ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

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hbelusca
Developer
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Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by hbelusca »

Does ReactOS 0.4.2 run as well?
Spinwiz
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:53 am
Location: QLD Australia

Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

Grub Legacy Multiboot ReacOS + Puppy Precise - Hardware Based Install (Unofficial Guide)

ReactOS V0.4.1 on VirtualBox V4.2.12 r84980 with WindowsXP SP3 Host
ReactOS V0.4.1 on Toshiba Tecra A3 Intel Celron 1.5GHz 246MB Ram Samsung 80GB SATA

I had a some difficulties finding a pc that ReactOS would boot on, and managed to get it up and
running on an old Toshiba Tecra A3 laptop. I previously tried a Toshiba with an Intel Atom and
Could only manage one successful boot to desktop out of 30 tries. The Tecra threw a lot of
'Unexpected' behaviour at me too. The boot cd would stall on boot, or make it to the setup screen
then fail to find the hard drive. USB booting failed due to unfinished USB drive support..
Oddly enough I had encountered some similar issues when attempting to install WinXp on the same
Machine. So what to do? Copy a pre-created image onto the Tecra hard drive Partition and boot it,
Simple.. Not so, I couldn't find a successful method of writing the boot sector to hard drive.
After rattling my brain for a little, and looking at a couple of old forum post I decided to
try multibooot from GRUB4DOS with much success =)

Hopefully the following method of Installing and Mutibooting ReactOS may be of help to someone else.
The following is just one of many possible methods to setting up ReactOS on a real machine. Some
Information may also be of use even if the default CD Install works and you wish to run a multiboot
system to easily recover a damaged ReactOS Install. This is not an Official Guide, just an account of
what has worked well for me. I will only cover ReactOS as the Primary Operating system and
Puppy Precise Live CD as a recovery medium here. I am using Puppy precise-5.7.1 only because it is a
very light live CD (200-250MB), easy to use and Suports a large range of Hardware 'Out Of The Box'.
Any Live CD could be used with some small changes to the GRUB Legacy Boot menu.


Part 1 Step by Step Guide (See Part 2 for Basic requrements)

Multi-Booting ReactOS from Hardware based Machine and using 'Puppy Linux Precise' as a recovery medium:
Manual Install.

Tools/Software Required/Recommended:
  • ReactOS BootCD V0.4.1 (V0.4.2 not tested as yet)
  • Virtual Machine capable of booting ReactOS (i.e. VirtualBox)
  • Puppy Linux 'Precise' V5.7.1 (precise-5.7.1.iso)
  • 7zip ( any recent version)
  • ImgBurn (Or suitable cd burner software)
  • Hardware (PC, Cd-Burner, Blank CDs etc.)
Prerequisites:
Basic knowledge in setting up and installing an OS in a Virtual Machine is assumed.
Read the complete 'How To' before begining. Some stages can be altered depending apon your skill level.

1.0 Create ReactOS Install Files in a Virtual Machine:

1.1
Create a new Virtual machine and Create a 1 GB VHd (.vhd 'Virtual Hard Disk' i.e. ReactOs.vhd)
Load ReactOS BootCD iso and begin the install process and allow the default install process
to proceed until the install files are copied to disk and the first reboot is reached.
Leave the React OS Boot CD loaded and select restart..
STOP the virtual machine from rebooting to the next stage of the install and
shut down The Virtual Machine Program. Be quick in stopping the next stage before it begins
or you may have to repeat from the beginning.

You now have a copy of the ReactOS install media on virtual hard disk ready to begin the install/setup process.

1.2
Navigate to the folder containing the newly created Virtual Hard Drive and create a new folder named RTemp.
Open the VHD with 7zip and you will see all of the install files contained in the drive. Select all files and folders
Then Select 'Extract' and choose the 'RTemp' folder. All files will be extracted to the 'RTemp' folder and should appear as follows.

bootsect.old
freeldr.sys
freeldr.ini
[ReactOS]

This is the ReactOS Install files to be transfered to a 'Test PC'
(The floder contents should be approx. 200-250MB)


2.0 Setting up a Hardware Based PC:

2.1a
USB BOOT:
If your pc is USB Bootable then you can use a bootable USB Drive for this step. See YUMI(pendrivelinux.com) for how to create
multiboot USB. Create a Bootable USB with Puppy Precise(precise-5.7.1.iso) as the default Boot.
Copy RTemp folder to the USB Drive.

