Hi Jacques et al; On Sun, 2007-10-21 at 17:56 -0400, Jacques B. wrote: [snip] > > 2) How BIOS originally writes disk and partition locations to the MBR > > or after installing a new harddisk. It must have some BIOS info even if > > 'fdisk', 'parted' or 'mkfs' are used as part of the installation. I > > don't know if these are even involved but I plan to check. I believe that the easiest way to get at what is happening regarding the MBR is to figure out what happens with a virgin hard drive. So... If I have just installed a new drive on a new machine, how do I configure the drive (before partitioning) so that it has a MBR. Suppose I am offering customers an option of Operating Systems that will be installed after they make their choice of systems. At that time I will install the appropriate partitions and file systems. Can I put a MBR on a drive without formatting the rest? If so, how do I do it and what program do I use? fdisk or parted have no mention of a MBR. MS-fdisk has a hidden /mbr switch for reinstalling or patching a broken MBR, but that is all I can find. > > 3) What code system it uses to designate disks and partitions. I have > > found three or four sites that break down the meaning of binary code bit > > by bit. That needs study. If you are interested; a detailed bit by bit explanation: "MBR" http://www.ata-atapi.com/hiwmbr.htm "Part Table" http://www.ata-atapi.com/hiwtab.htm Originally suggested by Mike Wright. I have an additional 10 - 20 pages cut and pasted as explanations; from poweron to init. I would be glad to share it in its raw form; or send you what I've got after I have cleaned it up into something readable. > Thanks Bill. I re-googled the Linux boot process and one of the > references I found a while back that I re-found is: > http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-linuxboot/index.html > > Being from IBM it has more credibility than an individual's personal > site (not to devalue the latter, just that one must always assess the > credibility of online sources/resources). > > Another is from RedHat at > http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/ref-guide/s1-boot-init-shutdown-process.html > I don't believe I had read that one. Must go back and read that when > I have to get my head back into the boot process. > > I also came across http://oldfield.wattle.id.au/luv/boot.html today > which I hadn't looked at before. It's very simplified. I haven't > scrutinized it yet for accuracy and I don't recognize the domain as a > trusted source so take it accordingly. > > And this one http://itreviews.blogspot.com/2006/05/linuxs-boot-process-explained.html > is a personal blog. Again we must take it with a grain of salt. > There are a number of feedback postings on it which can help either > validate or question some of the blogster's facts. > Checked out those sites. Most are repetitive and don't really drill down to the hardware level, where after all, for boot loading most of the action is taking place. There is nothing very abstract about this process. Going up an abstraction layer obfuscates, not clarifies, MBRs. -- Regards Bill
