choice of boot manager

[Rob]

Lee Shackelford wrote on Thursday January 15, 2004:

> I am planning a multiple operating system installation on a Compaq
Proliant
> 5000.  The purpose of the installation is hobbyist and instructional. The
> computer does not provide network management services.  The proposed
> operating systems are Windows 95, FreeBSD, and Windows 2000 Server.  A
> fourth operating system may be added at a later date.  Have you had any
> experience with any of the following boot manager programs that may
suggest
> their relative applicability to this project?  The boot manager programs I
> am considering include the following:  LILO, GRUB, MATT, NTLDR/BOOT.INI,
> RANISH, and the boot loader that comes with FreeBSD, the name of which I
do
> not know.  Any information about positive or negative experiences with any
> of these programs in a multiple operating system configuration would be
> appreciated.  Your truly, Lee Shackelford

The standard FreeBSD boot loader can boot Windows systems. Its main problem
is cosmetic - Linux and FreeBSD slices are recognised, but Windows is
displayed as '???' and these labels cannot be customised.

I use grub-0.92 (/usr/ports/sysutils/grub/ or a package on the 3rd CD). It's
thoroughly customisable and supports a wide range of operating systems -
some Linux distributions use it instead of LILO.

After installing the package, you have to copy a few files and run the
grub(8) program to install it on the MBR. In an attempt to be OS-neutral,
grub uses its own naming scheme for disks: (hd0,0,a) is the first BSD
filesystem on the first slice of the first disk.

Here's my boot menu:

  # defaults
  color           light-gray/black white/blue
  default         saved
  timeout         10

  # Desktop
  title           FreeBSD 4.9-RELEASE
  root            (hd0,a)
  kernel          /boot/loader
  savedefault

  # Win2k
  title           Windows 2000 Professional
  root            (hd0,1)
  chainloader     +1
  savedefault

  # shutdown
  title           (power off)
  halt

The 'savedefault' feature is handy - whichever OS you select will be the
default next time. Without this, rebooting the non-default OS is a real
pain.

I've had a couple of tries at using the NT boot.ini method. The procedure
has been well documented by many people, but it never went smoothly for me -
I always had the feeling that Windows didn't really want to boot another OS.