2.1b
CD-ROM BOOT:
Create a Puppy Precise Live CD from the iso (precise-5.7.1.iso)
Copy RTemp to a Usb thumb drive. If USB is NOT available then burn the RTemp and contents to a 2nd CD-Rom.

2.2
(Please Note: When booting from the Live CD it is not required to make a save file. You can select NO when you are
asked this question when shutting down or rebooting the Live CD. )

Boot the Host PC with Puppy Precise Live CD (CD-ROM or USB)
Go To 'Menu(Start)' 'System' 'GParted partition manager'.
Alow GParted to complete the initial disk scan of the desired Hard drive/s.
Unmount any mounted drives/partitions.
Delete any old partitions.
Create 1st partition Primary FAT32 5GB. Label 'Part1'
Create 2nd partition Primary FAT32 All unalocated space. Label 'Part2'
Apply changes.
2 x FAT32 partitions now exist. /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2
(Note that path names change when linux is installed or drives are Mounted /home/sda2/, /mnt/sda2)
Select /dev/sda1 'Manage Flags' then select 'boot' (This is equivelent to make 'Active').
Close GParted.

2.3
Go To 'Menu(Start)' 'System' 'Legacy GRUB Config 2013'.
Go to 'Expert Mode' Section, and recreate the following entries.

Target for Stage 1 (hd0) (Mixed IDE SATA drives can be swaped order. Be aware if Partitons are not where you expected)
Partition for Stage 2 sda2
Target for stage 2 (hd0,1)
Optional Windows entry (hd0,0) (This will become the ReactOS Partition)
Optional Ubuntu entry Empty
Highlight the 'Full' Radio

Select 'Expert Install'
Done.

If all went well you should now have Grub MBR/PBR boot sector and the GRUB loader instaled on
Part2 (/mnt/sda2/boot/grub/menu.lst; stage1; stage2).
Drives appear in the lower left of the desktop.
If you end up with the grub loader on the incorrect partition ie. sda1 then delete the boot folder
and redo Stage 2.3 with the correct entries.

2.4
Go to 'Menu(Start)' 'Setup' 'Puppy Universal Installer'.
Choose 'internal (IDE or SATA) hard drive'. 'OK'
Select 'sda (Primary physical hard drive)'. 'OK'
Select 'sda2 (Partition2)', Leave the file system as it is (vfat)
Install partition should ask for confirmation /dev/sda2 with vfat filesystem 'OK'
Leave the default precise5.7.1frugal 'OK' (Windows equivalent D:\precise5.7.1frugal\)
File copy proccess... wait untill complete.
Puppy Floppy Boot Disk. Select 'NO_BOOT_DISK'
Click 'OK' after reading the finish notes about GRUB (GRUB Boot is already installed at Stage 2.3)
Then 'Okay, all done!' Click 'OK' to finish the install proccess.
READ THE "NEWGRUBTEXT" file and leave it open..

2.5
Open sda2 and create a new text document(New Blank File) in the root of the drive "/mnt/sda2/grubhlp.txt"
then open the text file.
Copy all text from "NEWGRUBTEXT" to "grubhlp.txt", Save, then 'Close' the text file for later reference.

Open sda2/boot/grub/menu.lst
Copy the first menu entry to menu.lst ( or copy the following entries into menu.lst)
The second part is the menu entry for ReactOS. This will chainload freeldr.sys

menu.lst

Code: Select all

timeout 10
default 0
#
title Puppy Linux Full on sda2(hd0,1)
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
kernel /precise5.7.1frugal/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd psubdir=precise5.7.1frugal
initrd /precise5.7.1frugal/initrd.gz
#
title ReactOS on (hd0,0)
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
makeactive
kernel /freeldr.sys


Save menu.lst and close all open windows.

