AiR-BOOT

Version: 
1.1.4
Release date: 
Thursday, 9 November, 2017

Categories:

License:

Interface:

Authors/Port authors:

AiR-BOOT, a highly customizable boot-manager 100% in MBR: does not need any real space on harddisk! It is completely written in Assembler, and that's why it is so small in size, yet powerful enought to contain it's own SETUP together with a load of handy features!

Main features:

  • colored Boot-Menu;
  • completly integrated, Award-styled, menu-driven SETUP, including real help to every option;
  • very easy Installation/Repair via disc or CD-ROM;
  • configurable password protection;
  • intelligent partition handling: will not reset or act abnormal if partitions are moved, changed, etc.;
  • hiding partitions support;
  • floppy-boot;
  • finds (Stealth-)MBR and Bootrecord-Virii (and is able to remove most of them);
  • OS/2 LVM-aware;
  • OS/2/eCS logical booting;
  • SETABOOT for OS/2/eCS included (including support for XWorkplace);
  • includes Linux Boot-Commandline and automagically, but configurable root-partition.

Since 1.07 version, AiR-BOOT is the official eComStation bootmanager, instead of the old IBM Bootmanager, and it is included into OS/2 eComStation 2.1 Operating System release!

This software is distributed as compressed package. You have to download and manually install it; if prerequisites are required, you will have to manually install them too.

Manual installation

Program is distributed as ZIP package: download to temporary directory and unpack to destination folder. Run airboot2. Same to deinstall. To use setboot function, copy setaboot.exe in path.

See below for download link(s).

Online documentation:

Following ones are the download links for manual installation:

