[syslinux] question

[Ady]

> Wednesday,January16, 2013  9.30PM
>  
> 1_  Replaced current "O:\syslinux\syslinux.cfg" file with 
> the new one sent by you 
>  
> 2_  Booted with my "O:" drive. 
>  
> Displays as follows:
>  
> Syslinux 5.00 EDD 2012-12-06 Copyright(c) 1994-2012 H. Peter Anvin et at
>  
> boot: "-" blinking.
>  
> >pressed <Enter> at the boot prompt.
>  
> >Displays Bootable Menu.

Great. Now, to boot directly to the menu, under XP please edit (with 
notepad or equivalent) "O:\syslinux\syslinux.cfg". The first 2 lines 
currently are:
DEFAULT menu.c32
PROMPT 1

1_ So please change the second line to:
PROMPT 0

(that is the number zero after the word "prompt" with a space in 
between).

2_ Save and close "O:\syslinux\syslinux.cfg". Boot your "O:" drive. 
It should display the menu directly (instead of the first "boot:" 
prompt).

3_ In your original syslinux.cfg (the one you backed up as 
syslinux.cf1) you used:
DEFAULT vesamenu.c32

Since I don't see anything there that would need "vesamenu.c32", I 
used instead:
DEFAULT menu.c32

So, if you want to test the difference between the two possibilities, 
change that line again to "DEFAULT vesamenu.c32", save it and boot 
again with your "O:" drive. Is there any difference? Is it showing 
the menu correctly? Is there any messages (instead of the menu)?

4_ Now, there is one thing in that syslinux.cfg file I sent you that 
I can't correct for this specific Syslinux 5.00: using multiple lines 
as "TEXT HELP". This is a known bug in Syslinux 5.00, so I had to put 
all the text in between each pair of TEXT HELP - ENDTEXT directives 
in one line. With this specific version of Syslinux, this text is not 
going to be displayed on the screen the way you want it. If you try 
to use more than one line of text, with this specific version of 
Syslinux the boot menu will hang. The good news is that the next 
version, 5.01, should hopefully correct this bug, so you should be 
able to use multiple lines again in between each pair of TEXT HELP - 
ENDTEXT directives.

I would also recommend opening both files:
"O:\syslinux\syslinux.cfg" , and
"O:\syslinux\syslinux.cf1" ,

and compare them. You might find it useful and you might learn about 
the directives too.

5_ If all of the above is working, now it's up to you to add the 
adequate images to your "O:" drive and use the boot menu accordingly.

6_ Regarding SYSLINUX.COM version 5.00 for Win9x/DOS, I would 
recommend NOT using it for now, specially when you have the option of 
using SYSLINUX.EXE under WinXP.


Please test and if anything I described above doesn't match what you 
experience in your next tests, don't hesitate to provide appropriate 
feedback and ask 
accordingly.

Thank you and Regards,
Ady.