Shutdown the computer and select 'DO NOT SAVE'
Remove the CD-ROM/USB-Drive Frome the PC.

2.6
Reboot to 'Puppy linux full' at the GRUB Boot Menu. (If you copy/pasted the GRUB menu "Puppy Linux 5.7.1 frugal...")
Enter the correct setup parametrs for your hardware, Language and region.

Shutdown 'Reboot computer', this time you will create the 'Save File' for puppy install
You will be presented with the option of creating a 'Save File'. select 'Save to File'.
First shutdown: select 'Administrator'
First shutdown: select 'sda2' then 'OK'
First shutdown: select 'ext2' then 'OK'
First shutdown: Save file Name - Leave this blank
First shutdown: Select Normal (no encrypt)
First shutdown: Select 512MB recomended then 'OK'
First shutdown: Select 'YES, SAVE'

2.7
Reboot to 'Puppy linux full'(If you copy pasted the GRUB menu "Puppy Linux 5.7.1 frugal...")
You should now have Puppy Precise installed on the second Partition, Save File and GRUB boot loader.
The First Partition should still be empty, ready for ReacOS Install files.

Check that all files are correctly located as below.

(Part1) sda1 /mnt/sda1 (empty root directory)
(Part2) sda2 /mnt/home (Yes Linux paths are a little different from Windows Tree structure)
/boot (GrUB Loader and menu)
/precese5.7.1frugal (Puppy files and Save file)
fsckme.flg (reference to save file locations)
pupswap.swp (Swap File)

If Puppy linux will not boot, or files are located to incorrect drives redo all steps 2.1 to 2.7

2.8
Working from the Puppy Linux Desktop.
Insert USB or CD-ROM with ReactOS Install files.
Open sda1(Part1), Open sr0(CD-Drive) or sdb1(USB-Drive) then open RTemp folder.
Highlight all files from RTemp then drag to /mnt/sda1 window. (Std Drag n Drop function)

/mnt/sda1 should now contain the ReactOS Install files.

bootsect.old
freeldr.sys
freeldr.ini
[ReactOS]

Reboot Again and select the 'ReactOS on (hd0,0)' GRUB menu entry.

Continue with the default ReactOS Install proccess.

If the ReactOS install Fails, delete all files in sda1 (Part1) and copy the files from RTemp and retry.

2.9
If all has gone well you should now have Puppy Linux installed on Partition-2 (sda2), ReacOS
Installed on Partition-1(sda1) and GRUB Boot loader and Menu.
If You are comfortable that your ReactOS Base install has succeeded, Make a backup.


3.0
Create ReactOS Backup from Puppy Linux:
The internal Archive and Backup utilities are not suited to large archives.
Open sda2 and create a new Directory(Folder) Backup Name ie ROS_18_04_2016 then open the new folder.
Open sda1 and Navigate up One directory.
Drag the folder icon sda1 to your new backup folder ie ROS_18_04_2016
this is just an uncompressed Copy/Paste of the reactOS files .
To restore ReactOS: Delete all the files/Folders in sda1 and Copy/Paste your backup files to sda1
7-Zip is available from the online App repository using the Package Manager.


4.0
Additional Notes:
To remove a Puppy Install
Boot from Live CD
Delete all files and directories in all Partitions
(If Not They will be Locked and Gparted will fail to unmount the partitions)
Use GParted to re-partition

Puppy searches all drives for its boot media including Save Files, and often selects the Hard drive files over the CD
If a puppy install file or save file fails or is corrupted you may have trouble booting fromm the Live CD
you will need to use an alternavive boot medium to delete the corrupted files.

If You mess up your Puppy Install (ie incorrect desktop settings) Delete the save file.
All personalised setting are stored in the save file. This will boot a clean Puppy install and you can create a new 'Save File'.
Essentialy, Puppy Liniux is always a Live CD type environment.


