Here is the "sorry story" of what it took:
------------------------------------------

I had a 486DX2, at 33Mhz, with a 234 MB Hard-drive from Maxtor.
The disk was partitioned as one big partition "C:".
Using "fdisk" I saw that DOS-BIG (or BIG-DOS).

I used fdisk to repartiion my hard drive to have C:
partioined as 170MB for DOS.

--THIS WAS A MISTAKE: Since I forgot to create a DOS system disk ---

I was lucky; I had a "spare" hard-drive that I could create a
DOS System Disk from.

After creating that, I reloaded DOS onto the C: drive where my 170MB
partion was located. Then running the MINIX set-up I was able to
install Minix on the last 60 MB of the hard-drive.

Here are the steps I recommend to future students:
-------------------------------------------------
1) Get an "old" PC with a small hard-drive
2) Using DOS, create a system disk (DOS Command: "sys c: a:")
3) Using fdisk re-partiion your drive if needed.
    Example:  (This assumed the disk is one big partion initally: 230MB)
    --------
        a) Use fdisk to check your partions: (DOS Command: fdisk -> Option 4)
        b) It showed about 230 MB as a single partion on c:
        c) Using fdisk, select to reassign a Primary Partion
            (at this point, you will lose all data on the drive)
           To Re-assign it - ensure you use (Total Capaicty - 40 MB)
           {In my case I left 60MB free: (230MB - 60MB = 170MB)
        d) Install DOS on the big partion
        e) Use the MINIX disks and install Minix.

Hope this helps furture students...

--
Rob Pento    Tel:   +1 847 632 3395     Pager: +1 847 576 0295 -- PIN 18139
Motorola - CNSS/CIG; CDMA: BTS SST      E-mail: pento@cig.mot.com

*******************************************************************

Subject: Solaris MINIX?
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 1999 13:51:07 -0600
From:  "LaLa (Imre Olajos Jr.)" <lala@interaccess.com>
 

Hi!

As I am getting ready to install MINIX, I have noticed that there exists a
version of MINIX 2.0 that runs directly under Solaris. Since I am at work most
of the time, and since at work I use a SPARC-based Sun Ultra workstation
running Solaris 2.5, it would be a perfect match for me to install MINIX on
that machine instead of on my rather delicate and fully loaded home PC that
runs Win98.

My question is, has anybody ever done it before in this class? Is it safe to
assume that the source code for the core functionality of MINIX will be the
same for the SMX (Solaris MINIX) port as it is for the original x86-based one?
In other words, would you agree if I used the Solaris version of MINIX, or
would you rather suggest me to "go with the crowd" and just install the Intel
x86 version?

Thanks,

Subject: MINIX installation pitfalls
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 1999 20:33:31 -0600
From: "LaLa (Imre Olajos Jr.)" <lala@interaccess.com>
 

Hi!

Since I have just wasted 5 hours trying to find an optimal place for a MINIX
partition on my PC, I thought I share my observations with you so you can share
it with the rest of the class so other people won't waste the same amount of
time with it like I did.

I consider myself what people call a "power user" - my PC has 3 IDE hard
drives, a SCSI hard drive and a host of other things on it, and I have
encountered a few peculiarities during MINIX installation because of this.

- MINIX 2.0 does not seem to recognize the secondary IDE controller. I have a 6
GB HD and a CD-ROM hanging on the primary IDE controller, and two 2 GB hard
drives on the secondary IDE controller. MINIX doesn't even recognize the
second IDE controller, nor the hard drives on it. I wanted to install MINIX on
one of them but because of this, I couldn't.

- MINIX seems to have problem installing itself on partitions that exist above
2 GB on a physical hard drive. After the above problem I wanted to install
MINIX on my first physical hard drive by chipping 60 MB off the end of the
extended partition. "part" in MINIX recognized it, but "installboot" always
gave me an error "unexpected EOF on /dev/hd3", so again, I wasn not able to
install MINIX on it.

- So, one must carve out a partition from somewhere below the 2 GB range.
Luckily, my C: drive sits in a primary partition on my first physical hard
drive (with my E:, F:, and G: drives as logical volumes in the extended
partition), and after defragmenting the C: drive I was abel to carve 60 MB out
of it, designate it as a MINIX partition and install MINIX on it.

It seems to be working now, but boy, it took a long time to get there!...

PS: BTW, *NONE* of these peculiarities were documented *ANYWHERE*. I checked
the book, the installation notes, README files, the man pages, the Webpage -
not one of them mentioned anything about these things...