Chain loading and large non-IDE discs

[rdos]

You didn't provide the "Windows binaries". You provided a boot-disc for GRUB, which the GRUB team should have done. There is no sense in every user (that might not run a Linux/Unix-derivate) having to create a bootable floppy for GRUB. This should be part of making a new version! It is like distributing an OS as source-only.

There are binaries of grub legacy.. They're not "Windows binaries", because that doesn't make any sense.

http://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/grub/grub-0.97-i386-pc.tar.gz
http://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/grub/grub-0.97-i386-pc.ext2fs (..ext2 disk image).

Those binaries are of little to no use without something that is already installed, because you cannot boot them. In order to install GRUB without a system that can run Linux binaries, or can compile sources, you need a floppy-disc image, or CD/DVD iso-image than can be put on a floppy / CD / DVD.

Besides, I did the installation procedure again on a new portable CQ57 (the old one had hardware issues). With the old CD/DVD, it was a breeze and took a few minutes to do. No compiler had to be downloaded, and no sources had to be built.

[Solar]

@ rdos:

Don't you realize you are making a complete fool out of yourself?

Things you didn't do:

• Realizing that there is absolutely no obligation for any "free software" project to deliver Windows ports of their software.
• Finding the boot option for that Knoppix CD that makes it start in text mode, i.e. not switching video modes and not hanging, using it to create the floppy image yourself.
• Using the GRUB2 binaries provided by Cygwin to get GRUB2 installed.
• Using any of the available but older GRUB floppy images to install a newer version of GRUB.
• Doing other Windows-centric users a favor and write the required Windows binaries yourself.
• Putting up the 0.97 GRUB image I provided on your webserver and updating the GRUB page with a link.

[rdos]

http://www.rdos.net/rdos/floppy.img
http://www.rdos.net/rdos/grub.iso

Don't have time to put it on the wiki right now.

[egos]

http://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/grub/grub-0.97-i386-pc.tar.gz

I have this build (my floppy image was created on its base) but:

My GRUB 0.97 build has messaged version 0.96

Does anybody know is it really 0.96 or 0.97?

[rdos]

Realizing that there is absolutely no obligation for any "free software" project to deliver Windows ports of their software.

I'm not concerned with Windows ports. The bootable floppies I talked about are for booting any OS (most relevant here OSes of developpers on this site). It has nothing whatsoever to do with "Windows ports". Once people get past the "run in emulator stage", and want to boot on a real system, they either need to write their own bootloader or use some ready-made bootloader. If the ready-made bootloader doesn't come with a boot-disc, it is pretty useless.

Using the GRUB2 binaries provided by Cygwin to get GRUB2 installed.

Binaries are useless if you cannot make a disc of them, which is the case if they come without a disc image.

Using any of the available but older GRUB floppy images to install a newer version of GRUB.

I didn't think about that possibility, but that might have worked. Or it might have thrashed my hard-drive.

Putting up the 0.97 GRUB image I provided on your webserver and updating the GRUB page with a link.

Done + I've added a link to VFD for Windows (on the Disk Images page). On the GRUB page I only added the GRUB Legacy 0.97 manual link + deleted most links that no longer worked.

BTW, my links are to raw, uncompressed images, and thus does not require *nix or Windows tools in order to work.

[Solar]

Binaries are useless if you cannot make a disc of them, which is the case if they come without a disc image.

[...]

I didn't think about that possibility, but that might have worked. Or it might have thrashed my hard-drive.

You, sir, are obviously incapable of reading a manual.

Plonk.

On the GRUB page I only added the GRUB Legacy 0.97 manual link + deleted most links that no longer worked.

Next time you do that, please discern between "links that no longer work" and "links that give a redirection page". GRUB4DOS still exists, merely under a different domain, as the website said quite clearly.

BTW, my links are to raw, uncompressed images, and thus does not require *nix or Windows tools in order to work.

I fully expect anyone dabbling with OS development to be capable of handling ZIP archives on Linux or bz2 archives on Windows.