OS4.1FR Classic A4000T Booting Issue

[Acill]

I decided to pull my CD-ROM drive off the internal A4000T SCSI and put it on my CSPPC so I can boot and install the 4.1FE classic install disk. It boots right up using the included boot floppy and I can get to the install screen. I can even choose boot from CD to check it out. It runs well from the CD so I know it is working.

My HD is partitioned into 4 parts. I have two 2GB partitions set as bootable.

DH0: is the first 2GB of the drive and is PFS formated with my 3.9 main install. (Priority is -4)
DH1: is also 2GB and is the 2nd partition. (Priority 74) I changed the file system on it to Smart File System as the manual shows, formatted it after a reboot then installed 4.1FE to it.

Shut down for 15 seconds as the installer tells me, hold both mouse buttons to get to the early boot screen so I can select DH1 as boot device. The colors flash just like they do using the boot floppy, I see the black OS4.1 boot screen come up and it reboots, does it again but hangs on the black screen with the 4.1FE screen just before it would boot from CD if I used the CD to boot. It never access the new drive I installed it to.

Is this because I have it on the 2nd partition and not on the first 4GB of the drive as I just read in the manual? I dont want to have to wipe out my DH0: partition to change it from PFS to SFS if I can do it from the DF1: partition.

[HammerD]

I decided to pull my CD-ROM drive off the internal A4000T SCSI and put it on my CSPPC so I can boot and install the 4.1FE classic install disk. It boots right up using the included boot floppy and I can get to the install screen. I can even choose boot from CD to check it out. It runs well from the CD so I know it is working.

My HD is partitioned into 4 parts. I have two 2GB partitions set as bootable.

DH0: is the first 2GB of the drive and is PFS formated with my 3.9 main install. (Priority is -4)
DH1: is also 2GB and is the 2nd partition. (Priority 74) I changed the file system on it to Smart File System as the manual shows, formatted it after a reboot then installed 4.1FE to it.

Shut down for 15 seconds as the installer tells me, hold both mouse buttons to get to the early boot screen so I can select DH1 as boot device. The colors flash just like they do using the boot floppy, I see the black OS4.1 boot screen come up and it reboots, does it again but hangs on the black screen with the 4.1FE screen just before it would boot from CD if I used the CD to boot. It never access the new drive I installed it to.

Is this because I have it on the 2nd partition and not on the first 4GB of the drive as I just read in the manual? I dont want to have to wipe out my DH0: partition to change it from PFS to SFS if I can do it from the DF1: partition.

It may be the case, yes.  During testing I did not test trying to boot from any partition beyond the 4GB, nor did I test at all with PFS. So it's written pretty "safely" in the manual on what configuration will work - although it may work in your setup.

The biggest issue was setting up SFS properly and setting the right File System identifier.  If that isn't done properly it won't work at all.

Darren

[paul1981]

You said that you installed 4.1 to the DH1 partition, which is 2GB. If this 2GB falls within the first 4GB of the drive then you've done nothing wrong and it's some other problem.

[Acill]

You said that you installed 4.1 to the DH1 partition, which is 2GB. If this 2GB falls within the first 4GB of the drive then you've done nothing wrong and it's some other problem.

Well that blows. Itnis in the first 4GB. I used the file system ID the manuals tells me and set the block size as the manual tells me.  Maybe Ill install again and see. I didnt wait long to see if its just searxhing scsi devices. My 3.9 install takes forever to boot so maybe this does too.

[HammerD]

Well that blows. Itnis in the first 4GB. I used the file system ID the manuals tells me and set the block size as the manual tells me.  Maybe Ill install again and see. I didnt wait long to see if its just searxhing scsi devices. My 3.9 install takes forever to boot so maybe this does too.

Well that blows. Itnis in the first 4GB. I used the file system ID the manuals tells me and set the block size as the manual tells me.  Maybe Ill install again and see. I didnt wait long to see if its just searxhing scsi devices. My 3.9 install takes forever to boot so maybe this does too.

If it's in the first 4GB, setup correctly, and set for the highest boot priority, it should work.  But again we never tested it with a PFS partition present.  Perhaps that is causing grief.  I just don't know.

The other issue is that if you have the wrong version of SFS installed in the RDB, it won't boot.  One that isn't compatible, or not 68k.  That's another gotcha.

You could always try on a clean disk to see if you can get it to work...

