====== GRUB4DOS ======

The GRUB4DOS package "grub4dos.tcz" is intended as an alternative to the GRUB package "grub-0.97-splash.tcz".

The main use case in which GRUB4DOS supersedes GRUB is that it is possible to install GRUB4DOS in a way that it can be loaded from the Windows Boot Loader without repartitioning your drive.

GRUB4DOS is less error-prone than GRUB since its operation does not depend on a devices.map file that can be invalidated when new storage devices are added to a system.  Instead of trying to remember where critical files are located on disk, GRUB4DOS searches for those files.

When GRUB4DOS boots, it searches each partition whose type it recognizes for a file /grldr in the root directory of that partition.  If the loader grldr is found on some partition, then the boot loader tranfers control to grldr, which then searches for a file called menu.lst; otherwise, GRUB4DOS enters command mode.

The search for menu.lst begins on the partition where grldr was found and looks in order for /menu.lst, /boot/grub/menu.lst, and /grub/menu.lst.  If none of those files is found, then all of the other partitions that GRUB4DOS recognizes are searched for /menu.lst.  If menu.lst if found, then it is used to control the boot process; otherwise, GRUB4DOS enters command mode.

===== +Howto install Tiny Core Linux inside a Microsoft Windows System =====
  - Install GRUB4DOS:
  * *If you are using Windows NT/2000/XP/2003: http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Grub4dos_tutorial#Booting_GRUB_for_DOS_via_the_Windows_NT.2F2000.2FXP.2F2003_boot_manager
  * *If you are using Windows Vista/7: http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Grub4dos_tutorial#Booting_GRUB_for_DOS_via_the_Windows_Vista_boot_manager
  - Install the menu.lst file
  * *an example is available in the same directory, copy it to the same directory containing the "boot.ini"-file, rename it to menu.lst and edit it to fit your needs.
  - Integrate the NTFS drivers into the initrd
  * *a script for integrating NTFS into the initrd has been provided via the forum at: http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php?topic=6246.0
  * *run the script "ntfs4tinycore.sh" from the directory to integrate the ntfs-3g example: ./ntfs4tinycore.sh /mnt/sr0/boot/tinycore.gz
  * *copy the created tinycore+ntfs.gz and the bzImage to the Windows partition.
  - Copy the Tiny Core Linux files to the place specified in "menu.lst"

===== +Howto install Tiny Core Linux with GRUB4DOS native =====
  - Partition the harddrive and format the partition(s)
  * *Do it the same way as you would prepare it for GRUB
  * *Filesystemtype of first partition should be ext2, ext3, or ext4, but can also be ntfs, fat or fat16 (see http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Features )
  - Install the initial boot loader in the master boot record
  * *Run "/usr/local/share/grub4dos/bootlace.com --time-out=0 /dev/<harddisk>"
  * *bootlace.com can be run from both Linux and DOS/Windows
  * */dev/<harddisk> is usually /dev/hda or /dev/sda
  - Install necessary files in the first partition
  * *Copy /usr/local/share/grub4dos/grldr to the root directory of the first partition.
  * *Create a menu.lst in the root directory of the first partition, an example is available as /usr/local/share/grub4dos/menu.lst_example
  - Copy the Tiny Core Linux files to the place specified in "menu.lst"

===== Notes =====
  * **Do not copy tinycore.gz into the /tce directory**, this might lead to some hard to track down problems.
  * bootlace.com can also be used to install the boot loader in the partition boot sector or a device without a partition table (e.g. floppy) using the --floppy option.
  * Further documentation on GRUB4DOS was available at http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/Grub4dos.htm, which is unaccessible on 21-Jul-2016, but still reachable via [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160410143128/http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/Grub4dos.htm|Archive.org]].  Of particular interest are:
  * The [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160410143128/http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/files/menu.htm#find|"find --set-root" command]] with which the root partition of a boot menu can be set based on the location of a file, and
  * [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160410143128/http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/files/map.htm#hd32|Booting from ISO Images]], which shows how to boot from an ISO image without unpacking it.

====Further Reading/Sources====
loads more grub4dos info 

(http://www.rmprepusb.com/tutorials/grub4dos

 http://www.rmprepusb.com/tutorials/grubutils )

 eg

 [[http://www.rmprepusb.com/tutorials/grub4dos#TOC-Part-4---Understanding-the-grub4dos | understanding grub4dos commands]]

 [[http://www.rmprepusb.com/tutorials/grub4dos#TOC-Grub4dos-utilities | Grub4dos utilities ]]

 [[http://www.rmprepusb.com/tutorials/grub4dos#TOC-Part-3---Adding-a-graphical-menu-us | Adding a graphical menu using GFXBoot/GFXMenu]]

 [[http://www.rmprepusb.com/tutorials/grub4dos/grub4dos-internal-variables-and-functions | internal variables and functions ]]

 [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160410143128/http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/Grub4dos.htm|Grub4dos Guide at Archive.org]]