Hi. I am attempting to learn how to use XOSL to multiboot different DOS versions. I made a dedicated partition (2mb) at the front of my drive for XOSL. I then made a 10MB partition(primary) and installed MSDOS5.0. Then I hid that partition and installed MSDOS6.22 on a 12MB primary partition. Cool! so far so good! I can boot into either 5.0 or 6.22 no problem. Next, I hid those two partitions and then installed DRDOS7.03 onto a third primary partition (15mb). DRDOS installed ok, but when I tried to boot into DRDOS I get an error - "Can't load BDOS kernel file: C:\IBMDOS.com System halted" Yet, I can still boot into the other DOSs. I just installed DRDOS(from same disks) onto another system yesterday (without XOSL) and I did not have this or any other problems. Suggestions? TIA! system: ASI MB-5DVP vesa/pci mobo P1@60mhz 48MB EDO RAM Hercules vesa vid AHA-2842VL vesa scsi micropolis 4110 1gig scsi hrddrv heheh...killer system ..eh?! :)

I do not know if this will work but worth a punt, www.drdosprojects.de has wriiten an update for OpenDOS7.01 which also works with DRDOS7.03 to overcome some limitations in the O/S, basically it is rewritten system files to replace the included ones.

Thanks x86. I downloaded the binaries and will take a look. I'm going to try and reinstall DrDOS again to that same partition and see if I just goofed. ...I dont think I did...I suspect something else is going on thats above my head as usual. Anyway, just want to say, Thumbs up foe XOSL so far. Its a cool way to go. :)

Ok...another question! :) I have been using PartitionMagic8 to make and hide the partitions. I thought I could just use XOSL w/built in Ranish, but have been having no success. So, Im back to using good old PM from floppies. I was wondering how hard would it be to install PMagic as one of the bootable selections so I can boot PM from the hard drive? I do not have a CDrom on this box...so can this be done from the floppies...or how?? This make any sense? Thanks!

Does your 4th partition cross thw 1024 cylinder boundary? Many DOS's can't boot if the boot partition crosses the 1024 cylinder boundary. Partition Magic usually gives a warning if you create a partition cross the boundary. Have you tried using BOOTMAGIC that is included with Partition Magic? Or you could use it from a floppy.

Hello wizard-fred. Is not the 1024 boundry around 8gigs?...or is it less? Actually, Im using a 1gig drive with partitions no larger than 15MB so far. I did get DRDOS to install and boot by putting it on the first primary partition. Not sure why it wouldnt work on the third. ?? I now can boot into DRDOS703, MSDOS50, and MSDOS622! Its groovy in that "because I can" kind of way! :-) I still would love to have an install of the PMagic/dos disks on a partition on hard drive. Would be nice. Anyone know how to go about this? Another question. Can a 1.2MB disk image be written to a 1.44MB floppy? Guess I can install a 5.25 floppy, but I would like to know if there is a way to just use the 1.44mb drive. And yet another question :-) What DOS GUIs and desktops (besides win3x/calmira) do you guys/gals find worth using? Also thumbs up for the program Y2KWA! This board just doesnt get the concept of the new millenium.

Where the 1024 cylinder boundary occurs depends upon the LBA translation. To get the DOS versions of Partition Magic, BootMagic, DriveImage, etc. you can make the rescue disks when prompted and copy the files from the floppies.