Re: mformat, boot disks

[Tom Pfeifer <tplists@optonline.net>]

One way to make a floppy boot disk that doesn't boot with Lilo...

1) copy your kernel to the (umounted) floppy disk using dd or cp:
   dd if=/boot/your_kernel of=/dev/fd0 
   cp /boot/your_kernel /dev/fd0

2) tell the kernel on the floppy disk where your root partition is:
   rdev /dev/fd0 /dev/your_root_partition

The kernel on the floppy disk will boot itself, and then mount and run
from the root partition on the hard drive.

Tom


R1nso13@aol.com wrote:
> 
> I'm running 2.2r3 i-386.
> 
> 1. When I run 'superformat /dev/fd0' the disk is formatted. However, when
> superformat tries to run mformat to created an msdos file system, I get the
> error message
> 'sh: error:command not found'
> or something similar. When i simply type 'mformat' i get a similar error
> message. Should I worry about this? Even if it is not a problem, why am i
> getting this message?
> 
> 2. I have successfully made a lilo boot disk using "mkboot
> /boot/vmlinuz2.2.17pre19". But i have also tried copying the binary to the
> disk using 'cp' and 'dd'. However, these disks are recognized as system boot
> disks, but the do not successfully boot linux. When booting for these disks
> the monitor simply displays "loading........" but does not successfully load.
> Am I copying the wrong file, or will this method simply not work with Debian?
> Regardless, how can I create a 'normal' boot disk? (one that doesn't use lilo)