Re: make boot floppy problem Deb1.3

[Dale Scheetz <dwarf@polaris.net>]

On Wed, 18 Jun 1997 simons@alpha2.vki.ac.be wrote:

> 
> I'm experiencing problems installing Debian1.3 from scratch.
> I followed the Debian1.3 installation guide and opted to
> install with floppy disks.
> 
> Everything went swiftly untill I reached the point :
>   Make a Boot floppy
> After introducing an empty, formatted, write-enabled floppy
> and hitting enter I get the following messages:
> 
>  Formatting the floppy...
>    Verifying track 0, head 0 end-request:I/O error, dev 02:00, sector 17
>    end-request:I/O error, dev 02:00, sector 17
>    Verifying track 0, head 1 end-request:I/O error, dev 02:00, sector 17
>    end-request:I/O error, dev 02:00, sector 32
>    Verifying track 0, head 0 end-request:I/O error, dev 02:00, sector 17
>    end-request:I/O error, dev 02:00, sector 17
>    Verifying track 0, head 1 end-request:I/O error, dev 02:00, sector 17
>    end-request:I/O error, dev 02:00, sector 32
> 
> After which the installation stops. (does not hang, goes back to menu)
> 
> I tried different floppies, ... , in vain.
> Has it got anything to do with the way I configured the device drivers
> (nothing installed explicitly) or might it be a hardware problem ?
> 
> I installed it together with an existing MS-DOS using fips to free space
> for my Linux partitions. 
> 
> Any help for this Linux newbie highly appreciated !!  :)
> 
> Thanks a lot, --Erwin
> 
There are several possibilities for your problem:

	1. Is the floppy write protected?
	2. It is possible that although you can read with the drive that
	   it is broken for write.
	3. Did you try cleaning the drive?

As you have a DOS partition to boot from, I can suggest an alternative to
a boot floppy that I think you will be much happier with in the long run.

You need the program loadlin.exe (available from the tools directory of a
Debian archive, and with the 1997-06-06 disk set) and the kernel image
named linux on the rescue disk. Copy them both to a subdirectory on the
DOS partition, boot the dos partition, and cd to that subdirectory. You
can now type:

	loadlin linux root=/dev/hda2 rw

and your new system will boot up.

You can incorporate this functionality into the menu system available in
config.sys and execute the above command in the proper section of
autoexec.bat so that either the DOS and the Linux systems can be chosen at
boot time.

Luck,

Dwarf
-- 
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aka   Dale Scheetz                   Phone:   1 (904) 656-9769
      Flexible Software              11000 McCrackin Road
      e-mail:  dwarf@polaris.net     Tallahassee, FL  32308

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