Minimal system requirements for KolibriOS:
The system can boot from any of following devices:
Insert clean floppy without bad sectors to drive.
Write to it kolibri.img image with any available methods:
(if you have already loaded KolibriOS by any method) run the program
rdsave and select the variant corresponding to floppy;
(for DOS and Windows) run subjoined install.bat;
with program WinImage or its analogue (e.g. DiskExplorer);
(for Linux) set "executable" attribute to subjoined script install.sh
and run it.
Now you can boot from floppy (keep it in drive, reboot, set in BIOS option of
floppy booting).
There exist several loaders from hard disk. All are oriented on DOS and Windows
users. Also standard Linux-loader GRUB can be used. All methods work with file
kolibri.img. If you already have old version of KolibriOS installed, simply
replace kolibri.img to the new one. If you have booted from LiveCD, which does
not contain the file kolibri.img, KolibriOS can create it independently. To do
this, run the program rdsave, enter the file name for saving and select the
corresponding variant. Of course, in this case KolibriOS must be able to write
to file system of selected partitions. Currently this means that only FAT and
EXT2 volumes are ok.
Most of all features has the loader mtldr (author - Diamond) - works with
DOS/Win95/98/NT/2k/XP/Vista, supports FAT32 and NTFS, has installer, can be
installed to any folder on disk.
To install, simply run file HD_load\mtldr_install.exe and select image file.
Apropos, by this way you can install several images. There is also variant of
install by hand - for those who want to know what installer does: directions
in HD_load\mtldr.
There is also the loader MeOSLoad (author - Trans, expanded by Mario79) -
works with DOS/Win95/98, supports FAT32. It is placed with the instruction
to the folder HD_load\MeOSLoad.
Moreover, there exists a program which allows to load KolibriOS directly from
Windows 95/98/Me (of course, unloading it) - 9x2klbr (author - Diamond),
supports FAT32 and NTFS.
Usage of the loader GRUB. Place the file memdisk to the folder boot
or to the partition used for KolibriOS.
a) For GRUB2, in the folder /etc/grub.d add to one of files next lines:
menuentry 'KolibriOS' {
linux16 (hd[Hard disk number],[partition number])[path]/memdisk
initrd16 (hd[Hard disk number],[partition number])[path]/kolibri.img
}
example:
menuentry 'KolibriOS' {
linux16 (hd0,msdos1)/boot/memdisk
initrd16 (hd0,msdos1)/boot/kolibri.img
}
then, run in terminal sudo update-grub.
b) For old GRUB, add to the configuration file menu.lst next lines:
title KolibriOS
kernel (hd[Hard disk number],[partition number])[path]/memdisk
initrd (hd[Hard disk number],[partition number])[path]/kolibri.img
Remember that numeration in GRUB starts from 0. Example:
title KolibriOS
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/memdisk
initrd (hd0,3)/kolibri/kolibri.img
The special loader for FAT32-volumes has been written. It and its installer to
flash drive can be found in the directory HD_load\USB_Boot.
Despite the fact that the installer from the previous step is recommended, you
may also use Rufus https://rufus.ie to write Kolibri ISO-image on the USB flash.
For not-FAT32 drives you may use article placed in the directory
HD_load\USB_Boot_old.
There exists special LiveCD-version of KolibriOS, which contains in addition to
standard things some 'heavy' (in KolibriOS standards) programs: the ported
emulator DosBox, videoplayer Fplay, PDF reader, games like Quake, DOOM, Tyrian
and Wolfenstain3D, etc.
You can also create bootable CD or DVD on the base of kolibri.img, adding
anything what you want, in the mode of floppy emulation. The appropriate actions
are determined by used CD/DVD write program (focus on words such as 'boot floppy
emulation').
UEFI support is still in beta. Be ready to face issues and report them.
To boot KolibriOS from HDD these four files are needed:
uefi4kos: UEFI-specific loader for KolibriOS, shipped as bootx64.efi andbootia32.efi binaries. Choose one of these boot*.efi images to match thebootx64.efi if unsure.kolibri.img: a RAM disk image.kolibri.krn: KolibriOS kernel compiled without BIOS-related legacy stuff.kolibri.ini: a configuration file. It is used to e.g. set screenIf you have any UEFI-aware OS installed on your HDD, then there already is a
so called EFI system partition (ESP) on it. If your HDD is not partitioned
yet, you have to first create a GUID partition table (GPT) on it and then
create mentioned EFI system partition formatted as FAT32.
Make a directory /efi/kolibrios on the ESP.
Copy all the kolibri.??? files mentioned above to that directory.
If KolibriOS is the only OS to be loaded from that HDD, make a directory
/efi/boot and copy the chosen boot*.efi loader there.
If there is some other OS already installed on the HDD, put boot*.efi file
to /efi/kolibrios directory and then setup the boot loader of the installed
OS to boot KolibriOS.
For example, for GRUB2 (nowadays also known as just GRUB, not GRUB1 or
GRUB-legacy) follow these three steps:
Append file /etc/grub.d/42_custom with a new menu entry.
menuentry "KolibriOS" {
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
insmod chain
chainloader /EFI/kolibrios/bootx64.efi
}
Locate GRUB config file in your system, namely grub.cfg. It might be in
/boot/grub/.
Update grub.cfg with a command like below.
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
If you prefer to keep all the data on the USB drive, follow the
steps above for hard disks.
If, instead, you are okay to lose all the data on the USB drive, use
kolibri.raw image. It is ready to be directly written to the flash drive.
Linux users can write the image with standard utilities cat or dd.
Windows users can use Rawwrite32 or Rufus.