So you have Minix and want to make it a little easier, a little friendlier
to start up and run?  You pathetic fool. Well, this file is meant to help.
what are the odds of that actually happening? Not good.  Well, here goes
nothing.

	MXboot is intended (aren't you beginning to hate that word?) as a
very simple, very reliable program to select which system to boot, at what
hard drive/partition.  If it works for you, it can save you hours of disk-
swapping.  This file is a boiled-down installation guide, NOT a technical
reference document. 

	Make sure you have all the files you're supposed to have.  
		
		mxboot.x
		mxinstall.c
		mxpack.dif
		assistIPL.x
		fdisk.dif
		makefile
	
	These are the files you cannot live without. Files you can very easily
live without are:
	
		README.1ST (this file)
		mxbootpc.doc (translated from japanese--barely)

	Change your "makefile" real quick. The first or so line should read
		#define ROOTDEV = /dev/hdN
where N is the partition you want to boot from. And LAST WARNING!!! Back up
your drives. BOTH Minix and MS-DOS or on your own head be it. Nice disclaimer?

	All set? Good. I knew that you would be.  All files except fdisk.dif
should be stuck in the /usr/src/tools directory. Stick fdisk.dif in the
/usr/src/commands/ibm directory. And while you're there, you might as well
make your new fdisk command, right?  Enter:

		# patch < fdisk.dif

This will create a new fdisk.c file by installing changes in the old one.
Clever, huh?  Wait until it actually compiles before you say yes. Now, 
compile.

		# cc -i -o fdisk -D_MINIX -D_POSIX_SOURCE fdisk.c

And do it over and over until you enter it with no typos.  If it works, you
will now have a file "fdisk" in this directory. Try it out. Use it exactly
like the old one. (Since it's not in /usr/bin or /bin you gotta specify
this directory. That's what the little "./" is for. Like you didn't already
know.)

		# ./fdisk -sXX -hX /dev/hdN

You will get the menu. Enter an "h" to check for the "x" command.  There?
Good.  Might as well make your root device active with "a" if not already
(mine wasn't. I did this, and other than the "A" appearing next to the
partition information, there was no effect). If you made a change, save the
new partition table with "w", boot, and continue.
	And also, think about moving this version of fdisk to your /usr/bin
directory.
	Now, go back to the /usr/src/tools directory.  Install the mxpack.dif
changes. But first move menu1.s and bootblok.s to menu1.x and bootblok.x.

		# patch <mxpack.dif

Great.  Now check to see if the following files are present. If so, rm them.

		# rm bootblok
		# rm menu
		# rm image

And make new ones!
	
		# make bootblok
		# make menu
		# make image

That last one will ask you for a blank floppy.  Give it one. Make it happy.
Then copy that disk to a file in your root directory:

		# mkdir /system
		# dd if=/dev/fd0 of=/system/minix.sys count=360

By the way, "count=360" specifies a file of length 180k. When you "made image"
I really hope it told you your boot file was smaller than that. If not, divide
the actual size by 1k then multiply by 2. E.g., for a 192k boot disk (the size
reported when you made the disk) count would be 384. Understand? 

	Okay! Doing good.  Now you need to make 2 more files. Make sure you
have editted and changed ROOTDEV in "makefile" to your (pray!) root device.

		# make mxinstall
		# make mxboot

That last one should copy "mxboot" right into your root partition. If not,
you will have to do it yourself.

		# mxinstall /dev/hdN mxboot

	Feeling brave? Or would you like to be cautious? Wimp! Fine. Here's
the time-wasting procedure. Feel free to skip this one. Of course, I assume
no liability for any damages which may occur either directly or as a 
consequence of following my advice.

		# make FDassist

You will be asked for another blank floppy.  Is this getting to be a problem?
Hey, YOU'RE the one who wanted to be a sissy!  Now boot your PC.  If you just
sit back and watch, you'll see no difference.  MS-DOS will probably boot as
if you didn't just spend 20 minutes working on this. Don't get upset yet, and
don't take that tone with me!  This is GOOD.  Boot again. <Ctl><Alt><Del> for
you Mac-types.  THIS TIME, hold down your <Shift> key while you're booting.
See a difference?  If not, you might as well quit. Nothing is going right.
If you're semi-fortunate (and if you've installed Minix, that's as good as it
gets) you will now have a very weak and simple menu. At the top will be the
current HD. Enter "0" to change (if you, like me, have 2 HDs) or select a
partition to boot from. Is your  root device on /dev/hd2? Select 2 then! Or
are you a thrillseeker, and going off of /dev/hd7? Select "0" to get to HD2
and then select 2. Simple. <End> or <Enter> will slam your choice home.
Are you extremely lucky? If so, your Minix partition will boot instantly.
If not, go back and try again. Dammit.

