Visopsys/PartLogic won't start

General discussion about Visopsys.
MagnumX
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Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:57 pm

Visopsys/PartLogic won't start

Post by MagnumX »

lately i have been trying to merge the partitions two on one hard drive into one so i downloaded Partition Logic and mounted it to a cd as per instructions. when the computer starts it goes to a blue screen that shows a loading bar for visopsys but when it gets to 100% loaded the computer just reboots, loads visopsys and reboots again and again. i figured it could be a problem with the cd so i downloaded, mounted and booted from a floppy to but got the same exact results.

could this be a problem with my computer? its pretty old but it has meets all the system reqs. not sure about the processor but it runs windows 98.

any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks
-Paul
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andymc
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Re: Visopsys/PartLogic won't start

Post by andymc »

Hi Paul, sorry you're having trouble with it.

It doesn't sound promising -- almost as if there's a problem with the processor being too old. If you have time, I can post links to a couple of 'debug' floppy disk images that will help me to understand the problem a bit better.

If it turns out to be processor compatibility, I may be able to give you a custom-built one that has code generated for older CPUs.

Let me know if you're game.

Andy
MagnumX
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Re: Visopsys/PartLogic won't start

Post by MagnumX »

Sure i have time
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andymc
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Re: Visopsys/PartLogic won't start

Post by andymc »

Great, thanks.

Here are 2 floppy images. I'm assuming floppies are better for you, than burning a bunch of CDs. Don't unzip both of these at the same time, in the same folder, as the unzipped file name is the same for each.

First one. This one just loads the kernel and stops:
http://visopsys.org/files/misc/visopsys ... -img-1.zip

Second one. This one loads the kernel and runs it, but the kernel immediately stops:
http://visopsys.org/files/misc/visopsys ... -img-2.zip

If they both work correctly, then they'll both appear to behave exactly the same way (loader progress bar just stops, but the system shouldn't reboot).

These both also print out some information about the hardware that doesn't appear under normal circumstances.

Thanks!
Andy
MagnumX
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Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:57 pm

Re: Visopsys/PartLogic won't start

Post by MagnumX »

okay. when i booted from each floppy they both did exactly the same thing as before although they did show the specs:

boot device > fd0, 2 heads, 80 cyls, 18sects, type: FAT12
Processor > Pentium ("AuthenticAMD") with MAX
Extended RAM > 31744K reported
CD ROM emulation check failed. CD booting might not be successful.
Floppy disks > 1 disk(s)
> 2 heads, 80 tracks, 18 sects,
Hard disks > 2 disk(s)
> 128 heads, 784 cyls, 63, sects, 512 bps 3093 MBytes
> 255 heads, 523 cyls, 63, sects, 512 bps 4112 MBytes
Loading visopsys

a picture: http://i.imgur.com/Cw6pE.jpg

i also noticed that the second test cycled the rebooted faster than the first.
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andymc
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Re: Visopsys/PartLogic won't start

Post by andymc »

MagnumX wrote:i also noticed that the second test cycled the rebooted faster than the first.
Sorry if I misunderstand, but did either/both of these spontaneously reboot? The first one really shouldn't, at least!
MagnumX
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Re: Visopsys/PartLogic won't start

Post by MagnumX »

they both caused the computer to reboot as soon as the loading bar was full.
the first test left a rather long delay before starting again whereas the second test caused near instant reboot.
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andymc
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Re: Visopsys/PartLogic won't start

Post by andymc »

The fact that they both rebooted is very puzzling/tricky, but the long delay thing makes me think there are separate issues (if indeed there are any real issues in the first case). I built a new image for you that's 'normal' (i.e. no debugging stuff, no stops) but the code is generated for i386 processors. It's possible that the real issue is just the processor instruction set - though I'm only 50% confident. Care to give this one a try?

http://visopsys.org/files/misc/visopsys ... 05-img.zip (floppy image again)
MagnumX
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Re: Visopsys/PartLogic won't start

Post by MagnumX »

Alright here's what displayed when i booted from that one:

loading bar

Disk IO error: Sense operation failed.
The boot device or media may require service.

Loading the Visopsys kernel failed. the kernel file 'visopsys' could not be read
The filesystem on the boot device may be corrupt: you should use a disk utility to check the integrity of the filesystem and the Visopsys files.

1 unrecoverable error(s) were recorded, and the boot process cannot continue. Any applicable error information is noted above. Please attempt to rectify these problems before retrying.
Press any key to reboot.
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andymc
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Re: Visopsys/PartLogic won't start

Post by andymc »

Hmm, that actually does sound like a media error. Can you retry with another floppy, perhaps?
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