[Acill]

Its installed on a SFS partition I made with the OS4.1 CD partition tool. I'll try it on a new disk with only SFS on it later next weekend I guess. I just got done trying again and no luck. As for being set as highest priority its not, but I would think it can be told to boot by selecting that partition in the early startup? It at least gets to the ROM loading if I do that because I see the flashing colors and then the black screen with the AmigOS 4.1 logo through my Radeon, but it reboots after that, repeats and hangs on that black screen.

[Rotzloeffel]

sounds that you load Amiga OS3.9 after the second reboot... you have to enter the startup-menu TWICE ! first loading the kickstart and second time to load OS4.1 again!

[Acill]

sounds that you load Amiga OS3.9 after the second reboot... you have to enter the startup-menu TWICE ! first loading the kickstart and second time to load OS4.1 again!

I'll give it a try and see. Didnt think about that since I see the loading screen for 4.1 and it hangs there.

EDIT:

I got into the 4.1 early start menu just like you said. It starts to boot but I get a Grimm Reaper that mentions to insert volume ENV: now. If I select retry it gives another error and shows something about the PFS volume I have for my 3.9 install. I am thinking it just doesnt like having the pfs volume before it. i get the same errors even if I select to disable that partition in the early startup menu.

[HammerD]

Its installed on a SFS partition I made with the OS4.1 CD partition tool. I'll try it on a new disk with only SFS on it later next weekend I guess. I just got done trying again and no luck. As for being set as highest priority its not, but I would think it can be told to boot by selecting that partition in the early startup? It at least gets to the ROM loading if I do that because I see the flashing colors and then the black screen with the AmigOS 4.1 logo through my Radeon, but it reboots after that, repeats and hangs on that black screen.

It has to be set highest boot priority otherwise after the reset (eg. after the AmigaOS4.1 kernel loads and the PPC takes over), the system will try to boot off the wrong partition.

You can - at that point, kind of right after the system resets and just as the Logo is coming up, hold down both mouse buttons to enter the AmigaOS 4.1 early startup menu and manually select the correct partition, but it is a bit tricky to get that screen and under FE it ONLY displays on the native amiga output (ECS or AGA), never on RTG.  So you will need a 1084S or similar monitor hooked up to the system to see the AmigaOS 4.1 early startup screen...so all in all easier to set the partition with the highest priority ;-)

[Thomas]

Didnt think about that since I see the loading screen for 4.1 and it hangs there.

Run a text editor and enter DH1, then save it as DH1:Kickstart/BootDevice.  Now load DH1:Kickstart/Kicklayout-A4000T (or which ever applies to your machine) into the editor, find the line which reads ;BootDevice and remove the semicolon from it. After saving you should no longer need to enter the boot menu twice.

so all in all easier to set the partition with the highest priority ;-)

You'll have difficulties to boot OS 3.9 if you do this.

[HammerD]

Run a text editor and enter DH1, then save it as DH1:Kickstart/BootDevice.  Now load DH1:Kickstart/Kicklayout-A4000T (or which ever applies to your machine) into the editor, find the line which reads ;BootDevice and remove the semicolon from it. After saving you should no longer need to enter the boot menu twice.

Good point, that will work too

[Acill]

Thomas,  can you clarify on this procedure a bit more? Um not sure I understand it.

HammerD,  I do have a 2nd monitor for the native output I use,  getting to the early startuo isnt a problem.

[Thomas]

OS 4.1 allows you to override boot priorities by specifying the name of the desired boot partition in a text file with the special name BootDevice and adding this file to the Kickstart layout. Once Kickstart 4.1 has been loaded, it will boot from the partition named in the BootDevice file rather than that with the highest boot priority.

[HammerD]

Run a text editor and enter DH1, then save it as DH1:Kickstart/BootDevice.  Now load DH1:Kickstart/Kicklayout-A4000T (or which ever applies to your machine) into the editor, find the line which reads ;BootDevice and remove the semicolon from it. After saving you should no longer need to enter the boot menu twice.





You'll have difficulties to boot OS 3.9 if you do this.

Yes, that is correct. Someone made a script to run to change the priorities, I think it may have even been you.   But I'm not 100% sure.

I always tried to argue to add the functionality to save boot priorities in early startup but sigh...

[Acill]

Well I made the BootDevise text file and cant get it to find the drive I guess. It returns an error and drops to a shell telling me it couldnt locate it. I tried all these formats.

DH1
DH1:
AmigaOS4
AmigaOS4:

It looks like my next step is to just try and use a spare drive and partition the entire thing as Smartfile System and see if it boots from another clean install.