AiR-BOOT v. 1.1.4 (9/11/2017) Readme/What's new
This is the version as included on the ArcaOS v5.0.2 release media. Changes with regard to v1.1.2-RELEASE: * - Updated the manual to reflect v1.1.4 * - Initial awareness of GPT partitioned disks * - Initial awareness of LUKS formatted disks * - Removed Cooper Bars to create space for future enhancements * - Minor fixes
 github.com/rousseaux/netlabs.air-boot/releases/download/v1.1.4-RELEASE/AirBoot-v1.1.4-bin.zip  local copy
AiR-BOOT v. 1.1.4 (source code, 9/11/2017, Martin Kiewitz, Ben Rietbroek)
 github.com/rousseaux/netlabs.air-boot/releases/download/v1.1.4-RELEASE/AirBoot-v1.1.4-src.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 1.1.2 (7/11/2017) Readme/What's new
This is the version as included on the ArcaOS v5.0 release media (13/04/2017). At that time however, the non-US builds were not ready yet and the manual still had to be updated. It was also the plan to add building of the manual to the build-environment which involved a major revamp of the XSLT transformation-sheet and additional build optimizations. The following additions have been made since the US-only release: * - updated the manual * - enhanced the transformation from odt to inf * - added building the manual to the build-system * - enhanced the overall build-system * - other minor changes All the above was done without changes to the code. Changes with regard to v1.1.0-RELEASE: * - all sources lowercased * - fixed building on linux * - introduction of file-commander user-menus for building * - updated contact information * - replaced references to ecs with more generic os/2 * - enable soft reset when airboot halts due to an error * - removed many hard-coded 80h bios-disk numbers, enabling >80h boot-disk * - improved int13x functionality * - completely revamped the lvm code * - improved the handling of removable media * - initial awareness of large-floppy formatted removable media * - new pre-boot summary screen * - more...
 github.com/rousseaux/netlabs.air-boot/releases/download/v1.1.2-RELEASE/AirBoot-v1.1.2-bin.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 1.1.0 (1/9/2016) Readme/What's new
AiR-BOOT v1.1.0-RELEASE [2013-04-05] This is the version as included on the eCS v2.2-beta CD's. It was technically a pre-v1.1.0 release, with the final v1.1.0, including some minor patches, to be included with eCS v2.2-GA. Because this version is now known to be v1.1.0, we'll keep it that way. The minor patches and meanwhile done fixes will soon appear as v1.1.1 test-version commits to be consolidated to a v1.1.2 release. Issues regarding removable media are planned for the v1.1.4 release as this requires removal of obsolete code and optimizing existing code to create space in the ~32K block (track0) the loader resides in. With this version of AiR-BOOT, the display of the version number has changed to be compatible with the WarpIN versioning system. So all digits are now separated by a dot. This change is only visual and tools relying on the way AiR-BOOT stores it's version numer internally are not affected.
 bensbits.totalresults.nl/downloads/AiR-BOOT-v1.1.0-final.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 1.07 (14/4/2011)
 bensbits.totalresults.nl/downloads/AiR-BOOT-v1.07-final.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 1.0.0 (Dutch, 7/1/2003) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - First official Release - New option to enforce exclusive LBA API usage for some really bad BIOSes - Bad BIOS INT 10h compatibility fix - Swedish localization available Release-Version: 1.00 on 7 Jan 2003
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/release/AiR-BOOTv100_dt.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 1.0.0 (German, 7/1/2003) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - First official Release - New option to enforce exclusive LBA API usage for some really bad BIOSes - Bad BIOS INT 10h compatibility fix - Swedish localization available Release-Version: 1.00 on 7 Jan 2003
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/release/AiR-BOOTv100_de.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 1.0.0 (English, 7/1/2003) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - First official Release - New option to enforce exclusive LBA API usage for some really bad BIOSes - Bad BIOS INT 10h compatibility fix - Swedish localization available Release-Version: 1.00 on 7 Jan 2003
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/release/AiR-BOOTv100_us.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 1.0.0 (Swedish, 7/1/2003) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - First official Release - New option to enforce exclusive LBA API usage for some really bad BIOSes - Bad BIOS INT 10h compatibility fix - Swedish localization available Release-Version: 1.00 on 7 Jan 2003
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/release/AiR-BOOTv100_sw.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 1.0.0 (Russian, 7/1/2003) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - First official Release - New option to enforce exclusive LBA API usage for some really bad BIOSes - Bad BIOS INT 10h compatibility fix - Swedish localization available Release-Version: 1.00 on 7 Jan 2003
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/release/AiR-BOOTv100_ru.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 1.0.0 (Italian, 7/1/2003) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - First official Release - New option to enforce exclusive LBA API usage for some really bad BIOSes - Bad BIOS INT 10h compatibility fix - Swedish localization available Release-Version: 1.00 on 7 Jan 2003
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/release/AiR-BOOTv100_it.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 1.0.0 (French, 7/1/2003) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - First official Release - New option to enforce exclusive LBA API usage for some really bad BIOSes - Bad BIOS INT 10h compatibility fix - Swedish localization available Release-Version: 1.00 on 7 Jan 2003
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/release/AiR-BOOTv100_fr.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.94b (Russian, 27/11/2002) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - Release Candidate 4 - Now official NETLABS-project (Open-Source, but NOT YET GPL) - Cyrillic support - Localized version in Russian - Translation changes - AiR-BOOT InstallDisc Maker (makedisk) rewritten (now much smaller) - Native OS/2 Installer now available - SETABOOT for OS/2 / eCS included (including support for XWorkPlace) - Smooth scrolling added (Cooper Bars) - Sometimes immediate timed boot fixed - OS/2 / eCS didnt boot, when L-flag & H-flag got used on the same partition - Typo in developer information fixed Release-Version: 0.94b on 27 Nov 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/AiR-BOOTv094b_ru.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.94b (English, 27/11/2002) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - Release Candidate 4 - Now official NETLABS-project (Open-Source, but NOT YET GPL) - Cyrillic support - Localized version in Russian - Translation changes - AiR-BOOT InstallDisc Maker (makedisk) rewritten (now much smaller) - Native OS/2 Installer now available - SETABOOT for OS/2 / eCS included (including support for XWorkPlace) - Smooth scrolling added (Cooper Bars) - Sometimes immediate timed boot fixed - OS/2 / eCS didnt boot, when L-flag & H-flag got used on the same partition - Typo in developer information fixed Release-Version: 0.94b on 27 Nov 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/AiR-BOOTv094b_us.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.94b (Italian, 27/11/2002) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - Release Candidate 4 - Now official NETLABS-project (Open-Source, but NOT YET GPL) - Cyrillic support - Localized version in Russian - Translation changes - AiR-BOOT InstallDisc Maker (makedisk) rewritten (now much smaller) - Native OS/2 Installer now available - SETABOOT for OS/2 / eCS included (including support for XWorkPlace) - Smooth scrolling added (Cooper Bars) - Sometimes immediate timed boot fixed - OS/2 / eCS didnt boot, when L-flag & H-flag got used on the same partition - Typo in developer information fixed Release-Version: 0.94b on 27 Nov 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/AiR-BOOTv094b_it.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.94b (German, 27/11/2002) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - Release Candidate 4 - Now official NETLABS-project (Open-Source, but NOT YET GPL) - Cyrillic support - Localized version in Russian - Translation changes - AiR-BOOT InstallDisc Maker (makedisk) rewritten (now much smaller) - Native OS/2 Installer now available - SETABOOT for OS/2 / eCS included (including support for XWorkPlace) - Smooth scrolling added (Cooper Bars) - Sometimes immediate timed boot fixed - OS/2 / eCS didnt boot, when L-flag & H-flag got used on the same partition - Typo in developer information fixed Release-Version: 0.94b on 27 Nov 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/AiR-BOOTv094b_de.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.94b (Dutch, 27/11/2002) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - Release Candidate 4 - Now official NETLABS-project (Open-Source, but NOT YET GPL) - Cyrillic support - Localized version in Russian - Translation changes - AiR-BOOT InstallDisc Maker (makedisk) rewritten (now much smaller) - Native OS/2 Installer now available - SETABOOT for OS/2 / eCS included (including support for XWorkPlace) - Smooth scrolling added (Cooper Bars) - Sometimes immediate timed boot fixed - OS/2 / eCS didnt boot, when L-flag & H-flag got used on the same partition - Typo in developer information fixed Release-Version: 0.94b on 27 Nov 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/AiR-BOOTv094b_dt.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.94b (French, 27/11/2002) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - Release Candidate 4 - Now official NETLABS-project (Open-Source, but NOT YET GPL) - Cyrillic support - Localized version in Russian - Translation changes - AiR-BOOT InstallDisc Maker (makedisk) rewritten (now much smaller) - Native OS/2 Installer now available - SETABOOT for OS/2 / eCS included (including support for XWorkPlace) - Smooth scrolling added (Cooper Bars) - Sometimes immediate timed boot fixed - OS/2 / eCS didnt boot, when L-flag & H-flag got used on the same partition - Typo in developer information fixed Release-Version: 0.94b on 27 Nov 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/AiR-BOOTv094b_fr.