Hi guys,

> > > I've seen many demo's takeover the amiga using custom bootblocks (as
> > > well as many commercial games).  Why isn't this done ?
> > > 
> > > Also, what about the Amiga 1000 where you could write a custom kickstart ?
> > > 
> > > Darren
> > > 
> > 
> > Why would you want a custom bootblock? That still requires ADOS to boot
> > then load the kernal.
> 
> I thought it could be done without ADOS.  Silly me huh ?
> > NetBSD is effectively a kickstart file. It may be feasible to
> > make the netbsd kernal look like an A3000 superkickstart file
> > but why?
> 
> If you don't know the "why" to this...
> 
> Why ?  Because it can be done...
> Why ?  Because it would be cool to do...
> Why ?  Because it is an Amiga and only the Amiga makes it possible :-)
> If PC's can boot into netbsd without 'dos then why shouldn't we ?
> 
> Now, if it were for reasons like need to get the memory list, etc, then
> sure...that's reasonable.

I don't think there are any good reasons _not_ to use a custom boot block.
Here's a copy of the mail I posted on the Linux/68k mailing list and
comp.unix.amiga just before the Xmas holidays:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Hi guys,

A very preliminary alpha version of Lilo for Amiga Linux/68k is available
through FTP and HTTP. Currently it supports only one kernel image at the
same time.

You can obtain it through anonymous FTP:

	linux3.cc.kuleuven.ac.be:/pub/Linux68k/amiga-lilo-0.1.tar.gz

or through HTTP (with NCSA Mosaic or Netscape in binary mode):

	http://www.cs.kuleuven.ac.be/~geert/amiga-lilo-0.1.tar.gz

The HTTP version is available _now_, the FTP version will follow in some
hours.

Enjoy! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

						Geert

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Geert Uytterhoeven -->> Wavelets, Amiga, MultiUser, Linux/68k,...  |
| Geert.Uytterhoeven@CS.kuleuven.ac.be                               |
| Dept. of Computer Science, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
  Click!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

It works like this:

   - AmigaOS loads the boot block
   - the boot block loads a loader (AmigaOS executable residing on a
     Linux/68k partition)
   - the loader asks which OS to boot
   - if (Linux/68k)
        load the Linux/68k kernel and start it
     if (AmigaOS)
        do nothing    /* This allows us to put the boot block on a
                         normal AmigaOS partition too */
     if (NetBSD)
        say("Don't know how to boot NetBSD")
     if (anything else)
        say("Don't know how to boot unknown OS")

The loader contains a modified version of the Linux/68k bootstrap program,
and to use it for NetBSD, you need to add a NetBSD bootstrap subroutine.

If I find some time, I'll add configuration files, more than one kernel
to select,...

Greetings,

						Geert

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Geert Uytterhoeven -->> Wavelets, Amiga, MultiUser, Linux/68k,...  |
| Geert.Uytterhoeven@CS.kuleuven.ac.be                               |
| Dept. of Computer Science, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
  Click!