Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Writing to the Bootsector of a floppy

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    106

    Writing to the Bootsector of a floppy

    I wrote this to write to the bootsector of a floppy, it uses a dll and java (the dll does the dirty work, java gives a command line prompt).

    You going to have to unzip it, and configure (right click and change the path in) the r.bat to locate the jre (most of the times its in C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_07\bin\java.exe but open your \program files\java\to find out, you can copy/paste its path).

    I don't have a floppy drive, so I have no clue how well this works (if at all).
    "The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous and likeable. In three days no one could stand him." Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.

    Buddies? I have no buddies...


    Give the BSD daemon some love (proud FreeBSD user)

  2. #2
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    United Kingdom: Bridlington
    Posts
    17,188
    Hey Arkimedes , have you got a test plan for this proggy? like:

    1. What should I write, and what should be the expected result?
    2. Any particular flavour of Windows?

    Also:

    3. Why would I want to do this?
    4. Would it work with other removable media?

    Obviously, I shall be using a "labrat" or "crash test dummy" NOT a production box

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    106
    Well, I originally designed this to write a bootloader to the bootsector of a floppy disk for my compadre. It should ask for what you would like to have written to the bootsector (of a floppy), and then performs it.

    I think it should work on all flavors of windows, though I compiled it all on XP.

    You'd want to use this if you've got to write an OS on a floppy, or anything to the bootsector of a floppy.

    I didn't design this to work with other removable media, though that would be a good challenge for me to do. I didn't think that far ahead I'll get cracking on it, thanks for the suggestion!

    [edit] Here's my revised version that asks for the drive, the file (bootloader) to write, and then tells you the results.
    "The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous and likeable. In three days no one could stand him." Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.

    Buddies? I have no buddies...


    Give the BSD daemon some love (proud FreeBSD user)

  4. #4
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    United Kingdom: Bridlington
    Posts
    17,188
    OK mate!

    Here is my game plan:

    1. Test on a Windows 2000 PRO box..............that should tell us if it works?
    2. Try to create a DOS 3.3 bootable floppy (that is the oldest I am running at the moment)

    I can then try others, depending on the results of the first two. It will be interesting to see what the oldest version of Windows it will support (output wise?) as I have an operational 2.03 box.

    Don't worry, everything is restorable, and this is fun

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    106
    OK, now I am a little unsure about the importance of the processor as far as using the dll is concerned; I compiled it using an AMD 64 box (I think in theory it should work with x86 boxes).

    Also, it should burn only the first 512 bytes of the bootloader (bootloaders, from what I've seen, are seldom larger than that), or whatever else you are burning.

    Have fun!
    "The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous and likeable. In three days no one could stand him." Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.

    Buddies? I have no buddies...


    Give the BSD daemon some love (proud FreeBSD user)

  6. #6
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    United Kingdom: Bridlington
    Posts
    17,188
    Hi Arkimedes ,

    I haven't gotten round to testing your program yet................I have updated my Java versions though, so we are on the same release...............you know, the sort of thing you know you ought to do but never seem to get round to?

    Please have a look at this site (the stuff is FREE):

    http://www.roadkil.net/

    This one is of interest: http://www.roadkil.net/bootbuild.html

    You might find some useful tools and get some ideas from it?


Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •