AIX

Hi All,

I am looking for information and advice on a reliable method to support the dual booting between AIX 5.3 and AIX 6.1

I have a 7029-6E3 with 2 x 36Gb disks, hdisk0 (altinst_rootvg) and hdisk1 (rootvg)

I have previously used alt_disk_install to upgrade from 5.1->5.3, and now from 5.3 -> 6.1, so I can currently boot off 6.1/hdisk1, but when I try "alt_rootvg_op -W -d hdisk0" to wake up 5.3 and reboot, then the LCD display shows "cannot mount rootvg" or something similar.

I can then reboot to CD (bootlist = cd0,hdisk0), and through maintenance shell set bootlist back to cd0,hdisk1 to get back into 6.1

I have full system backups of the rootvg in 5.3 mode and also 6.1 mode (these were made while each o/s version was stable, immediately before and after the upgrade process).

So, can anyone tell me how to setup a proper dual boot machine where each rootvg is on a separate hdisk, and therefore doesn't interefere with the other. Most Google hists on "aix dualboot" relate to upgrade processing and the use of alt_disk_install...

Thanks in advance
Kevin

I think you need to read the man pages or command reference again.
I think alt disk is exactly what you need but you are probably using it wrongly.
Why do you try to wake up the alt disk install and then reboot instead of just changing your bootlist?
HTH

If I understand AIX correctly to boot from your 6.1 disk while running 5.3 from hdisk0 you would enter "bootlist -m normal hdisk1" and then reboot. To shift back to 5.3 it would be "bootlist -m normal hdisk0" and then reboot. I don't think you need the alt disk commands at all.

Again, if I understand AIX correctly you could have an hdisk2 with Linux for PPC on it and boot to it with a "bootlist -m normal hdisk2".

Please let me know if I'm way off base here.