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.93b (English, 21/9/2002) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - Release Candidate 3 - In some cases INT13X-signature wasn't written, so OS/2 / eCS didn't boot, when partition was above 8 GB. - Matching mechanism changed internally - Documentation got split up - Developer information included Release-Version: 0.93b on 21 Sep 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/AiR-BOOTv093b_us.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.93b (Italian, 21/9/2002) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - Release Candidate 3 - In some cases INT13X-signature wasn't written, so OS/2 / eCS didn't boot, when partition was above 8 GB. - Matching mechanism changed internally - Documentation got split up - Developer information included Release-Version: 0.93b on 21 Sep 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/AiR-BOOTv094b_it.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.93b (German, 21/9/2002) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - Release Candidate 3 - In some cases INT13X-signature wasn't written, so OS/2 / eCS didn't boot, when partition was above 8 GB. - Matching mechanism changed internally - Documentation got split up - Developer information included Release-Version: 0.93b on 21 Sep 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/AiR-BOOTv094b_de.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.93b (Dutch, 21/9/2002) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - Release Candidate 3 - In some cases INT13X-signature wasn't written, so OS/2 / eCS didn't boot, when partition was above 8 GB. - Matching mechanism changed internally - Documentation got split up - Developer information included Release-Version: 0.93b on 21 Sep 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/AiR-BOOTv094b_dt.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.93b (French, 21/9/2002) Readme/What's new
Changes this time: - Release Candidate 3 - In some cases INT13X-signature wasn't written, so OS/2 / eCS didn't boot, when partition was above 8 GB. - Matching mechanism changed internally - Documentation got split up - Developer information included Release-Version: 0.93b on 21 Sep 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/AiR-BOOTv094b_fr.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.92b (English, 2/8/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Release Candidate 2 - Logical booting OS/2 / eCS now works, Byte-Change must be memory-only - Slightly changed Stealth-MBR Virii detection, because of strange BIOSes - BootMenu no longer freezes when Timer got set to 255 - Official homepage changed Release-Version: 0.92b on 2 Aug 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv092b_us.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.92b (Italian, 2/8/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Release Candidate 2 - Logical booting OS/2 / eCS now works, Byte-Change must be memory-only - Slightly changed Stealth-MBR Virii detection, because of strange BIOSes - BootMenu no longer freezes when Timer got set to 255 - Official homepage changed Release-Version: 0.92b on 2 Aug 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv092b_it.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.92b (German, 2/8/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Release Candidate 2 - Logical booting OS/2 / eCS now works, Byte-Change must be memory-only - Slightly changed Stealth-MBR Virii detection, because of strange BIOSes - BootMenu no longer freezes when Timer got set to 255 - Official homepage changed Release-Version: 0.92b on 2 Aug 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv092b_de.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.92b (Dutch, 2/8/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Release Candidate 2 - Logical booting OS/2 / eCS now works, Byte-Change must be memory-only - Slightly changed Stealth-MBR Virii detection, because of strange BIOSes - BootMenu no longer freezes when Timer got set to 255 - Official homepage changed Release-Version: 0.92b on 2 Aug 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv092b_dt.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.92b (French, 2/8/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Release Candidate 2 - Logical booting OS/2 / eCS now works, Byte-Change must be memory-only - Slightly changed Stealth-MBR Virii detection, because of strange BIOSes - BootMenu no longer freezes when Timer got set to 255 - Official homepage changed Release-Version: 0.92b on 2 Aug 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv092b_fr.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.91b (French, 17/5/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Release Candidate 1 - Bootmenu has a detailed mode - Setup can be entered additionally from within Bootmenu via F10 - Freeze in BASIC OPTIONS, when no partition had bootable flag - Change-Boot Password Protection occured at wrong times - Tiny translation related changes Release-Version: 0.91b on 17 May 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv091b_fr.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.91b (English, 17/5/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Release Candidate 1 - Bootmenu has a detailed mode - Setup can be entered additionally from within Bootmenu via F10 - Freeze in BASIC OPTIONS, when no partition had bootable flag - Change-Boot Password Protection occured at wrong times - Tiny translation related changes Release-Version: 0.91b on 17 May 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv091b_us.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.91b (Italian, 17/5/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Release Candidate 1 - Bootmenu has a detailed mode - Setup can be entered additionally from within Bootmenu via F10 - Freeze in BASIC OPTIONS, when no partition had bootable flag - Change-Boot Password Protection occured at wrong times - Tiny translation related changes Release-Version: 0.91b on 17 May 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv091b_it.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.91b (German, 17/5/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Release Candidate 1 - Bootmenu has a detailed mode - Setup can be entered additionally from within Bootmenu via F10 - Freeze in BASIC OPTIONS, when no partition had bootable flag - Change-Boot Password Protection occured at wrong times - Tiny translation related changes Release-Version: 0.91b on 17 May 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv091b_de.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.91b (Dutch, 17/5/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Release Candidate 1 - Bootmenu has a detailed mode - Setup can be entered additionally from within Bootmenu via F10 - Freeze in BASIC OPTIONS, when no partition had bootable flag - Change-Boot Password Protection occured at wrong times - Tiny translation related changes Release-Version: 0.91b on 17 May 2002
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv091b_dt.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.28b (English, 26/4/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Localized versions in Dutch, German, French & Italian - Installer improvements - Option for CD-ROM/ZIP/Network-boot to resume boot process via BIOS - OS/2 / eCS boot >8GB fix, IBM has their own way to detect Int13 Ext. - Workaround against Partition Magic's *WRONG* way of filling out Begin-CHS on LBA partitions resulting in AiR-BOOT ignoring those :-( - A primary partition is marked active even if none is booted to make some BIOSes happy - FAT-16 support for booting Linux Kernels - Linux Kernel Partition Boot-Support removed (LINUXIMG.exe as well) - Cooper-Bars FX - Lots of internal changes
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv028b_us.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.28b (Italian, 26/4/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Localized versions in Dutch, German, French & Italian - Installer improvements - Option for CD-ROM/ZIP/Network-boot to resume boot process via BIOS - OS/2 / eCS boot >8GB fix, IBM has their own way to detect Int13 Ext. - Workaround against Partition Magic's *WRONG* way of filling out Begin-CHS on LBA partitions resulting in AiR-BOOT ignoring those :-( - A primary partition is marked active even if none is booted to make some BIOSes happy - FAT-16 support for booting Linux Kernels - Linux Kernel Partition Boot-Support removed (LINUXIMG.exe as well) - Cooper-Bars FX - Lots of internal changes
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv028b_it.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.28b (German, 26/4/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Localized versions in Dutch, German, French & Italian - Installer improvements - Option for CD-ROM/ZIP/Network-boot to resume boot process via BIOS - OS/2 / eCS boot >8GB fix, IBM has their own way to detect Int13 Ext. - Workaround against Partition Magic's *WRONG* way of filling out Begin-CHS on LBA partitions resulting in AiR-BOOT ignoring those :-( - A primary partition is marked active even if none is booted to make some BIOSes happy - FAT-16 support for booting Linux Kernels - Linux Kernel Partition Boot-Support removed (LINUXIMG.exe as well) - Cooper-Bars FX - Lots of internal changes
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv028b_de.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.28b (Dutch, 26/4/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Localized versions in Dutch, German, French & Italian - Installer improvements - Option for CD-ROM/ZIP/Network-boot to resume boot process via BIOS - OS/2 / eCS boot >8GB fix, IBM has their own way to detect Int13 Ext. - Workaround against Partition Magic's *WRONG* way of filling out Begin-CHS on LBA partitions resulting in AiR-BOOT ignoring those :-( - A primary partition is marked active even if none is booted to make some BIOSes happy - FAT-16 support for booting Linux Kernels - Linux Kernel Partition Boot-Support removed (LINUXIMG.exe as well) - Cooper-Bars FX - Lots of internal changes
