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Re: [TCLUG:7719] A dual-boot question



Michael Hicks said:
> Now, let me end this message with a question: has anyone heard of another 
> way of laying out the partition table which would allow for better boot 
> loaders?

Given that PartitionMagic's boot loader is split as you describe (it actually 
requires that a 1-track-wide partition be created for the main body of the
loader to live on) and that the guys who make PartitionMagic (and lilo, for
that matter) seem to have a pretty good idea of what they're doing, I doubt
that there's another way to work aroud this limitation.  Considering where in
the boot process the partition table gets read (i.e., before any OS code is
looked at), I'd say it's primarily a BIOS limitation.

So how do we get the BIOS makers to start producing chips with better multi-OS 
boot support?

> While we're at it, get rid of the silly Primary partition/Extended partition
> mess that popped up from DOS..

Huh?  I currently run 2 Linux/Windows boxen at home and neither one of them
has a single extended partition.  DOS and Windows will only deal with a
single primary partition per drive, but BIOS (and Linux) will support up to
four.  (My drives have 2-3 partitions each, all primary.)