Ubuntu 8.04 - can you dual boot with DR-DOS?

[JohnLauritsen]

For two years I've used Dapper Drake 6.06. Using the alternate install disk, I put GRUB on a floppy. Without the floppy I get a dual boot: Windows 98SE and DR-DOS. With the floppy, I get Ubuntu. Thus, I have three different , completely independent operating systems. A bit awkward, but it works fine.

I have the alternate install disk for Hardy Heron 8.04.

Now I want to ditch Windows completely on a new laptop. Without excessive tweaking, is it possible to get a dual boot: Ubuntu 8.04 and DR-DOS (preferably) or another non-Microsoft DOS? If it is possible, what do I do?

JL

[zzatz]

You can install GRUB on a floppy, as you are doing now. Or you can install it on the Master Boot Record of the hard disk. You can also install GRUB onto a partition, so that it is called from some other boot loader.

The standard way to install DR-DOS and Ubuntu would be to install DOS first, on the first partition. If your whole hard drive is /dev/sda, that would be /dev/sda1. DR-DOS will install its own boot loader on the Master Boot Record of /dev/sda.

Later, when you install Ubuntu onto /dev/sda2, the installer will put GRUB on the Master Boot Record. But before it does that, it will move the the DOS boot loader, so that it can call it with a technique called chainloading.

Each drive has a Master Boot Record. Each partition MAY have a boot record. And GRUB can use boot records saved as files in /boot.

Your /boot/grub/menu.lst file would contain something like this:


#
title Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic
root (hd0,1)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=/dev/mapper/vglinux-root ro quiet splash
initrd /initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic
#
title Windows 95/98/Me
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

Note that Linux counts partitions starting from 1, and GRUB counts starting from 0. GRUB's (hd0, 1) is /dev/sda2 in Linux.

Your setup is easy. For more complex setups, learn the grub-install command. Every Microsoft OS takes over the MBR, so if you install Windows later, you will need to reinstall GRUB. After booting from CD...