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv028b_dt.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.28b (French, 26/4/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Localized versions in Dutch, German, French & Italian - Installer improvements - Option for CD-ROM/ZIP/Network-boot to resume boot process via BIOS - OS/2 / eCS boot >8GB fix, IBM has their own way to detect Int13 Ext. - Workaround against Partition Magic's *WRONG* way of filling out Begin-CHS on LBA partitions resulting in AiR-BOOT ignoring those :-( - A primary partition is marked active even if none is booted to make some BIOSes happy - FAT-16 support for booting Linux Kernels - Linux Kernel Partition Boot-Support removed (LINUXIMG.exe as well) - Cooper-Bars FX - Lots of internal changes
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv028b_fr.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.27b (29/1/2002) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - 'Choose-Ur-Favourite-Boot-Letter' feature for OS/2 copied from PowerBoot - Delay for entering setup fix for some current BIOSes that DONT SUPPORT standard BIOS functions. *ANYONE* should be able now to enter setup - Changed lower text in AiR-BOOT Setup to reflect real license Release-Version: 0.27b
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv027b.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.26b (12/1/2002) Readme/What's new
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- === Extracted by AiR-ViEW === === Copyright by AiR ON-Line Software [1997] === === Coded by Martin Kiewitz aka The Last Crusader -(TLC)- === ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ÖÄÄ[ Page: 1 ]ÄÄ[ BETA VERSION Read Me ]ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º º º Hi to you ! º º º º This is the 3rd public beta. Just generate a new AiR-BOOT disc and boot º º from it. AiR-BOOT SETUP will detect the old version and update it. º º º º The main reason it got released for public, is because I believe there's º º no better boot-manager available and I didn't want it to be used only on º º my own computers. It was primarily done for multi-boot support on a º º computer using OS/2, OpenDOS, Windoze 95 and Linux. º º º º This version includes the Partition Setup finally and ultimative support º º for Hiding partitions as requested by several people. º º º º I changed the way how to enter setup. You have to press Strg/Ctrl AND Alt º º when to AiR-BOOT initial message is displayed. º º º º Because more configuration space is needed, AiR-BOOT Setup Disc will º º upgrade the configuration. Do not try to install a prior version to your º º system afterwards, because those will not detect the configuration º º anymore and will overwrite it with the standard one. º º º º Additionally this version has support for the new pseudo MBR standard º º that Mickeysoft invented for Windoze NT. They are checking for an opcode º º at the start of the MBR. Otherwise Windoze will get berserk. Windoze is º º berserk anyway, but I can't stand this. I have to put bullshit into my º º boot-loader, because Mickeysoft wants it that way. Great. º º -> to be exact: I added some rubbish, so that Windoze NT/2000 is booting º º correctly. º º º º ========================================================================== º º But please note: This version is currently in beta state, so please º º backup your system before installing it. AiR-BOOT should not crash your º º computer, but who knows. º º ========================================================================== º º º º This version is considered as '2nd Final Public Beta'. º º I'm really happy with this version, because finally it has the nice º º Partition Setup in there. Most users should feel comfortable with this º º one and throw PowerBoot <g> away. º º º º The next version will include some sort of FDISK-tool, so one is able to º º setup his harddisk without even having ANY operating system on it. º º º º If one of you is a trader, please do NOT share this program with others. º º I know, it's cool and stuff, but it's BETA. When it's released, it will º º get cardware for non-commercial use, so you DON'T HAVE to trade it. º º º º Okay, I hope everything will work. º º º º Martin Kiewitz º º º º P.S.: If you like this viewer, press F2 :-) If you don't like the F/X, º º press F2 again. If you want help, press F1. º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- === Extracted by AiR-ViEW === === Copyright by AiR ON-Line Software [1997] === === Coded by Martin Kiewitz aka The Last Crusader -(TLC)- === ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ÖÄÄ[ Page: 2 ]ÄÄ[ Features ]ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º º º AiR-BOOT has many, many features that other boot managers are missing. º º º º - Colored Boot-Menu º º - Maximum of 30 partitions (limit means all partitions on system) º º - Completly integrated, Award-styled, menu-driven SETUP including real º º help to every option º º - Very easy Installation/Repair via disc or CD-ROM º º - Boot-Process completly configurable º º - Configurable Password protection º º - 100% in MBR (does not need any real space on harddisk) º º - "Corrupt-MBR"-Protection (is able to restore MBR, if it gets corrupted) º º - Intelligent Partition Handling. will not reset or act abnormal, if º º partitions are moved, harddisks are changed, etc. º º (only available completely for FAT and HPFS partitions) º º - Hiding partitions support º º - Floppy-Boot º º - Finds (Stealth-)MBR and Bootrecord-Virii (and is able to remove most of º º them) º º - Special Linux-Support, boots Linux from above 8 GB limit includes Linux º º Boot-Commandline and automagically, but configurable root-partition º º - Repair-Mode, AiR-BOOT disc/CD-ROM is able to repair AiR-BOOT without º º resetting the configuration º º - MBR-Protection under Real-Mode º º º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º º º AiR-BOOT was successfully tested with the following Operating Systems: º º º º - MS-DOS/DR-DOS/Open-DOS/PC-DOS (2000) º º - OS/2 Warp3/Warp4/WSeB, as well as the MCP package and eComStation º º (it's even possible to boot from logical partitions, so don't use the º º supplied OS/2 BootMan) º º - Unix/Linux (don't select/install LILO) º º - Windoze95/98/ME º º - Windoze NT/2000 º º º º AiR-BOOT is compatible to LVM, the Logical Volume Manager available for º º OS/2, eComStation and Linux-variants. º º º º AiR-BOOT is compatible to the pseudo standard that's is used by an OS on a º º 32-bit processor, being actually a 16-bit extension that is outperformed º º by any 8-bit software running on a 4-bit microprocessor, written by a º º 2-bit company that can't stand 1-bit of competition.(idea:w95.asm by Mr.X)º º º º AiR-BOOT is able to get booted from CD-ROM. Simply generate a floppy disc, º º get its image and use this to burn your own AiR-BOOT CD-ROM. º º º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- === Extracted by AiR-ViEW === === Copyright by AiR ON-Line Software [1997] === === Coded by Martin Kiewitz aka The Last Crusader -(TLC)- === ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ÖÄÄ[ Page: 3 ]ÄÄ[ Installation ]ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º º º The base-installation can only be done using DOS or a DOS-Box. If you got º º Unix/Linux, you have to boot from a DOS disc. Note: You will never need º º to boot ugly DOS again :) º º º º 1. Get a blank, formatted disc. Insert this disc into drive A: and start º º the file AIRBSET.EXE from the AiR-BOOT archive. º º º º 2. Check your CMOS-Setup. Deselect 'Virus Warning', if this option is º º available and change the boot-sequence to something, where A: is the º º first entry. Don't forget to save the changes to your CMOS. º º º º 3. Now boot from the disc made in step 1. º º º º 4. AiR-BOOT INSTALL is now taking over and you should be able to finish º º the installation process alone. º º º º 5. After INSTALL did its work, you will get into the built-in SETUP. º º NOTE: You may enter AiR-BOOT SETUP later by holding Strg&Alt at º º AiR-BOOT startup. (Strg is sometimes labeled Ctrl) º º º º 6. After being in AiR-BOOT SETUP, you should change your boot-sequence to º º something like 'C only' or some selection, where C: is in front. º º NOTE: Do not reactivate 'Virus Protection'. AiR-BOOT does a better job º º and you would get a Virus-Warning on every boot. º º º º Okay, all should work now and you have a virus protected system featuring º º AiR-BOOT. º º º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º º º If at some point AiR-BOOT is not coming up due e.g. installing a new OS, º º you will have to insert your AiR-BOOT disc/CD-ROM and boot from it again. º º AiR-BOOT INSTALL will automatically detect what was going wrong and let º º you select, if it should repair the damage. º º º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- === Extracted by AiR-ViEW === === Copyright by AiR ON-Line Software [1997] === === Coded by Martin Kiewitz aka The Last Crusader -(TLC)- === ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ÖÄÄ[ Page: 4 ]ÄÄ[ Limitations ]ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º º º If your system fits into one of this categories, do NOT install AiR-BOOT. º º º º - You got an encryption tool in your MBR º º - You got ANYTHING useful in your MBR º º - You got more than 30 partitions in total on your system º º (AiR-BOOT's internal partition table is unable to hold more than that, º º it could be expanded at a later date, but I don't see any reason) º º º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- === Extracted by AiR-ViEW === === Copyright by AiR ON-Line Software [1997] === === Coded by Martin Kiewitz aka The Last Crusader -(TLC)- === ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ÖÄÄ[ Page: 5 ]ÄÄ[ Known Bugs ]ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º º º I would call them missing features. There are no known bugs. º º º º - "FDISK" - Partitioning Add-On º º - Linux normal Kernel image format unsupported º º (only, when using the partition boot method) º º º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- === Extracted by AiR-ViEW === === Copyright by AiR ON-Line Software [1997] === === Coded