Re: Step 1 of debian-installer
On Tue, Feb 20, 2001 at 10:28:39AM +0100, Thierry Laronde wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I've just checkout cvs tree and have a look to the doc.
>
> I have been studying some parts of the problems for a project that we
> (cri74.org) are launching. So here are some solutions/ideas for the very
> first step :
>
> - In order to install the very first system (kernel + root) one needs enough
> memory -> if the bootloader is able to display the amount of memory
> installed, you can, at least, display a message that the mem is xxx Kb,
> and that the installation will fail with less than, say 8 Mb ; for x86,
> GRUB can do that (but, at the moment, it doesn't allow conditionnal, only
> displaying a message saying that the next action might fail if there is
> not enough memory);
>
> - Size of a floppy is the critic point. You can have more space on a HDD,
^^^^^
Did you mean FDD ?
> by playing with the number of sectors. But you need to have a bootloader
> able to identify the CHS parameter in order to access and load the data
> (kernel and root fs); for x86, Lilo can do that, and there is a patch to
> GRUB to allow this too;
>
> - Part of the sectors are "lost" for the fs; if one has a bootloader able to
> install itself without a fs, and able to retrieve data (blocklist) without
> the fs, you can "save" these sectors by putting everything on a raw
> floppy; for x86, GRUB can install itself, and boot with blocklist
> notation; it is able to load kernel and initrd this way too;
>
> - The bootloader has a size; if one can use the bootloader installed on the
> floppy as the data to install as the bootloader for the hard disk, the
> same data is used twice, then there is no need to duplicate the bootloader
> in the initrd; for x86, GRUB can be handled this way;
>
> - for x86, GRUB can be used for recovery (you are able to load any kernel
> found somewhere); so this is, automatically, a rescue disk.
>
> Cons : all of this stuff is, at the moment, very x86 specific. But the
> floppies have to be machine dependent in some way...
>
> FWIW,
> --
> Thierry LARONDE, Centre de Ressources Informatiques, Archamps - France
> http://www.cri74.org
> PingOO, serveur de com sur distribution GNU/Linux: http://www.pingoo.org
>
>
> --
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--
Eric VAN BUGGENHAUT
Eric.VanBuggenhaut@AdValvas.be
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