I have a Win98 machine and I didn't need to make a partition, although that was an option. QNX makes a filesystem within a DOS file, and you dual-boot into QNX using that file as the FS. I'm pasting the readme.txt from the install below. When it mentions the CD, it means qnxrtp.iso
---- readme.txt -----
************************************************************
Welcome to the QNX Realtime Platform!
************************************************************
This readme file contains the following sections:
1 - Important files
2 - Installation notes
3 - How it works
4 - Your config.sys
5 - Troubleshooting
SECTION 1 - Important files
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Files on the CD:
Readme.txt This readme.
html/index.html HTML overview of the RTP.
instflop.dat 1.44M install floppy image.
qmakedsk.exe Windows program to copy .dat image to floppy.
qnxrtp.exe Windows executable for installing full system.
qnxrtp.tar.F QNX 4 install file (/etc/install -u qnxrtp.tar.F).
QNX realtime platform system files:
These files are installed under <drive>\program files\qnx\boot\fs in
windows and under /boot/fs in QNX4.
qnxbase.ifs The RTP boot image filesystem (DMA disabled).
qnxbasedma.ifs The RTP boot image filesystem (DMA enabled).
qnxbase.qfs QNX filesystem that contains everything you need
to run the QNX realtime platform.
root.qfs A root filesystem you create and grow to the size
(max 2GB) you need. This will be your "workspace".
DOS/Windows/NT installed files:
These files are installed under <drive>\program files\qnx\boot\bin
qmakedsk.exe Windows program to copy .dat image to floppy.
dinitw32.exe Windows program to create "root.qfs".
It will prompt you how big to grow it.
loadqnx.sys DOS program that reads the "qnxbase.ifs" file
into memory and transfers control to it. At this
point, QNX is running. DOS is gone; any memory
it occupied is in our free memory list.
makecfg.exe Windows program that sets up/repairs your
config.sys to boot QNX. If your config.sys
gets modified and you need to fix it, try running
makecfg.exe from: Start->Programs->QNX Realtime
Platform->Update config.sys.
uninstall.dll A special DLL used to remove the QNX entries from
the config.sys.
floppy.144 1.44M boot floppy image with DMA disabled.
floppydma.144 1.44M boot floppy image with DMA enabled.
SECTION 2 - Installation notes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Update Instructions
When you download this distribution from our repository, a new version
of the Package Installer will install itself on your system, and replace
the older version in the process. This new Package Installer will then
connect to our repository and allow you to download packages to your
system.
To do this, connect the pkg-manager to the CD Repository, then install
the pkg-manager update and follow instructions. This will not delete any
of your data files.
New Install Instructions
To install under QNX 4:
1. Login as "root".
2. Change directory to "/".
3. Run: "/etc/install -u /cd/qnxrtp.tar.F"
To install to a partition:
1. You must have free space on your drive for a QNX partition to be
installed. You can use a utility like Partition Magic or fips to resize
existing partitions to make room. (600M will give you plenty of room.)
2. If you boot from your CD drive, boot the RTP CD and follow the
instructions.
If you are installing under Windows click on the 'Make Floppy' button in
the InstallShield application (setup.exe on the root of the CD).
3. Boot the floppy with the CD in the drive and follow the instructions.
To install in a Windows partition:
* Run: "qnxrtp.exe"
To install under Windows 2000/Windows NT:
1. You must have free space on your drive for a QNX partition to be
installed. You can use a utility like Partition Magic to resize existing
partitions to make room. (600M will give you plenty of room.)
2. Run the "install.bat" command on the CD to create an install floppy.
3. Boot the floppy with the CD in the drive and follow the instructions.
Installing under Windows NT 4.0 / Millennium:
NOTE: You cannot install to a NTFS partition -- QNX will not boot from
an NTFS partition.
If you're installing under Windows NT/ME, then you'll need a blank
formatted 1.44MB floppy.
If you're installing on a Windows 9x/NT dual-boot machine:
1. After the install is done, reboot your machine and boot into Win98.
2. When Win98 starts to boot, a menu appears allowing you to choose to
boot into QNX or into Windows.