by Martin Kiewitz aka The Last Crusader -(TLC)- === ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ÖÄÄ[ Page: 6 ]ÄÄ[ History ]ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º Version ³ Releasedate ³ Status ³ Changes º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º 0.20b ³ 15 Sep 1999 ³ [BETA] ³ [+] Basic NON-PUBLIC BETA º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º 0.201b³ 16 Sep 1999 ³ [BETA] ³ [-] Fixed handling of harddisks with less º º ³ ³ ³ than 63 sectors/track. (Thnx Hex1753) º º ³ ³ ³ [+] LINUXIMG was not included in last rel º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Additional documentation º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º 0.21b ³ 30 Sep 1999 ³ [BETA] ³ Tomorrow is Premiere World Premiere day! º º ³ ³ ³ [+] AiR-BOOT works on 62 sectors/track º º ³ ³ ³ [-] Linux Root Partition Setup Crash º º ³ ³ ³ [-] Fixed a bug, when boot-menu disabled º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Changed 'broken-partition' algo º º ³ ³ ³ [-] Fixed bug, which prevented OpenDOS º º ³ ³ ³ from booting using MBR Protection º º ³ ³ ³ Thanx to Hex1753 for the following: º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Makes sounds, when boot-menu disabled º º ³ ³ ³ Thanx to Mike Reichel for the following: º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Timed Boot Key Handling setup feature º º ³ ³ ³ [+] BIOS POST Message via TAB key º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Corrected (some) partitions booting º º ³ ³ ³ (was just undocumented, should be º º ³ ³ ³ filled out by boot-record writer) º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º 0.22b ³ 8 Okt 1999 ³ [BETA] ³ [-] Corrected special partition booting º º ³ ³ ³ Hacked theory was not 100% correct º º ³ ³ ³ cause of that most partitions did º º ³ ³ ³ not boot anymore :-( º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º 0.23b ³ 25 Aug 2000 ³ [BETA] ³ [+] This version is released as PUBLIC º º ³ ³ ³ BETA, available via os2.org and got º º ³ ³ ³ into the Warpcast mailing list. º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Moved AiR-BOOT signature, so AiR-BOOT º º ³ ³ ³ is able to see, that Windoze98 broke º º ³ ³ ³ the MBR... º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º 0.24b ³ 27 Dec 2001 ³ [BETA] ³ [+] Now "officially" a public beta º º ³ ³ ³ [+] EZ-SETUP Detection º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Delay for entering Setup got expanded º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Documentation now up-to-date º º ³ ³ ³ [+] GetFloppyVolumeLabel and 2-Seconds- º º ³ ³ ³ Timed-Get now implemented º º ³ ³ ³ [+] AIRBSET is able to run from A: floppy º º ³ ³ ³ now. Previously this didn't work. º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Scrolling in bootmenu now possible º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º 0.25b ³ 31 Dec 2001 ³ [BETA] ³ [+] Have-A-Happy-New-Year Release º º ³ ³ ³ [-] Fixed stupid-leftover in the rebuilt º º ³ ³ ³ boot-menu that caused wrong partition º º ³ ³ ³ to be booted when Include Floppy was º º ³ ³ ³ deactivated. º º ³ ³ ³ [-] Systems >15 partitions do not get º º ³ ³ ³ Save Error anymore. º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Installer now accepts upcased input º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Hiding Partitions Pre-Support, will º º ³ ³ ³ unhide any hidden partition on boot. º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º 0.26b ³ 12 Jan 2002 ³ [BETA] ³ [+] Partition Setup now 100% functional º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Configuration area enlarged º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Hiding Partitions-Support º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Partition Name changing possible º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Partition X-Ref routine rewritten º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Made my MBR compliant to the pseudo º º ³ ³ ³ standard that Mickeysoft invented º º ³ ³ ³ (more information in Q/A part) º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º [BETA] úúúúúú Internal Beta-Version ³ [WARP] úúúúúúúúúúúú Official Release º º [REG] úúúúúúúúúú Registered Version ³ [iNST] úúúúúúúúúúúúú iNSTALL and Co. º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º Technial Problems ? º º º º By E-Mail: martin@kiewitz.de º º Official Homepage: http://kiewitz.ath.cx/air-boot/ º º º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- === Extracted by AiR-ViEW === === Copyright by AiR ON-Line Software [1997] === === Coded by Martin Kiewitz aka The Last Crusader -(TLC)- === ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ÖÄÄ[ Page: 7 ]ÄÄ[ Questions & Answers ]ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º º º Q: How can I remove a partition from boot-menu ? º º A: Simply go Partition Setup, select the partition and press 'B' to remove º º the BootAble-Flag. º º º º Q: I saw Hiding Partitions Support, but I don't know how it works. º º A: Simply go Partition Setup, select the partition you want to hide º º partitions for and press 'H'. Now select "Hide" for the partitions you º º want to hide. º º º º Q: I would like to have AiR-BOOT available in my favourite language. º º A: You may contact me, if you are willing to translate AiR-BOOT. º º When AiR-BOOT will get Shareware, you will receive a free registered º º version. º º º º Q: I used another harddisk on my computer, all went okay, but a friend º º needed the drive again, so I removed it. Now he is not able to boot º º anymore. What shall I do ? º º A: That's a problem with the partition table. Some systems need to be the º º only "bootable" partition, so AiR-BOOT removes those flags on ANY º º partition, BUT the one that was booted on. º º To be able to boot, you have to reget the harddisk, boot from the º º partition your friend wants to boot from, switch your computer off, º º remove the harddisk and you are done. º º º º NOTE: If your friend would use AiR-BOOT, this problem would not occur. º º occur. If he does have only one partition that is bootable and º º does not want the menu, he can switch it off. AiR-BOOT will use º º its definable default partition automatically. º º º º Q: What's this about the virus protection about ? There are 4 options. One º º named 'MBR Protection', 'Virus Detection', 'Stealth Detection' and the º º last one 'VIBR Detection'. º º A: Well, the normal Virus Protection will detect any non-stealth MBR º º virii, which give control back to AiR-BOOT. If AiR-BOOT Copyright º º should not show up, you should insert the AiR-BOOT disk and restore º º the MBR. º º º º Stealth Virus are more difficult, because they hide theirself. We got º º a little idea about how to detect them. This will work 99.9%. º º º º VIBR stands for 'Virus-In-Boot-Record', which does NOT mean the MBR. º º This option will check the boot record, which is to be booted AFTER º º AiR-BOOT. This test is somewhat nasty, so it may be that it reports a º º false positive. If it reports a virus, it will not allow you to boot º º this partition. The system will simply stop. You may reset this check º º by deactivating, boot and reactivating it. º º º º Virus Pre-Protection is likely the same as 'Virus Protection' in your º º CMOS. It will capture INT 13h (Harddisk I/O) and look for any writes º º to Cylinder 0 and Head 0. This will be regarded as a viral act and º º will be aborted. The computer will stop and you will see a º º corresponding message. This option could be incompatible to a third º º company program, like the option 'Virus Protection' in CMOS is º º incompatible to AiR-BOOT. º º º º Why did we define those 4 options and not just one ? º º º º Because all of them could be somehow incompatible with some OS, but º º you should not be forced to use all or none of them. The normal Virus º º Detection should always work, Stealth virus could fail, if the BIOS º º does some crap (you never know). VIBR could report false alarms, so º º you would not be able to boot from such partition. Virus-PreProtection º º will be incompatible to all Protected Mode OS (we suppose). º º º º NOTE: You may turn off 'VIBR-Detection' for any partition. Simply º º reset the V-Flag on the partition, where VIBR-Detection should º º not be used. If you disable it entirely, it will not do anything º º on any boot-record. º º º º Q: Why did you force the user to have at least 62 sectors per track on his º º harddisk. I looked at your code-image and it's using not half of it. º º A: We did a more 'compressed' version (31 sectors required) before, but we º º discovered that this was stupid. A stealth-virus killed part of the º º configuration, so the user would have to re-setup AiR-BOOT entirely. º º Now we save the configuration at a different point. Most viruses º º should not kill the configuration. Note: The AiR-BOOT disc is able to º º repair AiR-BOOT code *alone*, so you won't have to re-setup AiR-BOOT. º º Just insert the AiR-BOOT disc, if you have problems starting your º º computer. It will search&repair all missing parts of AiR-BOOT. º º º º Q: I just looked at your MBR-code and I saw that you are doing some º º strange things. Why did you do this ? º º A: Here is the starting code that's in the MBR-code since 0.26b: º º CLI (disables Interrupts) º º JuMP Somewhere º º JuMP ToAnotherLocation º º STI (enables Interrupts) º º º º Now why: It's because of Microsoft. A nice "greeting" is in the MBR º º as well. They don't use any standards. Why should they. º º Windoze NT/2000 is checking for the CLI instruction. º º I don't know why. It's not a standard for MBR writing. º º If it's not found Windoze 2000 gets berserk. The 2 jumps are º º because at MBR-offset 2h, there is the AiR-BOOT signature. º º I didn't want to change the detection, so I made the 'A' to º º a part of the JMP instruction as well. So the thing jumps to º º a specific location and has to jump to the actual start. º º º º This had to be done JUST because of Microsoft. I can't stand this any º º longer. There is no need for such checking. It's not documented º º anywhere and the CLI is bullshit anyway, because one does not need to º º disable interrupts to change stack or something. Any skilled assembly º º programmer knows this. º º º º Q: What's that stuff about Linux boot-support all about ? º º A: AiR-BOOT is able to boot Linux without the use of LILO. And it's using º º some "special" way to do it. º º It needs a Linux-Image partition (type 8Ah) containing the kernel º º image in it. Normal zimage and big images are supported. It allows you º º to define Linux kernel command line and will auto-recognizes root. º º You may change root anytime you wish using AiR-BOOT SETUP. (You will º º be given option only to partitions, which MAY be root) and you will º º choose root using the partition name and not any confusing /dev/hda1. º º º º To get those things going, simply add a partition '8Ah' with a minimum º º of 1 MB and run LINUXIMG (in a DOS-environment) in a directory, that º º contains your "zimage" kernel file. This will do it. º º When this is done, 'Root Partition' and 'Linux Command Line' will be º º available in AiR-BOOT SETUP. º º º º BETA: THERE IS NO NON-BigZimage SUPPORT YET. º º º º Q: Hey, why did you code this ? 