Bootable Rescue Media on a separate Hard disk partition and GRUB bootloader

What version and build of TI are you using?

What version and build of DD are you using?

ramdisk_size isn't always needed. Also, you probably should add the quiet option. An example can be found in this thread.

Thanks, MudCrab!
Removed ramdisk_size option, added quiet:
so:

title Acronis tootls
root (hd0,6)
kernel /kernel.dat vga=0x34C quiet
initrd /ramdisk.dat

This now works and boots. However, it automatically brings up Acronis TI and not the usual selection menu (if booted from CD) with options to chose from, i.e. TI (full ver), DD, System INfo, OS selector, etc.
Perhaps, this is because the Acronis Bootloader is not used? (as opposed to booting from CD?)
Maybe the way to solve it is to copy the Acronis bootloader to that partition (not the MBR as I don't want to delete the main GRUB loader)
(I actually don't know how I would do this - tips here?)
and
I have: TI Home 2011 build 5105 and DD 11 Home

When you boot the kernel directly it goes right to that program. If you want to, you could add entries for both the TI and DD kernels and then select which one to boot from the GRUB menu.

Another option is to setup a partition (or another drive) with Grub4DOS and then boot into the ISO file. You would get the Acronis menu using this method. Placing the Acronis boot loader onto a partition is probably still possible. I know it worked with the older versions (I haven't tried it with the newer ones), but it's generally more difficult than using Grub4DOS and not nearly as flexible.

Hmm.. interesting. So, how do I know which kernel is which (TI or DD)?
When I created the media, I checked to include both.
Here's the file list in the "Recovery Manager" directory of the CD:
-----------
bootwiz.bin
f11.cfg
gen_bootmenu.bin
kernel.dat
mouse.com
ramdisk.dat
splash.run
-----------
So, if I make 2 separate CDs (one with TI only and one with DD only) how would I separate the 2 kernels? Right now, there seems to be only one kernel, but clearly both progs are there when booted from CD...

When you say to set up a partition - well, I already have a separate partition for these Acronis tools - you would put the DRUG4DOS on that partition? Or you are suggesting replacing the main MBR GRUB (v.1 I have ) with the GRUB4DOS because it can boot from ISO image and legacy GRUB cannot? I would really prefer not to do that as other partitions are working fine for me and I hate messing up with them.

The reason you're only seeing TI's kernel is because you're looking in the Recovery Manager folder (the ASRM). This only contains TI. The actual files you want are hidden in ISO. I use UltraISO to extract them. The correct files (usually DAT?) can also be copied from a flash drive created with Media Builder. I can provide more information on either method if you need it.

I was suggesting using Grub4DOS in a partition (install it there) and then using GRUB to boot that partition. Another option is to use another drive in the system and install Grub4DOS to the MBR of that drive. When you want to boot it, use the BIOS Boot Menu to select that drive (this is what I do).

Yes, please, let me know how to find these hidden files. I do not have an UltraISO. Any substitute? on linux maybe? Flash-drive way of extracting? Appreciate your help!

This thread contains some info on using UltraISO to extract the files. Other users have posted that the trial version works fine for this. There are probably other ISO programs out there that would do it too, but I haven't used them.

Obtaining the files from a flash drive is quite easy. However, you can only boot into the Linux programs. You can't extract the "DOS-mode" programs (Safe Media versions, OSS programs, etc.) and boot directly into them.

When you create the flash drive, include the programs you want. All the files will be placed onto the drive. It's necessary to determine which files are the ones you want because Acronis uses "dat" with a number to name them (dat3.dat, dat4.dat, etc.).

This is accomplished by doing the following:

• Browse to the flash drive after it's created and open the bootmenu.xml file. An easy way is to right-click the file and select Edit.
• The menu items each have an entry in the file. A sample entry is shown below:
• Note the first line of the entry. At the end it has a name and a verb. This is the value you want. In this case, it's C2.
• Now, open the bootwiz.cfg file. Use WordPad for this file so you can see the line breaks (Notepad will place everything on one line.) Notice the sections. These correspond to the name/verb values. Find the C2 section. In this example, it looks like this:
• This means that the dat3.dat file is the initrd file and that dat4.dat is the kernel file. Copy these two files where you need them. I suggest you rename them to make them easier to indentify.
• Add the entry in GRUB for the files. This will be like you show in Post #2.

Thanks much - MudCrab!
All worked just fine. Used your flash-drive method - seems easier and no need for additional software.
I now have both TI and DD entries in my GRUB and both launch with no problem.

Tried adding a third entry (system report) and it works fine, except it asks for a flash drive to be inserted - for report storage, I figure. Deleted it as I couldn't figure out how to make it store the report on its own partition instead - and also since I never use it.

Again, many thanks!