FreeMint on (almost stock) Falcon
=================================
(Might also be applicable to TT)
WIP, latest version 2024-10-02

I wrote this little doc because I wanted to see if I could install
FreeMiNT with networking on my Falcon and TT from scratch (for networking:
NetUSBee first, probably BlueSCSI later). My Falcon is almost stock
although it does have some adaptations, like an RTC mod, IDE-to_CF card
instead of the HD and the DFB1X CPU accelerator which gives me a 40MHz
CPU, a real FPU and some alt-RAM. Although this accelerator works very
well for me, it is not strictly necessary.

MY setup, done this way: TOS on C, which is a real TOS partition. I boot
MiNT from drive I:. I can switch boot disks by pressing the right key at
startup (thanks to HDDRIVER). XBoot will always come up first.

Prerequisites:
--------------
* Some configuration to put (larger) (zip) files from a PC or Mac on to
  your Falcon. I use NetUSBee with its provided tools to upload to the
  Falcon over http

* A hard disk in/on your Falcon. I use an internal IDE-to-CF solution
  that provides me with a few GB, partitioned over 8 partitions of 1 GB
  each. Use a big partition! But for my TT I use a BlueSCSI

* A PC or Mac to download and sometimes manipulate all the stuff from
  the modern encrypted internet

~ NetUSBee at Lotharek's shop (Poland):
  https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=46

~ BlueSCSI site:
  https://bluescsi.com

~ IDE to CF adapter for Falco (at EXXOS store):
  https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/#0036


Step 1: Download the basic stuff to your Mac or PC
--------------------------------------------------
* XBoot III - this will help you if you need to reboot back to TOS or
  want to experiment with various setups

* Qextract - a reliable ZIP extractor for TOS

* FreeMint - the bootable archive from the link below, under
  'snapshots'. It seems to include QED and Teradesk

* NVDI - I use 5.03, the original install (so you can install on any
  drive) <>

* It is advised to use some HD driver or a TOS/GEM version that lets you
  boot from other partitions than only C:. I use HDDRIVER <> which is
  commercial, but EmuTOS <> will do as well I think

~ QEXTRACT:
  https://github.com/ctzio/quick-extract

~ FreeMiNT, look under 'snapshots':
  https://freemint.github.io


Step 2: Make the ZIP files TOS readable
---------------------------------------
It's kind of funny/strange, but sometimes the ZIP files you download for
Atari machines have names that are not in 8.3 format. My take is that
their creators only use Emulators and don't work from scratch on a real
Atari with just TOS on board - the stock configuration.

Step 3: Transfer to Falcon/TT and unzip there
---------------------------------------------
* Transfer all ZIP files to a place on the Falcon/TT (I use the USBee
  tools for this, see download link below)

* Use QEXTRACT to unzip stuff on your Falcon/TT (I don't trust STZIP)

*  unzip freemint to empty partition where you want to boot MiNT from

*  unzip and install XBOOT on the designated MiNT boot partition

*  unzip and install NVDI on the designated MiNT boot partition

~ NetUSBee drivers and tools:
  https://bitbucket.org/sqward/uip-tools/downloads/


Step 4: Prepare the boot partition
----------------------------------
* make sure xboot runs first (by renaming all PRG's in the AUTO folder
  to PRX first, except XBOOT.PRG)

* Reboot, XBOOT will come up

Step 5: Prepare MiNT boot
-------------------------
* In XBOOT, make a boot set for MiNT

* (edit mint.cnf)

* ...