If you're installing on an NT/ME standalone machine:
1. Format a blank 1.44MB floppy.
2. Use this floppy in the install to create a boot disk.
3. Boot the machine with the floppy. You will boot directly into QNX.
NOTE: We will support a filesystem within the Linux Ext2 filesystem at a
later time.
SECTION 3 - How it works
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's what happens when you reboot your system and select QNX:
1. The QNX image will be loaded and in complete control. At this point,
we start an IDE driver and a DOS filesystem to allow you to access your
Windows filesystem. We mount the filesystem as "/fs/hd0-dos". This is
where it gets interesting.
2. We next mount a QNX filesystem on the DOS file. So we're running a
filesystem within a DOS file. NO NEED TO REPARTITION YOUR HARD DISK! You
have access to the DOS filesystem and to the QNX filesystem.
3. If you have a CD-ROM, it will appear as "/fs/cd0". You'll see that
other than the primary filesystem, we mount all other filesystems under
"/fs". If you want to see the raw block devices (onto which the
filesystems mount), look under "/dev". You'll see "/dev/cd0", "/dev/hd0
", etc. Partitions are on top of the raw devices and have names like "
/dev/hd0txx" (where xx is the partition type).
4. When you get the login prompt (ignore the verbose setup if you get
this far), login as "root".
SECTION 4 - Your config.sys
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In order to get QNX to load, your config.sys has been set up to allow
you the option to boot QNX or Windows. If your computer fails to show
the boot menu with the QNX entries when you boot your computer, compare
it to the sample config.sys below.
If you have other menu entries or device drivers before you install QNX,
they will be inserted into the correct place in the config.sys. Windows
devices will be put under the [WIN] marker.
Sample config.sys
[menu]
menuitem=WIN, Windows
menudefault=WIN,30
menuitem=QNXDMA, QNX Realtime Platform
menuitem=QNX, QNX Realtime Platform (DMA Disabled)
menucolor=7,0
[QNXDMA]
DEVICE=E:\PROGRA~1\QNX\boot\bin\loadqnx.sys
E:\PROGRA~1\QNX\boot\fs\qnxbas~1.ifs
[QNX]
DEVICE=E:\PROGRA~1\QNX\boot\bin\loadqnx.sys
E:\PROGRA~1\QNX\boot\fs\qnxbase.ifs
[WIN]
[COMMON]
SECTION 5 - Troubleshooting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PLEASE NOTE: If you have any questions or comments about
any of the following problems, or any other problems with the
QNX realtime platform, we recommend that you use our support
forums available from our news server: news://inn.qnx.com.
The following QNX newsgroups are available from news://inn.qnx.com:
qdn.public.qnxrtp.newuser
qdn.public.qnxrtp.installation
qdn.public.qnxrtp.os
qdn.public.qnxrtp.photon
qdn.public.qnxrtp.devtools
qdn.public.qnxrtp.applications
qdn.public.qnxrtp.advocacy
These newsgroups are frequented by the majority of our developers and staff,
and will be your best avenue of support for solving problems. In addition
you may want to refer to our knowledge base where you can find solutions to
problems that have already been asked. The knowledge base contains over 1000
entries and is located at the QNX Development Network (http://qdn.qnx.com).
For additional information about known defects, look at the product
release notes, found in the Release Status section of qdn.qnx.com
(http://qdn.qnx.com/news/releases).
______________________________________________________________________
Common Problems
Symptom: Hardware is not detected and/or does not work properly.
First check our supported hardware list at:
http://qdn.qnx.com/support/hardware/platform/index.html
If your hardware isn't listed, it may be in a future release.
If it is listed and doesn't work properly you may find that the driver may
be in a subsequent patch. We are continously improving the hardware support
and autodetection. There may be a way to work around some hardware problems.
Please check QDN or our newsgroups to see if one is available.
______________________________________________________________________
Boot problems/Problems with Boot loaders:
Symptom: Installation on extended partitions fails, installation on
non-primary drives fails. Typically this results in seeing
error messages, e.g.
"Package manager: Can't open package qnxbase.."