'NT BOOT'/'OS/2 BOOTMAN'/'LILO' are great. º º A: Yeah, sure. Let me say something about those things. º º NT BOOT is crap. 100 KBytes for a BOOTMANAGER ? Are you nuts ? And it º º definitly needs Windows NT installed. (or a FAT partition?!) º º OS/2 BOOTMAN needs a primary partition, so just 3 are left. º º LILO is stupid. First it can not boot Linux, if Linux resides not on º º the first harddisk. It can not run Linux, when the kernel is beyond º º the 8 GB limit (Sorry, but the guys who did LILO can not code). And º º it's really 'complicated' to install. And it has to be adjusted, if º º you add new partitions to your harddrive. etc. etc. etc. º º Most other bootmanager have some problems selecting the correct os, so º º cool things like Interactive Unix do NOT work with them. º º º º AiR-BOOT handles them all. º º You insert a new harddrive...AiR-BOOT shows the new partitions. º º You remove the harddrive...AiR-BOOT does not display them anymore. º º You add a new partition...AiR-BOOT boots anything correctly, just like º º normal. You do not have to configure anything. º º You have Linux on a partition, which is beyond 8 GB...AiR-BOOT runs º º the kernel correctly. º º You boot from a disc with a virus on it...AiR-BOOT will detect it and º º remove it automatically. º º º º Show me just one Bootmanager, which handles all those cases. º º º º btw.: If you add a new partition to a drive containing Linux, LILO º º will not find the root partition anymore (haha, nice try). º º That's your "premier" boot-manager. phew. AiR-BOOT will find it º º (normally) automatically on-the-fly and boot it like normal. º º LILO can not boot a Linux Partition above 8 GB. AiR-BOOT can. º º º º Q: Ohhh man, what do you got against LILO. It's soooo good. º º A: Well, I had nothing against it, till it nearly erased my projects º º partition. I said hda5 and it wrote to hda3. Funny thing. After that I º º thought I was too dumb and looked in the configuration. It was hda5. º º And LILO is not compatible to OpenDOS. It wrote some crap to the º º boot-sector and OpenDOS showed me a corrupted file system. º º During AiR-BOOT alpha testing, it NEVER corrupted any partition table. º º The only problems were crashs, so I had to restore the old MBR. º º During late beta testing, it never got any problems. And if there were º º any, I just inserted the AiR-BOOT disc and wups, the problem was gone. º º (btw: that's the way I noticed that Partition Magic 3.x overwrites º º some sectors in the MBR). º º º º Q: Are you crazy ? So many options, no one will ever need this. Guess you º º wasted your time. º º A: Okay, well, perhaps there are too much options, and perhaps it's crap. º º We believe many users will have different options, so they are good as º º they are. Too much options would be, if the program is too slow or º º handling is too difficult, but not in AiR-BOOT. It's tiny in size, º º easy to setup...just like your BIOS. We have included REAL on-line º º help, too. Not the way in most BIOSes. We included fancy things, like º º color menus...look on BIOSes from 1989. They were really ugly. Colored º º menus are somewhat cool. But we know, you are the one with WindowsNT, º º which thinks it's the best OS in the world. You never tried OS/2, nor º º Unix/Linux. You want a GUI, but you hate those silly colored-windows. º º Guess what, who is crazy ? º º º º Q: I believe you have copied the text of your boot-menu from DocsBoot. º º A: You are right. DocsBoot is cool, but you had to setup using a DOS-exe. º º This ain't possible under Unix/Linux, nor under WinNT or OS/2. So it's º º a no-no. And it didn't have many options that AiR-BOOT has. º º º º Q: By the way, your SETUP looks much as my Award BIOS SETUP. º º A: Well, :] nope, we modified most of its design. The menu-locations were º º done good, same goes for the colors, so we used them too (Most users º º would not like to have 2 different setups). But window design, window º º drawing speed and optimization are a little bit different <g>. º º º º Q: I am a representative of a bios manufacturer and we would like to º º implement AiR-BOOT in our BIOS. º º A: This would be great, we are looking for something like this, so it º º could be pre-executed from BIOS, so no WinNT-install could kill it. º º Please contact us. (We have coded AiR-BOOT in a way, so this would be º º possible. We would need about 512 byte code space in your BIOS). º º AiR-BOOT would need to be installed to the harddisk anyway, but the º º layer 0 code would be in BIOS, so AiR-BOOT would get the first pick on º º the harddisk and could check for virus etc. º º º º Q: I am a representative of a OS building software company. We would like º º to implement your AiR-BOOT, too. º º A: If you are Microsoft, don't bother us. We will never sign a contract º º with you. Sorry. This is because most of us do not like your way of º º marketing/support/coding/attitude. º º All other companys: We could talk about bundled versions. º º º º NOTE: We will NEVER modify AiR-BOOT in a way, where it will be º º dependent on the OS installed. AiR-BOOT was coded because º º of totally indepence from any OS. So OEM versions would boot º º other operating systems, as well. º º º º At this point, I want to thank several people that helped me to improve º º AiR-BOOT to the level it is now. º º º º Hex1753, Mike Reichel, Robert Traynor º º º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄœ
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv026b.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.25b (31/12/2001) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Second Open-Public Beta Version (BUGFIXED!) - EZ-SETUP Detection (will not install on such systems) - Scrolling in Bootmenu now possible (more than 14 bootable partitions) - Floppy: Get VolumeLabel and the Every-2-Seconds-Get Option are now functional. - AIRBSET may be executed from the floppy, where it will write to. previously this resulted into an error-message and a damaged disc - Delay for entering Setup got expanded
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv025b.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.24b (26/12/2001) Readme/What's new
Fixes this time: - Second Open-Public Beta Version - EZ-SETUP Detection (will not install on such systems) - Scrolling in Bootmenu now possible (more than 14 bootable partitions) - Floppy: Get VolumeLabel and the Every-2-Seconds-Get Option are now functional. - AIRBSET may be executed from the floppy, where it will write to. previously this resulted into an error-message and a damaged disc - Delay for entering Setup got expanded Release-Version: 0.24b
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv024b.zip
AiR-BOOT v. 0.23b (1/11/2001) Readme/What's new
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- === Extracted by AiR-ViEW === === Copyright by AiR ON-Line Software [1997] === === Coded by Martin Kiewitz aka The Last Crusader -(TLC)- === ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ÖÄÄ[ Side: 1 ]ÄÄ[ BETA VERSION Read Me ]ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º º º Hi, all beta-testers ! º º º º NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW º º º º AiR-BOOT has Windows NT support now. º º º º NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW ! NEW º º º º I just wanted to thank you for your help in getting AiR-BOOT bug-free. º º º º Before you go checking this thing out, I want to recommend you to backup º º your MBR or better your entire harddisc. It's not because I believe º º AiR-BOOT will kill them, but backupping them sets you on the safe side. º º º º And please: Put your backup on a bootable disc and do not write that º º backup to harddisc :-) º º º º If I ever release another non-public beta, you do not have to deinstall º º AiR-BOOT. AiR-BOOT Setup (which will be put onto your disc) is able to º º reinstall (after a virus) or update AiR-BOOT without touching the º º configuration. º º º º If one of you is a trader, please do NOT share this program with others. º º I know, it's cool and stuff, but it's BETA. When it's released, it will º º get cardware for non-commercial use, so you don't HAVE to trade it. º º º º Another IMPORTANT message: º º ============================ º º AiR-BOOT *will* overwrite any harddrive LBA drivers (like EZ-Drive) on º º your primary harddisc. Do NOT install AiR-BOOT, if you have such drivers º º drivers installed. º º º º Okay, I hope everything will work. º º º º Martin Kiewitz º º º º P.S.: If you like this viewer, press F2 :-) If you don't like the F/X, º º press F2 again. If you want help, press F1. º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĽ ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĽ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- === Extracted by AiR-ViEW === === Copyright by AiR ON-Line Software [1997] === === Coded by Martin Kiewitz aka The Last Crusader -(TLC)- === ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ÖÄÄ[ Side: 2 ]ÄÄ[ Instructions ]ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· The base-installation can only be done using DOS or a DOS-Box. If you got Unix/Linux, you have to boot from a DOS disc. Note: You will never need to boot ugly DOS again :) First of all, you need a blank, formatted disc. AiR-BOOT will destroy its contents entirely, so be sure its one you will not need. Insert this disc into drive A:. Now start AIRBSET.EXE of