Questions tagged [boot]
Bootstrapping (booting) process, utilities and customisation.
68
questions
7
votes
1
answer
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How to install System 7.5.5 on a Macintosh SE/30 using floppies?
I have a Macintosh SE/30 with a formatted Disk. I'd like to install the latest System 7 on it that will run. According to Wikipedia that should be 7.5.5. According to several sources Apple has made it ...
- 423
25
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Why do old computers perform a long memory test on every boot?
Basically any computers from the mid 90s and earlier perform a slow memory check on every single boot. The more memory there is present, the slower that process becomes, for example: https://www....
- 423
6
votes
2
answers
2k
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Can DOS boot to a hard drive other than HDA1?
I would like to experiment with DOS and would like to create a bootable partition on my hard drive (SDA) SATA device.
I created a 1G FAT32 formatted partition on my SATA hard drive (SDA) and tried to ...
- 4,469
28
votes
2
answers
4k
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How did an IBM 5150 with 16KB RAM work?
I keep reading that when it was first released, there was a variant of the IBM PC model 5150 that had only 16KB of RAM installed. From a hardware perspective, this would clearly work - the 5150 ...
- 12.8k
26
votes
5
answers
8k
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What makes a floppy disk bootable?
A lot of web sites describe how to create a bootable floppy disk using an existing image (via dd). But what about the image makes it bootable?
I'm interested in making my own bootable floppy images ...
- 2,584
4
votes
0
answers
473
views
What computer (possibly a PC compatible) rendered a spinning floppy disk on the screen on a boot error?
I recall seeing an IBM PC compatible or similar system many years ago in a business environment that had a distinctive boot error screen. The system showed a spinning floppy disk on the screen, ...
- 529
8
votes
1
answer
899
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Creating a PDP-11 bootable disk
I want to create my own boot disk (an image file to use with simh) from my own PDP-11 code but I don't know how the code needs to be written to the disk/file so that it boots. I can load my code using ...
- 81
6
votes
1
answer
2k
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Start application after Amiga Workbench 1.3 boot sequence
I want to start an application after the boot sequence of Workbench1.3:
In my case an Amiga Shell application:
Where are the startup files located and what are the changes to provide this?
- 365
9
votes
1
answer
739
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How can I tell if an Apple II disk image is bootable?
I have around 500 floppy disk images from an Apple II and IIgs BBS/usergroup that closed down recently. Some of the disks are bootable, but many aren't. Is there an easy way to tell if a disk boots ...
- 20.5k
33
votes
6
answers
30k
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Windows 98 with 2GB of RAM
I have assembled a retro-gaming PC out of an old Shuttle SN45G with a Windows 98/Windows XP dual boot.
The motherboard can handle 2GB of RAM, but apparently Windows 98 can only handle 1 GiB.
Windows ...
- 2,637
12
votes
2
answers
19k
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Windows 98 / XP Dual boot
I have acquired an old Shuttle X PC (Windows XP, Mini-DTX form factor HTPC) that works fine.
As I can't do much with this form factor (I can't fit a modern motherboard in the case) and that the ...
- 2,637
9
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Boot Macintosh Quadra 800 from System 7.6.1 CD
I dug out an old Macintosh Quadra 800 that I've had on my shelf for a long while. I'm not even sure where I got it anymore... After a quick look in my VGA adapter bucket, I found I had the needed ...
- 9,795
14
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Why does my Acorn RiscPC display the POST boot error?
After removing the Intel DX 486 card from my RiscPC (running RiscOS 3.6), the computer doesn't start up properly. Instead, it displays the text POST in red.
What does this error message mean?
- 153
4
votes
1
answer
292
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Zenith SupersPort 286e doesn't boot at all
I have acquired a Zenith SupersPort 286e without its battery but with its (seemingly working) power supply.
Sadly, the computer doesn't boot at all, nothing happens when I flick the On/Off switch. ...
- 2,637
11
votes
1
answer
878
views
I made a sector image of a Windows 95 partition, but it won’t boot. Why?
I recently got my hands on an IBM 340 PC (100MHz Pentium, 16MB of RAM). I'm going to wipe the disk and start fresh, but I wanted to preserve the contents of the disk should I wish to restore it to its ...
- 2,144
20
votes
1
answer
1k
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What did the cassette bootloader in 8 Bit Ataris do?
...or for that matter, what didn't it do, so that you'd use the "bootloader/main program" separation instead of loading everything at once.
Normally, when loading games or any non-BASIC software from ...
- 7,055
17
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Booting an Amiga 1000 directly to the hard drive without Kickstart floppy
The Amiga computers such as the Amiga 1000 required a Kickstart floppy to be able to boot directly into a hard drive. I have a Amiga 1000 as well but missing the Kickstart floppy. I would like to ...
- 2,464
8
votes
2
answers
551
views
Toshiba T2000SX can't boot from non-original HDD - "02" all over the screen
I used to have an old Toshiba T2000SX laptop, but some day its HDD died. I found a newer laptop HDD that fit in and I could format it to appear to have a small enough capacity to get detected by the ...
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