Part2 Quick Reference:

Required:
ReactOS First Boot files created in a Virtual Machine
precise-5.7.1.iso

Boot Puppy Linux live
Use GParted to prepare Hard drive partitons. partition1 = active(boot)
Use 'Menu' 'System' 'Legacy GRUB Config 2013'. Place GRUB files on Partition 2.
Copy Puppy Boot media to Partition 2(Or use installer)
Only 3 files are required to boot Puppy Linux (initrd.gz; puppy_precise_5.7.1.sfs; vmlinuz )
Set up Puppy for use as second OS
Copy ReactOS Install files to Partition 1
Setup ReactOS First run then Make a backup if successfull

sda2/boot/grub/menu.lst (Menu for GRUB Boot loader 'Legacy GRUB Config 2013)

Code: Select all

timeout 10
default 0
#
title Puppy Linux Full on sda2(hd0,1)
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
kernel /precise5.7.1frugal/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd psubdir=precise5.7.1frugal
initrd /precise5.7.1frugal/initrd.gz
#
title ReactOS on (hd0,0)
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
makeactive
kernel /freeldr.sys


Example Drive/Directory structure:
MBR GRUB Legacy

(Partition1)
/sda1
[ReactOS]
freeldr.ini
freeldr.sys
bootsect.old

(Partition2)
/sda2
[boot]
/sda2/boot/grub/menu.lst; stage1; stage2
[precise6.7.1frugal]
/sda2/precise6.7.1frugal/initrd.gz; puppy_precise_5.7.1.sfs; vmlinuz


References:
-https://www.virtualbox.org/
-http://www.vmware.com
-http://www.imgburn.com/
-http://puppylinux.org/
-http://www.puppylinux.org/wikka/PuppyPr ... edirect=no
-http://barryk.org/blog2/?viewDetailed=00346
-http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/precise-5.7.1/
-https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manua ... /grub.html
-http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multi ... b-creator/
-http://reboot.pro/links/
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_boot_record
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volume_boot_record
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booting

TODO:
Recreate this method with alternative recovery environments
ReactOS + Hirens' Boot CD (completed)
ReactOS + GParted Live (cancelled)
ReactOS + DSL (cancelled)
ReactOS + Puppy Precise (completed)
GRUB2 UEFI Boot (Future)

I hope this will be of use to others trying ReactOS.
I look forward to comments and suggestions, and if positive I will refine this how-to and post it in the Main Forum.

Draft Copy
Revised 30/09/2016
Alex Maddern
Spinwiz
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:53 am
Location: QLD Australia

Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

hbelusca wrote:Does ReactOS 0.4.2 run as well?
Hello hbelusca, I have not yet Installed ReactOS V0.4.2
I had already began most of the V0.4.1 tests when V0.4.2 was released. I would like to complete my first tests on V0.4.1
so that I have a 'Benchmark' to compare with newer versions.
I will redo most of my test with V0.4.2 Installed beginning this coming week (05/10/2016 forward)
Thank you for your interest Alex M
Spinwiz
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:53 am
Location: QLD Australia

Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

Question - Offline BBCode Editor?
If anyone knows of an offline phpBB3 code editor, or maybe has wrapped the phpBB3 forum editor with preview
in stand alone Win Executable launcher, could you drop me a link?

I am working 'Offline' most of the time and the BBCode editor I am using(-www.shajul.net/) is not very compatible with phpBB3.
MS Office Word will display BBCode but can't save. Appreciate any pointers =)
Spinwiz
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:53 am
Location: QLD Australia

Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

Hi peoples, just a quick update to let everyone know I am still about. I've been quite bussy learning my way through C under Gcc-MinGW.
Still have some ways to go before I can call myself "Proficient", although for now I can at least create small utility apps etc that run well under ReactOS.
When I start to get any worth while apps I'll share with the comunity =)
Spinwiz
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:53 am
Location: QLD Australia

Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

Looks like my image hosting went AWOL =(
I'll get them back up as soon as I can. Sorry about that
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