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Bochs isn't working

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 2:47 am
by tm-
When I try to run Bochs, it gives me an error message:
[BIOS] Not a bootable disk

I'm new with this, so I don't have any idea what should I do now. And here's my bochsrc.txt:

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# how much memory the emulated machine will have
# if you have less than 64MB of memory in your actuall computer, set this lower(16 is good)
megs: 32

# filename of ROM images
# note that if before a filename we put "../" then the file is looked
# for in the directory above that the current directory(the one the configuration
# file is in).
romimage: file="BIOS-bochs-latest", address=0xf0000
vgaromimage: file="VGABIOS-elpin-2.40"

# we want a floppy drive(called a), the disk image that we are using is called "1.44"
floppya: 1_44="a.img", status=inserted

# choose the boot disk.
boot: floppy

# where do we send log/error messages?
log: bochsout.txt

# disable the mouse unless your OS uses it
mouse: enabled=0
What should I do now??

Re:Bochs isn't working

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 3:09 am
by Candy
Does your bootsector end in 0x55 0xAA? That's at offset 510 and 511 decimal from the start of it.

If not, that's required or the disk just really isn't bootable.

Small note: most non-bootable disks also have a bootsector, which then displays "this disk isn't bootable".

Re:Bochs isn't working

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 3:53 am
by tm-
Yes, there is that signature. Here's what I have done:
-format floppy disk
-partcopy bootsec.bin 0 200 -f0

And the bootsector is from http://www.osdever.net/tutorials/hello_ ... ?the_id=85
(the lowest one, hello world bootloader)

And I use NASM to create that bootsec.bin.

Re:Bochs isn't working

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 3:59 am
by AR
floppya: 1_44="a.img", status=inserted
This line is saying to emulate a floppy disk drive using the file "a.img", since you are trying to use a real floppy drive it should say:

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floppya: 1_44="a:", status=inserted

Re:Bochs isn't working

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 4:02 am
by Candy
AR wrote:
floppya: 1_44="a.img", status=inserted
This line is saying to emulate a floppy disk drive using the file "a.img", since you are trying to use a real floppy drive it should say:

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floppya: 1_44="a:", status=inserted
For completeness: if you use a Unix-derivate it should read

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floppya: 1_44="/dev/fd0", status=inserted

Re:Bochs isn't working

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 4:05 am
by tm-
Yes, that fixed the problem! Thanks!