• UsersGuide
• MultipleOperatingSystems

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 the MINIX boot monitor to start other operating systems (May be outdated)

Starting MINIX 3 from MS-DOS or Windows.

• Booting MINIX on a PC with WinNT or Win2K Installed (May be outdated)

Using GRUB to boot MINIX 3

To have GRUB 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:

• (hd0,0) - first primary partition on first hard disk
• (hd0,1) - second primary partition on first hard disk
• (hd0,2) - third primary partition on first hard disk
• (hd0,3) - fourth primary partition on first hard disk
• (hd1,0) - first primary partition on second hard disk
• (hd1,1) - second primary partition on second hard disk
• and so on

Using the new GRUB 2 to boot MINIX 3

GRUB 2 doesn't use menu.lst anymore. Instead its config file is 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 you need to take the following steps:

add a menu entry for MINIX

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
}

For X and Y read the notes on GRUB's naming convention above but add one to the partition number (Y).
Example: (hd0,2) in GRUB equals (hd0,3) in GRUB 2.

[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 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.

Using the MINIX 3 CD-ROM

• Insert the MINIX 3 CD-ROM and boot

• Login as bin

• Type shutdown to get back to the MINIX 3 boot monitor

• Now type:

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 0 partition 1, use:

boot c0d0p1

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.