--- stand/i386/boot2/boot2.c-orig        2026-03-09 10:59:26.654756000 +0000
+++ stand/i386/boot2/boot2.c     2026-03-09 14:29:10.651139000 +0000
@@ -216,11 +216,25 @@

        autoboot = 1;

-       if ((ino = lookup(PATH_CONFIG)) ||
-           (ino = lookup(PATH_DOTCONFIG))) {
-               nbyte = fsread(ino, cmd, sizeof(cmd) - 1);
-               cmd[nbyte] = '\0';
+       for(dsk.part=0; dsk.part<8; dsk.part++) {
+           if ( (ino = lookup(PATH_CONFIG)) ||
+                (ino = lookup(PATH_DOTCONFIG)) ) {
+               // config found
+                   nbyte = fsread(ino, cmd, sizeof(cmd) - 1);
+                   cmd[nbyte] = '\0';
+                   goto part_found;
+           }
+
+           if (lookup(PATH_LOADER)) {
+               // loader found, but no config in this partition
+//             if (!OPT_CHECK(RBX_QUIET))
+               goto part_found;
+           }
        }
+       // nothing found so proceed with default value
+       dsk.part=0;
+part_found:
+       printf("use part %c\n", 'a'+dsk.part);

        if (*cmd) {
                memcpy(cmddup, cmd, sizeof(cmd));