Multiple floppy images

How can I handle the case where several floppy images are needed?
For two 1.44MB floppies, I can merge them to a single 2.88MB floppy image, but for multiple
2.88MB floppies, how can I handle them when upon the end of floppy1 boot, the boot program
issued "insert diskette 2 to continue" ?

title Floppy 1

find --set-root /images/floppy1.ima

map --mem /images/floppy1.ima (fd0)

map --hook

chainloader (fd0)+1

rootnoverify (fd0)

Other possibility would be use to use hard disk image, then copy all the files in the floppies to it, but how to preserve the boot sector?
Also I tried to use WinImage to increase the first bootable floppy to a bigger, customized size (e.g. 16 MB), but then this diskette image
is not longer bootable (non system disk, press a key. I would expect that WinImage preserve the bootability when increasing the size). It did change the FAT12 to FAT16 though.

The first diskette is from a product that apparently use bootwiz.sys/bootwiz.sys/ramdisk.exe mechanism. I never heard of this.
The diskette bootsector (FAT12) has bootwiz.sys string in it, resembling to io.sys/msdos.sys invocation.

"Custom" floppy geometries can be found linked here:
http://www.boot-land...?...10&start=16

A 5,760 one should be enough.

Ususally a "sequence" of floppies use some form of "tag file" to check WHICH floppy is in the drive, sometimes a 0 length file called "Disk1", "Disk2" etc. or a text file called "Disk" with inside the text "Disk1", "Disk2", etc.

If you post some details of this "product" and possibly a "DIR >floppyx.dir" of the various floppies, I may be able to be more accurate.

jaclaz

@jaclaz
Thank for your quick answer.

The product is Acronis Drive Cleanser (integrated also with Acronis True Image 11).
Under its boot media builder, it allows to burn to CD, create ISO or create bootable media to removable media.
I used VFD to simulate 2.88 MB diskette so it take 5 diskettes, the first one contains bootwiz.sys, bootwiz.cfg, ramdisk.exe,
spla1.run and bootdt1.bin. The Xth (X=2-5) diskette contains bootdtX.bin (single file in the Xth diskette).

03/10/2007  14:47			22 528 bootwiz.sys

03/10/2007  14:47			   137 bootwiz.cfg

03/10/2007  14:47			18 972 ramdisk.exe

03/10/2007  14:47			29 465 SPLA1.RUN

03/10/2007  14:47		 2 859 008 bootdt1.bin

03/10/2007  14:36		 2 931 712 bootdt2.bin

03/10/2007  14:36		 2 931 712 bootdt3.bin

03/10/2007  14:36		 2 931 712 bootdt4.bin

03/10/2007  14:36		   654 444 bootdt5.bin

			   9 file(s)	   12 379 690 bytes

I assume if I put an USB key > 15 MB, the bootable media builder will put only one big file bootdt.bin (not tried) together with
other system files, which would be easier to boot, but it would destroy my USB key bootability (boot sector).

I do not want it to create ISO file (in fact already done), but then as in another topic
http://www.boot-land...O-CD-t1651.html
the ISO (no-emulation) mode strangely does not contain any thing (you can mount the iso file, no files found).
But this ISO boots very well, and the program run. So I suspect it is a kind of copy-protection, and I cannot
integrate the program to my multi-boot USB key using the classic kernel/ramdisk.

So I want the bootable diskette image format, so I can integrate the program to my multi-boot USB key.
Unfortunately ImDisk could not create REMOVABLE hard disk image, otherwise Acronis Drive Cleanser bootable media builder
would create on this image, then I only have to save this image then submit to grub4dos/memdisk/initrd.

Another experimentation maybe: since I use grub4dos, why not use it to load bootwiz.sys (supposedly like io.sys), after
copying all the files in the 5 diskettes to the root of USB key?
Edit: I tried it and unfortunately got error message from grub4dos:

Error 14: invalid or unsupportable executable format.

OK if I accept to allow bootmedia builder to put on my USB key, then I got kernel/ramdisk files that I can integrate
as normal with grub4dos.

But the original question is still active to have bootable customed diskette geometry.

I do not want it to create ISO file (in fact already done), but then as in another topic
http://www.boot-land...O-CD-t1651.html
the ISO (no-emulation) mode strangely does not contain any thing (you can mount the iso file, no files found).
But this ISO boots very well, and the program run. So I suspect it is a kind of copy-protection, and I cannot
integrate the program to my multi-boot USB key using the classic kernel/ramdisk.

Well, no, AFAIK Acronis bootCD's have the entire boot image as "boot image".

In other words, it is NOT a "no-emulation" image, but rather a HD emulation one.

There is a Commercial/Shareware product capable of extracting such an image, but it should be easy enough to get it with a Hex editor:
http://www.msfn.org/...sks_t85872.html

What you say about IMDISK does not match my experience .

Do the following:

mksparse 10x144.ima 14745600

Mount the image with IMDISK:
1) Select: Device Type ->Floppy
2) Check: Removable Device

Say you have mapped it to X:, open X: drive in Explorer and choose to format it as FAT.

Doesn't Acronis "like" it?

Try again with:
1) Select: Device Type ->Hard Disk Volume
2) Check: Removable Device

maybe this way Acronis does "like" it.

jaclaz

@jaclaz
You are really "The Lord of the boot!" !

Success! With UltraISO I can extract the boot information file (.bif) from the Acronis iso, then
open the bif file with UltraISO again to get the kernel/ramdisk files etc... inside it.

For the 10x144.ima, both methods work. Either floppy (removable is ON by default so no need to check removable),
or hard disk image (removable to check). Acronis boot media builder accepts both and produce the necessary files on those
media.

From your method of making ima file, and using ImDisk with floppy image, it looks like very easy
to produce any desired custom floppy image. It looks like ImDisk is really a gem.

It looks like ImDisk is really a gem.

Yep, just like a Ferrari is an extraordinary car .....

....but you need to learn a few driving lessons in order to be able to control it.



jaclaz