Re: mbr package

[Nathan E Norman <finn@midco.net>]

On Fri, 14 Aug 1998, Gregory T. Norris wrote:

 : I was wondering how hard it is to remove/replace the mbr package.  We have
 : a single system running hamm, for which we want to disable the capability
 : of booting from a diskette.  Currently we've disabled floppy-boot in the
 : BIOS, and configured LILO to require a password (only if kernel-options are
 : specified at it's prompt).  However, it seems that mbr still provides the
 : capability for a diskette boot... if I tap the shift key just before the
 : LILO prompt would appear, I see the prompt "1FA:" - pressing "f" then
 : causes a boot from floppy.
 : 
 : I'm afraid that using dpkg to force it's removal would break the system, as
 : dselect shows it to be a required component (and lilo appears to be making
 : use of it).  Any suggestions?

Sure.  Make LILO install itself as the Master Boot record.  Find the
line in /etc/lilo.conf that specifies the "boot", and change it to refer
from a partition to a device.  (If it now says "boot=/dev/hda1", change
it to "boot=/dev/hda")

Warning!  This may cause unforeseen consequences if you have a weird
machine which LILO doesn't like.  It works for me, YMMV.

After LILO is installed in the MBR you ought to be able to remove the mbr
package, but I never bother.

--
Nathan Norman
MidcoNet - 410 South Phillips Avenue - Sioux Falls, SD
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