this archive. Before booting from this disk, you have to modify 2 things in your CMOS. If you do not know, what this is, contact someone who knows. First, deactivate: 'Virus Warning'. This is important, because AiR-BOOT wants to write itself to the boot-sector and this would be seen as a viral behaviour. Second, select 'boot sequence' to something where A: is the first entry of. Okay, now save this to your CMOS and boot from disk. Attention: Your original MBR will *not* be safed. If all worked fine, you will have to press ENTER. AiR-BOOT will be started (without a reboot) and the SETUP will be entered automatically. You may change options, change partitions or what else. Now select SAVE&EXIT SETUP. You may reboot now and reset your CMOS 'boot sequence' setting. Set it to something, where C: is in front, so AiR-BOOT will be loaded everytime. Note: Do not reactivate 'Virus Protection'. AiR-BOOT got a better protection and it will not allow MBR writes, too. If you activate it, you will be warned on EVERY boot for a 'virus'. After this, press F10 or select 'EXIT & SAVE CONFIGURATION', all should work fine, and you should see the boot-menu for the first time. Hint: To enter the SETUP the next time, press the 'Strg' and 'Alt'-key together, while booting. If you selected 'Password protection for SETUP', you will be asked for it. If you forget your password, you have to reboot using a disc and erase the whole first track of your harddisc (Cylinder 0, Head 0) and reinstall AiR-BOOT. Attention: When erasing, do not overwrite your MBR partition data ! Okay, all should work now and you have a virus protected system featuring AiR-BOOT. --------------------------------------------------------------------- - READTHIS - READTHIS - READTHIS - READTHIS - READTHIS - READTHIS - --------------------------------------------------------------------- This is IMPORTANT. If you want to install ANY new operating system(s) to your computer, don't wonder, if AiR-BOOT doesn't show up anymore. This is because MICROSOFT thinks it could monopolize your system and nothing else but their OS should be on your computer. If you want to use Linux, do NOT install LILO. LILO is crap. I said hda5 and it wrote to hda3. And it's NOT compatible with OpenDOS. (LILO sucks this way). And LILO is much too complicated to install. After installing your favourite OS (or Windows, if you want to), reboot from your AiR-BOOT disc (or CD) and it will reinstall itself automatically. Sometimes it will say something about 'probably virus infection'. You may ignore that normally. All options should be preserved, so you won't have to backup anything. Your new OS should be detected automatically and you should be able to boot, without going to AiR-BOOT SETUP. The following OS do NOT overwrite AiR-BOOT, so you do not have to restore: OpenDOS 7.02 (from Caldera) Novell DOS DR-DOS MS-DOS (till 6.22) OS/2 Warp3/Warp4/E-Business - Do not select BootManager! Windows 3.11 (this is not an OS!) Unix Linux - Do not select/install LILO! The following will overwrite: Windows NT The following will TRY to overwrite, but MBR Protection can handle them: Windows 95 Windows 98 --------------------------------------------------------------------- - READTHIS - READTHIS - READTHIS - READTHIS - READTHIS - READTHIS - --------------------------------------------------------------------- Define Master/Boot Password: ============================== AiR-BOOT allows you the use of 2 passwords. The master password will allow any action, the boot password will only allow booting the system. They are sort of the same as in CMOS: Master/User Password. Timed Boot: ============= AiR-BOOT has a Timed Boot feature. This is good for computers, which could accidentally reboot themselves, but have to be protected somehow. BOOT FROM LAST IF TIMED: Boots from last booted partition, if Timed Boot occurs. REMEMBER LAST BOOT: Saves the last booted partition. If not selected, AiR-BOOT will use the default partition as last partition. REMEMBER TIMED BOOT: Saves the last booted partition on timed boots. Likely the same as Remember Last Boot. Include Floppy Drive: ======================= AiR-BOOT allows you to boot from floppy drive, if you wish to. Using this option, perhaps you will never have to enter CMOS anymore. For security reasons, this option should be deactivated most of the time. MBR Protection: ================= AiR-BOOT let's you protect your MBR. This feature will be useful under 16-Bit OS only and on some cruel situations. AiR-BOOT will install a little resident code, which will prevent any writes to your MBR. There is another option for this function called 'Ignore MBR Writes'. Normally AiR-BOOT will crash your system, if a write to your MBR wants to be performed. This option will just ignore the write and report 'All fine' to the caller. For more explanation: I had the following case on some computer using Windows 95. After some time Win95 corrupted the MBR, so we had to restore it everytime. The supporting person had the idea of activating AiR-BOOTs 'Virus Warning', so Win95 did not override it anymore. BUT on EVERY boot this warning occured, that's stupid. So I included this option. Now it's booting normally. Win95 however reports 'Error on IDE-drive' and runs in compatibility mode only. Anyway: It runs perfectly now. ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĽ ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĽ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- === Extracted by AiR-ViEW === === Copyright by AiR ON-Line Software [1997] === === Coded by Martin Kiewitz aka The Last Crusader -(TLC)- === ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ÖÄÄ[ Seite: 5 ]ÄÄ[ History ]ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º Version ³ Releasedate ³ Status ³ Changes º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º 0.20b ³ 15 Sep 1999 ³ [BETA] ³ [+] Basic NON-PUBLIC BETA º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º 0.201b³ 16 Sep 1999 ³ [BETA] ³ [-] Fixed handling of harddiscs with less º º ³ ³ ³ than 63 sectors/track. (Thnx Hex1753) º º ³ ³ ³ [+] LINUXIMG was not included in last rel º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Additional documentation º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º 0.21b ³ 30 Sep 1999 ³ [BETA] ³ Tomorrow is Premiere World Premiere day! º º ³ ³ ³ [+] AiR-BOOT works on 62 sectors/track º º ³ ³ ³ [-] Linux Root Partition Setup Crash º º ³ ³ ³ [-] Fixed a bug, when boot-menu disabled º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Changed 'broken-partition' algo º º ³ ³ ³ [-] Fixed bug, which prevented OpenDOS º º ³ ³ ³ from booting using MBR Protection º º ³ ³ ³ Thanx to Hex1753 for the following: º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Makes sounds, when boot-menu disabled º º ³ ³ ³ Thanx to Mike Reichel for the following: º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Timed Boot Key Handling setup feature º º ³ ³ ³ [+] BIOS POST Message via TAB key º º ³ ³ ³ [+] Corrected (some) partitions booting º º ³ ³ ³ (was just undocumented, should be º º ³ ³ ³ filled out by boot-record writer) º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄijÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º 0.22b ³ 8 Okt 1999 ³ [BETA] ³ [-] Corrected special partition booting º º ³ ³ ³ Hacked theory was not 100% correct º º ³ ³ ³ cause of that most partitions did not º º ³ ³ ³ boot anymore :-( º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º [BETA] úúúúúú Internal Beta-Version ³ [WARP] úúúúúúúúúúúú Official Release º º [REG] úúúúúúúúúú Registered Version ³ [iNST] úúúúúúúúúúúúú iNSTALL and Co. º ºÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĺ º Technial Problems ? º º º º By Phone: (+49) 7531/917484 (germany!) º º º º By E-Mail: air-boot@vision.fido.de º º º º Via FidoNet: 2:246/8777 º º º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĽ ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĽ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- === Extracted by AiR-ViEW === === Copyright by AiR ON-Line Software [1997] === === Coded by Martin Kiewitz aka The Last Crusader -(TLC)- === ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ÖÄÄ[ Seite: 6 ]ÄÄ[ Questions & Answers ]ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· Q: What's that stuff about Linux boot-support all about ? A: AiR-BOOT is able to boot Linux. Not the way most other boot-loaders do it. It needs a Linux-Image partition (type 8Ah) with the kernel image in it. AiR-BOOT supports normal zimage and big images, as well. It supports the Linux kernel command line and auto-recognizes root. You may change root anytime you wish using AiR-BOOT SETUP. (You will be given option only to partitions, which COULD be root, LILO lets you define any partition as root. Kinda crappy). And you will choose root using the partition name and not any confusing (and changing) /dev/hda1 things. To get those things going, simply add a partition '8Ah' with a minimum of 1 MB (if there is not enough space left, simply resize your swap partition) and run LINUXIMG (in a DOS-environment) in a directory, which contains your "zimage" kernel file. This will do it. When this is done, 'Root Partition' and 'Linux Command Line' will be available in AiR-BOOT SETUP. BETA: This does not work (yet) on Non-BigZimages ! Don't try it, because there is no support. Q: Fine program, but what do I get for registration ? A: We would loved to release a unrestricted version, but no one would register it, so we thought of some things. First of all, Password Protection is not available in unregistered version. This was supposed to be not important for test purposes. You can not boot from floppy via AiR-BOOT, too. But that's it. Okay, there is a timer, but this will occur after TWO months testing. Registration fee is 20$, so don't complain. This is fair. And do not try to hack, all registered features are NOT implemented in the shareware version. Q: I would really love to register, but there is just this plain english- version and I live in xxxxx, so I do not speak native english. A: Okay, as time passes, more translated AiR-BOOT versions will get released. All we need is a good translator. He will get a registered version FREE. If you are interested in, contact us using 'air-boot@vision.fido.de'. AiR-BOOT shareware archives are named after this scheme: 