How to find Exec device name and unit number for boot drive

mark_k · 16 February 2013, 19:30

I'm going to (try to) put together a custom "combo" CD image which auto-boots on any Amiga with a SCSI controller, as well as CDTV/CD32.

To do that I'll create an FFS partition after the ISO 9660 partition. Amigas with SCSI controllers will boot from the FFS partition. I'll have a CD filesystem in that partition, and mount the ISO 9660 partition from the startup-sequence.

But in order to mount the ISO 9660 partition, I need to know the Exec device name and unit number of the boot drive. Obviously those will vary depending on the make of SCSI card and the CD drive SCSI ID. How can I determine the device and unit for the boot drive, in a way which works with both Kickstart 1.3 and 2.0+?

Toni Wilen · 16 February 2013, 19:43

Quick and short answer:

Find boot dos device's DeviceNode in DosList (DosLibrary->dl_Root->rn_Info->di_DevInfo). DeviceNode->dn_Startup points to FileSysStartupMsg which has pointers to device name and unit number. (Note that all pointers are BPTR and strings are BSTR as usual)

OS 2.0+ has functions for finding DeviceNodes. 1.3 requires manual enumeration.

mark_k · 16 February 2013, 19:49

Thanks. Do I need to know the DOS device name (CDBOOT: or whatever I choose) or can I find the DeviceNode from "SYS:" somehow?

Toni Wilen · 16 February 2013, 19:52

Yes, it is possible.

Find SYS: assign in DosList, save dol_Task. Find DLT_DEVICE DosList node which has same dol_Task.

16 February 2013, 19:30	#1
mark_k Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Posts: 3,333	How to find Exec device name and unit number for boot drive I'm going to (try to) put together a custom "combo" CD image which auto-boots on any Amiga with a SCSI controller, as well as CDTV/CD32. To do that I'll create an FFS partition after the ISO 9660 partition. Amigas with SCSI controllers will boot from the FFS partition. I'll have a CD filesystem in that partition, and mount the ISO 9660 partition from the startup-sequence. But in order to mount the ISO 9660 partition, I need to know the Exec device name and unit number of the boot drive. Obviously those will vary depending on the make of SCSI card and the CD drive SCSI ID. How can I determine the device and unit for the boot drive, in a way which works with both Kickstart 1.3 and 2.0+?

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16 February 2013, 19:43	#2
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,502	Quick and short answer: Find boot dos device's DeviceNode in DosList (DosLibrary->dl_Root->rn_Info->di_DevInfo). DeviceNode->dn_Startup points to FileSysStartupMsg which has pointers to device name and unit number. (Note that all pointers are BPTR and strings are BSTR as usual) OS 2.0+ has functions for finding DeviceNodes. 1.3 requires manual enumeration.

16 February 2013, 19:49	#3
mark_k Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Posts: 3,333	Thanks. Do I need to know the DOS device name (CDBOOT: or whatever I choose) or can I find the DeviceNode from "SYS:" somehow?

16 February 2013, 19:52	#4
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,502	Yes, it is possible. Find SYS: assign in DosList, save dol_Task. Find DLT_DEVICE DosList node which has same dol_Task.

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