🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <543eaa$7nm@cpcug.org>, kbennett@cpcug.org (Keith Bennett) wrote:

)>Since you are restoring onto a newly formatted drive, you have to initialize
)>the OS/2 boot records, as most back/restore programs only back up files (and
)>hopefully, extended attributes), and NOT the boot sector.
)>
)>With DOS, you would do "SYS C:" to have DOS copy its critical boot and system
)>files to the partition.  In OS/2, the Command is "SYSINSTX C:".  
)
)The problem was solved by low-level formatting the drive.  I never needed
)to run SYSINSTX.  Perhaps Boot Manager created the right boot sector when
)I chose to add the partition to the BM menu.

Close but not quite right.

You probably used OS/2 to format the partition this time around.  See 
explanation below.

DOS FORMAT command creates a DOS boot sector during format and if used 
with /S parameter is also copies system files.

OS/2 FORMAT command creates an OS/2 boot sector during format but does 
not copy any system files.

DOS SYS command creates a DOS boot sector without destroying data and 
also copies system files.

OS/2 SYSINSTX command creates an OS/2 boot sector without destroying 
data but does not copy any system files.  It also "creates" either a FAT
or HPFS version of the OS2BOOT file,  BTW, unless you accidentally screw
something up or happen to use DOS to format what you plan to use as an
OS/2 bootable partition, you should never under normal circumstances
have to use the SYSINSTX command.

Where a lot of people seem to get burned is that they will use DOS to
format a partition they plan to restore a backed up copy of the OS/2
operating system.  If you look at a DOS boot sector you will see
instructions to load either IBMBIO.COM/IBMDOS.COM or IO.SYS/MSDOS.SYS if
you are using either PC-DOS or MS-DOS.  Looking at an OS/2 boot sector
you will see instructions to load OS2BOOT.  Since that information is
not put there by a DOS format the boot process fails.  BTW, using OS/2
to format your DOS boot drive and then restoring a backup of that
partition won't boot either until you SYS the partition.

Incidentally, other than any boot partitions, it doesn't matter whether
you use OS/2 or DOS to format a partition (except for HPFS partitions of
course...grin).  Each operating system will have no problems accessing
partitions formatted by the other.

)Keith Bennett                             Bennett Business Solutions, Inc.


-- 
Ron McGlade - Team OS/2
EMail ID: ronmc     EMail Domain: ibm.net or primenet.com