'AIRBvvvl.ZIP' 'AIRB134U.ZIP' would tell you: AiR-BOOT v1.34, US-version. So this would be the english version. As example: G would mean German. You can look for the FILE_ID.DIZ, too. Please Note: AiR-BOOT shareware will be released using a PGP-signature. You can get our public key via robot under 'PGP@vision.fido.de' If this signature fails, do NOT install it on your system. It may be a hack. And of course: We will never ship our key within this package. If it's there, delete the whole thing. Q: I am a representative of a bios manufacturer and we would like to implement AiR-BOOT in our BIOS. A: This would be great, we are looking for something like this, so AiR-BOOT could be pre-executed from BIOS, so no WinNT-install could kill it. Please contact us. (We have coded AiR-BOOT in a way, so this would be possible. We would need about 512 byte code space in your BIOS). AiR-BOOT would need to be installed to the harddisc anyway, but the layer 0 code would be in BIOS, so AiR-BOOT would get the first pick on the harddisc and could check for virus etc. Q: I am a representative of a OS building software company. We would like to implement your AiR-BOOT, too. A: If you are Microsoft, don't bother us. We will never sign a contract with you. Sorry. This is because most of us do not like your way of marketing/ support/coding/attitude. All other companys: We could talk about bundled versions. But please note: We will NEVER modify AiR-BOOT in a way, where it will be dependent on the OS installed. AiR-BOOT was coded because of totally indepence from any OS. So OEM versions would boot other operating systems, too. Q: I used another harddisc on my computer, all went okay, but a friend needed the drive again, so I removed it. Now he is not able to boot anymore. What shall I do ? A: That's a problem with the partition table. Some systems need to be the only "bootable" partition, so AiR-BOOT removes those flags on ANY partition BUT the one that was booted on. To be able to boot, you have to reget the harddisc, boot from the partition your friend wants to boot from, switch your computer off, remove the harddisc and you are done. Please Note: If your friend would use AiR-BOOT, this problem would not occur. If he does have only one partition that is bootable and does not want the menu, he can switch it off. AiR-BOOT will use its definable default partition automatically. Q: What's this about the virus protection about ? There are 4 options. One named 'MBR Protection', one 'Virus Detection', another 'Stealth Detection' and the last one 'VIBR Detection'. A: Well, the normal Virus Protection will detect any non-stealth MBR viruses, which give control back to AiR-BOOT. If AiR-BOOT Copyright should show not up, you should insert the AiR-BOOT disk and restore the MBR. Stealth Virus are more difficult, because they hide theirself. We got a little idea about how to detect them. This will work 99.9% on all of them. VIBR stands for 'Virus-In-Boot-Record', which does NOT mean the MBR. This option will check the boot record, which is to be booted AFTER AiR-BOOT. This test is somewhat nasty, so it may be that it reports a false virus. If it reports a virus, it will not allow you to boot this partition. The system will simply stop. You have to reinstall the boot-record or use a virus removing program. Virus Pre-Protection is likely the same as 'Virus Protection' in your CMOS. It will capture INT 13h (Harddisc I/O) and look for any writes to Cylinder 0 and Head 0. This will be regarded as a viral act and will be aborted. The computer will stop and you will see a corresponding message. This option could be incompatible to a third company program, like the option 'Virus Protection' in CMOS is incompatible to AiR-BOOT. Why did we define those 4 options and not just one ? Because all of them could be somehow incompatible with some OS, but you should not be forced to use all or none of them. The normal Virus Detection should always work, Stealth virus could fail, if the BIOS does some crap (you never know). VIBR could report false alarms, so you would not be able to boot from such partition. Virus-PreProtection will be incompatible to all Protected Mode OS (we suppose). Please note: You may turn off 'VIBR-Detection' for any partition. Simply reset the V-Flag on the partition, where VIBR-Detection should not be used. If you disable it entirely, it will not do anything on any boot-record. Q: Hey, why did you code this stupid type of shit. 'NT BOOT'/'OS/2 BOOTMAN' or LILO is sooooo cool. (Please shoot me) A: Yeah, sure. Let me say something about those things. NT BOOT is crap. 100 KBytes for a BOOTMANAGER ? Are you nuts ? And it definitly needs Windows NT installed. (or a FAT partition?!) OS/2 BOOTMAN needs a primary partition, so just 3 are left. LILO is stupid. First it can not boot Linux, if Linux resides not on the first harddisc. It can not run Linux, when the kernel is beyond the 8 GB limit (Sorry, but the guys who did LILO can not code). And it's really 'complicated' to install. And it has to be adjusted, if you add new partitions to your harddrive. etc. etc. etc. Most other bootmanager have some problems selecting the correct os, so cool things like Interactive Unix do NOT work with them. AiR-BOOT handles them all. You insert a new harddrive...AiR-BOOT shows the new partitions. You remove the harddrive...AiR-BOOT does not display them anymore. You add a new partition...AiR-BOOT boots anything correctly, just like normal. You do not have to configure anything. You have Linux on a partition, which is beyond 8 GB...AiR-BOOT runs the kernel correctly. (you have to install the kernel to a partition '8Ah'). You boot from a disc with a virus on it...AiR-BOOT will detect it and remove it automatically. Show me just one Bootmanager, which handles those cases. By the way: If you add a new partition to a drive containing Linux, LILO will not find the root partition anymore (haha, nice try). That's your "premier" boot-manager. phew. AiR-BOOT will find it (normally) automatically on-the-fly and boot it like normal. LILO can not boot a Linux Partition above 8 GB. AiR-BOOT can. Q: Ohhh man, what do you got against LILO. It's soooo good. A: Well, I had nothing against it, till it nearly erased my projects partition. I said hda5 and it wrote to hda3. Funny thing. After that I thought I was too dumb and looked in the configuration. It was hda5. And LILO is not compatible to OpenDOS. It wrote some crap to the boot-sector and OpenDOS showed me a corrupted file system. Perhaps it's the failure of OpenDOS, but the hda3/5 bug is not. During AiR-BOOT alpha testing, it NEVER corrupted any partition table. The only problems were crashs, so I had to restore the old MBR. During AiR-BOOT beta testing, it overwrote a MBR once. I never knew why, but I think of a wrong compilation. This case happened to a friend of mine. I restored his MBR and discovered that a Win32-EXE file header was in Sector 2 of the MBR. Get your mind up :-) During late beta testing, it never got any problems. And if there were any, I just inserted the AiR-BOOT disc and wups, the problem was gone. (by the way: that's the way I noticed that Partition Magic 3.x overwrites some sectors in the MBR). Q: Are you crazy ? So much options, no one will ever need this crap. Just for a silly MBR, guess you're idiots. A: Okay, well, perhaps there are too much options, and perhaps it's crap. We believe many users will have different options, so they are good as they are. Too much options would be, if the program is too slow or handling is too difficult, but not in AiR-BOOT. It's tiny in size, easy to setup...just like your BIOS. We have included REAL on-line help, too. Not the way in most BIOSes. We included fancy things, like color menus...look on BIOSes from 1989. They were really ugly. Colored menus are somewhat cool. But we know, you are the one with WindowsNT, which thinks it's the best OS in the world. You never tried OS/2, nor Unix/Linux. You want a GUI, but you hate those silly text-colord-windows. Guess what, who is crazy ? Q: I believe you have copied the text of your boot-menu from DocsBoot. A: You are right. DocsBoot is cool, but you have to setup using a DOS-exe. This ain't possible under Unix/Linux, nor under WinNT or OS/2. So it's not this good. Because of this reason (We used DocsBoot here before), we have done AiR-BOOT. And we can be part of proud of it. The author wanted to code a boot-partition, but this project stopped somehow (lack of registrations?). DocsBoot did not have a colored boot-menu either. Boot-Partitions are silly (imho) because they eat up one primary partition. AiR-BOOT fits into the MBR without any problems, so it's possible without such partition. Another idea would be a dynamic first-partition. This means the boot-manager has a big partition table and it copies the current boot- partition to the first-partition table. This would be possible but is hard to test and much can go wrong. Perhaps this will be included in an upcoming release ?! :) Q: Why did you force the user to have 62 sectors per track on his harddisc. I looked at your code-image and it's using not half of it. A: We did a more 'compressed' version (31 sectors required) before, but we discovered that this was stupid. A stealth-virus killed part of the configuration, so the user would have to re-setup AiR-BOOT entirely. Now we save the configuration at a different point. Most viruses should not kill the configuration. Note: The AiR-BOOT disc is able to repair AiR-BOOT code *alone*, so you won't have to re-setup AiR-BOOT. Just insert the AiR-BOOT disc, if you have problems starting your computer. It will search&repair all missing parts of AiR-BOOT. Q: By the way, your SETUP looks much as my Award BIOS SETUP. A: Well, :] nope, we modified most of its design. The menu-locations were done good, same goes for the colors, so we used them too (Most users would not like to have 2 different setups). But window design, window drawing speed and optimization are a little bit different under AiR-BOOT <g>. ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄ ú ú ÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĽ ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĽ
 ftp.netlabs.org/pub/air-boot/earlier/air-bootv023b.zip
Record updated last time on: 06/07/2021 - 05:59

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