	What? It worked? You want to go for the Golden Fleece? The no-floppy
whatsoever boot? Brave person!! You got guts, kid. You realize this will call
for a small change to your hard drive partition table? You don't care? Good!!
Enter:
		# make assistIPL
		# fdisk -sXX -hX /dev/hd0   (Yes, hd0!)

Now you're in the fdisk command mode.  Enter an "x" and come up with some
spur-of-the-moment name for your old ipl file like, oh...old.ipl.  Then
enter "assistIPL" for your new one.  It will ask you something about sorting
(Y/N). I entered "n".  I have no  idea what this is about, but "n" worked
for me.  Now enter a "w" to make the changes.

	That's all. You're done. Try it out.  It should work. SHOULD. And
you shouldn't have to restore all your files for the next 2 hours. Maybe.
I didn't.  Maybe I got lucky.  I hope you did.

SUMMARY OF STEPS:

	1. Make sure you have all the files.

	2. Change ROOTDEV line in "makefile" to "#define ROOTDEV /dev/hdX"

	3. Backup all drives, all systems.

	4. Place "fdisk.dif" in /usr/src/commands/ibm and the rest in 
	   /usr/src/tools.

	5. Patch in the changes to fdisk with "patch <fdisk.dif" while in
	   the /usr/src/commands/ibm directory.

	6. Recompile "fdisk" with "cc -i -o fdisk -D_MINIX -D_POSIX_SOURCE
	   fdisk.c"
    
          6a. Try out the new fdisk program. Use "h" to verify you now
	      have the "x" command, and use "a" to activate your root
              directory if not alread active.

	7. In the /usr/src/tools directory enter: "patch <mxpack.dif"

	8. If present, rm "bootblok" "menu" and "image".

	9. Enter "make FILE" where FILE is "menu" "bootblok" and "image".

	10. Copy your new boot disk to /system/minix.sys with "dd if=/dev/fd0
	   of=/system/minix.sys count=360"

	11. Enter "make FILE" where FILE is "mxinstall" and then "mxboot"
	    IN THAT ORDER.

[Optional] 12. "make FDassist" on a blank floppy.

	13. Boot FDassist floppy holding down <shift>.

[If 12. works or if you're brave]  14. "make assistIPL"

	15. fdisk -sXX -hX /dev/hd0
		x
		old.ipl
		assistIPL
		n (?)
		w
		BOOT

	16. Boot holding down <shift>.

You're done.  

TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE:

	This is a low-level guide, NOT technically involved. If this don't
help, seek prefessional help.


SYMPTOMS:				Probable cause:
=====================================||========================================

"patch XXXX.dif" won't work.		Corrupt files. Get a new copy.
					Incompatible version of Minix. Patch
					difs in manually.

Error message "don't know how to	Oops. You don't have that file in this
build XXXXX.x"				directory. Go get it. Fake it. cp a .s
						file to the .x (keep a copy!).	
"make image" failed.			You may have to go through and
					recompile Minix completely. see the
					Minix manual.

No MXboot menu.				You need to go through and "x" the
					IPL file into your hd0.  

Menu okay. Can't boot the Minix		Either 1) /system/minix.sys doesn't
root partition.				exist, or 2) "mxboot" isn't installed.
					if 1) enter "dd if=/dev/fd0 of=
					/system/minix.sys count=360".
					if 2) go into /usr/src/tools and enter:
					"mxinstall /dev/hdX mxboot" where X is
					of course your root device. You can do
					both all you want harmlessly.

"fdisk" operations fail.		You still have to recompile "fdisk"
					and move it to /usr/bin after patching
					in the fdisk.dif file.
 
Anything else.				Typo.


LAST WORD:  I'm am not a programmer! I am a human being!  If I made mistakes
(IF??? ha ha ha ha. You little fool!) please e-mail me details so I can post
corrections.  If not for my sake, for....Tim. Little Tiny Tim who may not
live to see another Christmas.  Or just to get it outa your system.  Screw
Tim. I'm a Minix owner. I've got PROBLEMS. :)  Thanks all.
