bootable high density 1992KB syslinux rescue/root disk

[bug1 <bug1@netconnect.com.au>]

DISCLAIMER : i cant confirm that it works in anything but vmware.

I previously read that it wasnt possible to boot a 1920KB format, just a
moment ago i booted a standard debian i386 rescue disk under vmware
formated to 1992KB :)

<insert excusses>
The 3.5" floppys i used are on average, i guess 5 years old, i strugled
to find one that i could format to that density, the disk i actually
booted with had to be formated a couple of times before it finished
succesfully.

Also im noticing that the drive deviation thats reported at the start of
superformat changes every now and then... anyone know is this is a sign
of a problem drive?
</insert excusses>

O.k. now that ive blamed my equipment for the problems i did have, i
confess that if i eject the disk and stick it back in again it wont boot
under vmware anymore... or if i physically reboot the machine it wont
boot from the real machine

The error i get under vmware if i eject is  end_request: io error.....  
When i try and boot on real hardware syslinux just says "boot failed"

It would be great if my equipment is a bit dodgy and the format method
is semi-reliable on the machine it was formated on at least.

1992KB would make it nearly possible to merge the boot and root disks
into one.

To make the disk i did

# to format the disk, i dont know if mss option is needed
superformat /dev/fd0 tracksize=12KB hd mss 2m sect=83  

# to copy the contents of the resc1440.bin (you can prob all guess this
bit)
mv resc1440.bin resc1440.bin.gz
gzip -d resc1440.bin.gz
losetup /dev/loop0 resc1440.bin
mount -t msdos /dev/loop0 /mnt
mount /floppy
cp -aRf /mnt/* /floppy/
umount /floppy

#put syslinux on the disk
syslinux /dev/fd0

That was it, it booted in vmware.

df reports 1974KB available after the mformat

If i dont get an embarressing email in the next 5 minutes explaining
that this will never work on a real machine i will be happy.

If anyone trys it themselves, or has tried it before i would apreciate
the feedback, there doesnt seem to be much info around on booting higher
formats.

Thanks

Glenn McGrath