due to the different drive head width. There are only two problems that could occur using a 360k disk in a 1.2M drive: 1 Software could try to read from a track larger than 39. 360k disks only have 40 tracks of 9 sectors/track. 2 If you write to a 360k disk on a 360k drive, and then write to the disk on a 1.2M drive, you may have problems using the disk again on a 360k drive. This is because of the wide/narrow head problem. There will never be a problem using a 360k disk on a 1.2M drive due to head width, regardless of where the disk was previously used. Problem 2 can and will occur independent of operating system. Problem 1 will never occur in DOS. It does occur in the current bootblok for Minix. I suggest that a config program be put in the tools directory, so that the correct bootblok can be used for the boot disk being made. Disks are only of one type (a 360k disk will never become a 720k disk :-) and one knows what type of disk he is using when he makes a boot disk. I have posted my cdiffs for this before, and I will do so again upon request, if they haven't gotten into somebodies archives. -- favourite oxymorons: student athlete, military justice, mercy killing Ken Hendrickson N8DGN/6 kjh@usc.edu ...!uunet!usc!pollux!kjh
Paul.Northover@dundee.ncr.com (03/08/91)
In an article Andy Tanenbaum <ast%CS.VU.NL@VM1.NODAK.EDU> writes: >In article <1991Mar5.214921.1010@unixg.ubc.ca> twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) > writes: >>What happens with me is I would reboot with the demo disk, the first >>menu comes up, I choose = and the cursor moves to the next line as if it >>accepted my command but then just sits there. > >I'm surprised at this behavior and don't know what is causing it. I do know >that MINIX regards a 360K diskette in a 1.2M drive as a quite different >beast than a 360K diskette in a 360K drive or a 1.2M diskette in a 1.2M drive. >These combinations all have different minor device numbers. Perhaps the >problem is related to this somehow. I have tried the following: 1. Formatted a 360K diskette in a 1.2M drive, I have an entry in my congig.sys to create drive 'D:' as a 360K drive so I just have to enter 'format D:' to make a 360K drive. I then wrote the demo to it using RAWFILL, which was posted to the group a few weeks ago. This disk was then booted up and ran fine, all this was done on an NCR 286 based AT clone. 2. I took the disk created in 1 and booted it in an NCR 386 machine with a 1.2M drive as drive A. It brought up the initial menu and I selected '='. Almost immediately minix crashed with a kernel panic. 3. I repeated the process in 1 above, but this time on an NCR 286 machine with a 1.44M drive A. This time I formatted a 720K diskette and again it booted without any problems. Incedentally I did format the diskette to 720K, it wasn't necessary in my case to try and make it format as 360K. 4. I took the disk created in 2 and booted it in an NCR 386 machine with a 1.44M drive A. Again I got a kernel panic after pressing '='. The summary of all this is that I only had problems booting the demo on 386 based machines, and the problem appears to occur when minix attempts to load the root file system from the demo disk. As others have loaded full minix on to 386 based machine the only explanation I can think of is that it is related to the combination of boot disk and minix file system on a single disk. I can't take it any further myself as I have ST-MINIX :-), so I have no access to PC-MINIX sources. Hope this will be of some help in solving this problem. Paul Northover <Paul.Northover@Dundee.NCR.COM> NCR Self Service Systems Dundee Scotland
timborn@cbnewsd.att.com (timothy.d.born) (03/08/91)
In article <9229@star.cs.vu.nl>, ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) writes: > > Better yet, if possible, do everything on a machine with a 360K drive, and > then try booting the 360K disk on the machine with only a 1.2M drive. Then > post a message to the net reporting the results. My suspicion is that there > is something wrong with the use of 360K diskettes in 1.2M drives, but I don't > know what. > > Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl) Formatted a 360K floppy on a 360K drive, wrote the demo to the floppy using that same drive, booted off of a 1.2Mb drive and it worked just fine. FYI -tim timborn@att.com
muir@convex.com (David Muir) (03/11/91)
In <1991Mar8.133927.12894@cbnewsd.att.com> timborn@cbnewsd.att.com (timothy.d.born) writes: >In article <9229@star.cs.vu.nl>, ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum) writes: >> >> Better yet, if possible, do everything on a machine with a 360K drive, and >> then try booting the 360K disk on the machine with only a 1.2M drive. Then >> post a message to the net reporting the results. My suspicion is that there >> is something wrong with the use of 360K diskettes in 1.2M drives, but I don't >> know what. >> >> Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl) >Formatted a 360K floppy on a 360K drive, wrote the demo to the floppy >using that same drive, booted off of a 1.2Mb drive and it worked just fine. >FYI >-tim >timborn@att.com I second the motion. I did exactly the same thing and it works for me. * Dave *
cheangkk@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Pitt Cheang) (03/13/91)
After reading so much about minix demo, could someone tell me where to get
this demo from ?
Minix sounds interesting..
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