Try to rearrange your file systems. Install on a primary drive and not to
any extended partitions. If installing into Windows filesystem, only FAT
and FAT32 are supported, not NTFS. If you are using NTFS you will need to
do a partition install to use the RTP on your system.
You may also want to try disabling DMA for the EIDE controller, this can be
done when the boot message, "Press space for boot options" appears. This
can prevent some booting problems on some systems.
IDE controllers such as the Promise Ultra66 and Ultra33 are not currently
supported.
Software BIOS extensions to allow large hard disks, such as
Western Digital EZ-BIOS, and OnTrack Diskmanager are not supported.
______________________________________________________________________
Memory Detection:
Symptom: QNX doesn't detect all the memory installed in your computer
If QNX can't detect all the memory in your computer, this
could be caused by the "memory hole" that some computer
BIOSs use. There are two methods to get around this. One is
to see if the BIOS lets you disable the memory hole.
If your BIOS doesn't let you disable the memory hole (common
on Compaq computers), the other method is to tell the QNX
loader how much memory you really have. This is done by
adding a "/Mnnn" option to QNX loader in the "config.sys"
file. Here's an example for a computer with 64M of RAM:
[QNX]
DEVICE=C:\PROGRA~1\qnx\boot\bin\loadqnx.sys C:\PROGRA~1\qnx\boot\fs\qnxbase.ifs /M64
[QNXDMA]
DEVICE=E:\PROGRA~1\QNX\boot\bin\loadqnx.sys E:\PROGRA~1\QNX\boot\fs\qnxbas~1.ifs /M64
Please be sure to specify the correct amount of memory. If you tell
the loader you have 128M of RAM, the loader will believe this and try to
map it.
______________________________________________________________________
Laptops and PCMCIA devices:
Symptom: Your laptop hardware is not detected or doesn't work properly with
the RTP.
Currently there are large number of unsupported cards. Laptop hardware
tends to be very diverse and manufacturer specific. If the RTP doesn't
seem to be working well on your laptop please consult our QDN knowledge
base or access our newsgroups.
Symptom: System locks up when ppcard is run with card in pcmcia slot.
Removing the card while booting is a temporary solution to this problem.
______________________________________________________________________
Modem:
Symptom: RTP does not work with Winmodems
The QNX RTP supports only "real" modems at this time. If you
have a winmodem or controllerless modem, you won't be able
to use it. In order to get connected to the Internet, you
must have a "real" modem or supported network card.
Symptom: Real modem is installed but not detected.
Some modems are not being automatically detected. This issue is being
looked into. Some modems will work if you restart devc-ser8250, specifying
the specific port and IRQ being used by your modem hardware.
Symptom: Dialer cuts off when trying to authenticate PPP, or
dialer connects then disconnects after 5 minutes or less
For further information on the dialer please check our QDN knowledge base
or our newsgroups.
______________________________________________________________________
USB Support:
USB support has not been released yet.
______________________________________________________________________
Mice:
Unwanted mouse clicks
On some systems, when moving the mouse around, the pointer moves
erratically and photon acts as though you are clicking the mouse
when you are not.
Wheel mice
Wheel mice are not currently supported. This is being looked into.
______________________________________________________________________
Printing:
We are addressing various printing problems, espically from Voyager.
Some examples include lockup when attempting to add printer in V-Mail,
Voyager doesn't print the proper number of pages, or not the requested
pages.
Please note that problems with vmail will not be fixed.
Vmail is being deprecated and is provided only as an interim
solution.
______________________________________________________________________
Keyboards:
Symptom: Dvorak keyboard is not supported in localization settings.
At present it is not possible to use dvorak keyboard settings, the development
of a driver is being looked into.
Keyboard layout is not configurable in textmode(console)
This issue is under review
______________________________________________________________________
Networking:
Symptom: ISA NE2000 not detected
The ISA ne2000 always has to be reset there is a problem with
autodetection. A temporary solution is to restart io-net:
# slay io-net
# io-net -dne2000 -ptcpip
For a more permanent workaround you can edit the file /etc/rc.d/rc.local
to slay the network drivers and then restart the drivers with the right options.
Please see our QDN knowledge base for more information on doing this.
**************************** END ***************************
-- Jim
ACID and other Audrey apps
