This version of the essay is for Blonde Guy computers with ArcaOS.
Use the following link to How to use an eComStation-based Blonde Guy recovery DVD.
This page describes how to use a Blonde Guy recovery DVD. The purpose of the recovery DVD is to restore the original ArcaOS installation to a computer as supplied by Blonde Guy. These instructions apply also to the Blonde Guy recovery USB stick.
The recovery DVD is bootable. If you have no bootable volumes, for example if you have a new hard disk, then the recovery DVD is the easiest way to restore ArcaOS.
Blonde Guy ArcaOS computers come with one of two disk configurations. The first factory configuration has three volumes, ArcaOS, Programs and Home. The second configuration has only one. The backup and restore programs can work with either configuration.
If you already have the volumes that came with the computer, and you want to restore the original content, then nothing needs to be done to prepare the volumes. You may proceed to "Booting the Recovery DVD."
| Volume Name | Disk Format | Drive Letter | Volume Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArcaOS-H | JFS | Q: | 10,000 MB |
| Data | JFS | D: | whatever is left |
| Programs | JFS | E: | 20,000 MB |
| Volume Name | Disk Format | Drive Letter | Volume Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArcaOS-F | JFS | F: | 10,000 MB |
| Data | JFS | D: | whatever is left |
To install the system using the Recovery DVD, the computer is booted to the DVD, and the user will create the disk volumes and install boot manager. All of the volumes must be formatted JFS. The recovery DVD has a zip archive for each volume. After each archive is unzipped to the corresponding volume, the computer is restored.
On the first screen, select Boot from DVD. This selection must be made in twenty seconds or the computer will attempt to boot from the hard drive.
On the second screen, take the option to boot with default values. The system will display the ArcaOS logo, then some information about ACPI, and eventually should show the Blonde Guy recovery DVD screen.
If the default values don't work, try editing them as below. If the default values do work, skip ahead to the Blonde Guy recovery screen.
Some systems need to adjust the system settings to boot properly. For example, a system requires the GenGradd driver rather than Panorama to boot properly. In that case, you'll need to adjust the values manually.
On the second screen, take the option to boot with menu for own values. The system will display the menu for own values.
The menu screen for Help should come up. The help screen can help you navigate the menu. In this case, use Page Down to navigate to the System Type page.
The menu screen for System Type should come up. To change the display driver, use the Tab key to move down to Display driver, then use the arrow keys to select GenGradd.
Once the appropriate drivers are selected, press F10 to save the changes and boot. The system will display the ArcaOS logo, then some information about ACPI, and eventually should show the Blonde Guy recovery DVD screen.
On the Blonde Guy recovery Screen, select System Management. The other options would allow you to do a new ArcaOS install.
After selecting System Management, Suntan Special will present the Blonde Guy Recovery Menu. Select Restore Volume if you want to restore ArcaOS to an already partitioned disk.
Restore Volume will restore the Factory Build to the selected volumes. Even if the Factory Build is separated into separate volumes for operating system, programs and Home directory, the backed up information will be restored. The operating system drive will be formatted and all existing information on that volume will be replaced with the backup. If they are separate drives, then Home and Programs will not be erased, but information may be overwritten by the backup.
Select a parent directory for the backup volumes. For the DVD, S:\Factory is the default choice. For the USB stick, U:\ is the default choice. All of the available volumes will be listed.
Volumes to restore will follow the naming convention as follows. The name of the operating system comes first, in this case ArcaOS, followed by the dash character, which is used as a separator. The boot drive letter comes next, followed by the file type extension .zip.
For the recovery DVD, only one volume will be shown by default. Select that volume to restore and press OK.
This screen shows the action to be performed. This is the final warning. All of the information on the operating system volume will be erased and replaced by the backup volume. Press OK to restore the volume.
This screen shows the completed restore process. Details of the restore volume are presented. Press OK.
This second screen shows the completed restore process. The volume is now ready to use. Press OK.
The new volume is ready to use. Shutdown the recovery volume. When the shutdown screen is presented, press Ctrl-Alt-Del.