marz@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (martin.zam) (05/29/91)
Which Palmtops allow you to boot alternative operating systems? I might like to try another version of DOS or QNX for example. A regular desktop will let me boot from floppy, but a Palmtop with DOS in ROM doesn't sound like it can do this. I am thinking about the Poquet PC. Can I do this here? Thanks in advance, Martin Zam (201)564-2554
laird@think.com (Laird Popkin) (05/30/91)
In article <1991May29.132707.16061@cbfsb.att.com> marz@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (martin.zam) writes: >Which Palmtops allow you to boot alternative operating systems? >I might like to try another version of DOS or QNX for example. > >A regular desktop will let me boot from floppy, but a Palmtop >with DOS in ROM doesn't sound like it can do this. > >I am thinking about the Poquet PC. Can I do this here? The Portfolio treats the internal RAM disk as C: and inserted cards as A: so if you reboot with a card installed the Portfolio boots from A:. However, on the Portfolio the operating system files do not appear to be visible in the file system. That is, there is no COMMAND.COM file. This implies that the Portfolio cannot boot an alternate OS, unless that OS can be launched from DOS. I don't know about the Poquet. It boots from cards the same way the Portfolio does. It seems to load DOS when it boots, so it ought to be possible to boot into another OS. Imagine a Poquet running Unix. Hmmm. > Thanks in advance, > Martin Zam > (201)564-2554 - Laird Popkin, Thinking Machines Connection Machine: Massively parallel supercomputer. Also a cool black cube with more blinking lights than you can shake a stick at.