Table of Contents

Running Multiple Operating Systems

Booting MINIX 3 Directly

MINIX 3 can coexist on a hard disk with Windows or Linux. The hard part is figuring out how to choose which OS to boot. Here are a few hints:

Using GRUB 2 to boot MINIX 3

GRUB 2 stores its configuration in a file called grub.cfg (usually /boot/grub/grub.cfg) but you shouldn't edit it directly as it is generated with the information given in /etc/default/grub and the files in /etc/grub.d.
To boot MINIX 3 with GRUB 2 there's two alternatives:

add a menu entry for loading the MINIX bootloader

Edit /etc/grub.d/40_custom (you will probably have to be root to do so) and add the following code:

menuentry "MINIX 3" {
        set root=(hdX,Y)
        chainloader +1
}

Here are some examples of GRUB's naming convention for the disks and partitions:

<!> Note: GRUB 1 and GRUB 2 have different naming conventions for partitions.

Alternatively, if you want to use GRUB to boot MINIX directly:

add a menu entry for MINIX

The entry should have this shape:

menuentry "Minix Latest" {
        set root=(hd0,3,1)
        multiboot /boot/minix_latest/kernel rootdevname=c0d0p2s0
        module /boot/minix_latest/mod01_ds.gz
        module /boot/minix_latest/mod02_rs.gz
        module /boot/minix_latest/mod03_pm.gz
        module /boot/minix_latest/mod04_sched.gz
        module /boot/minix_latest/mod05_vfs.gz
        module /boot/minix_latest/mod06_memory.gz
        module /boot/minix_latest/mod07_log.gz
        module /boot/minix_latest/mod08_tty.gz
        module /boot/minix_latest/mod09_mfs.gz
        module /boot/minix_latest/mod10_vm.gz
        module /boot/minix_latest/mod11_pfs.gz
        module /boot/minix_latest/mod12_init.gz
}

[optional] un-hide the boot menu on startup

Edit /etc/default/grub and change GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0 to # GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0.
(You can also press shift during GRUB's startup to show the boot menu.)

generate new grub.cfg

Run grub-mkconfig as root to rewiew the new configuration.
Run grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg as root to overwrite your old grub.cfg with the new configuration.
(change the path to your grub.cfg if it differs from the one given above)

Using GRUB 0.9x (GRUB1) to boot MINIX 3

To have GRUB1 boot MINIX, you can just add the following lines to your GRUB config file (typically /boot/grub/menu.lst):

title Minix
rootnoverify (hdX,Y) # (hdX,Y) is the disk and partition where you install Minix
chainloader +1       # tells GRUB to call Minix's boot loader

Here are some examples of GRUB's naming convention for the disks and partitions:

<!> Note: GRUB 1 and GRUB 2 have different naming conventions for partitions.

Using a Boot Floppy or the CD-ROM

If you don't want to use a multiboot loader, you can use a MINIX 3 boot floppy or the MINIX 3 CD-ROM to boot MINIX.

Don't forget to change the Boot Order in your BIOS if necessary. You want to boot from the floppy/CD before booting from disk.

<!> The following instructions are relevant to MINIX 3.1.x; the new boot loader uses a different syntax (and there are no boot floppy any more).

Using the MINIX 3 CD-ROM

boot c0d0p0

to boot from the operating system image file on controller 0, drive 0, partition 0. Of course, if you put MINIX 3 on drive 1 partition 2, sub-partition 0, use:

boot c0d1p2s0

and so on.

Using a Boot Floppy

If you have a legacy floppy disk drive, you can boot MINIX 3 by inserting your new boot floppy and turning on the power.

Starting MINIX 3 from MS-DOS or Windows.