Creating a System Boot Disk

Support knowledgebase (kgw_bootdisketten)
Applies to

SuSE Linux: Versions up to (including) 7.3

Situation:

You want to be able to boot the normal Linux system with the current kernels from floppy. Your system has already been successfully installed, but you cannot or do not like to boot via LILO or loadlin from one of your hard disks.

Procedure:

Boot floppy without LILO

Actually this method works (since SuSE Linux 6.3) only if you are either using a self-compiled kernel or using a pure (E)IDE system. Otherwise please make use of a boot floppy with LILO. The LILO boot floppy also offers the advantage of starting the Linux kernel with kernel parameters.

The Linux kernel itself already contains the needed files to be bootable, so it suffices to simply write the kernel to a floppy disk. Insert an empty floppy disk in your floppy drive

 fdformat /dev/fd0h1440           # formats the floppy disk
 dd if=/boot/vmlinuz of=/dev/fd0  # writes the kernel to the floppy
                                    disk
 rdev /dev/fd0 /dev/sdb1          # Instead of /dev/sdb1,  
                                    specify your root partition
 rdev -R /dev/fd0 1               # mount root file system read-only

Even if the boot floppy with LILO looks a little more complicated, it is the recommended method for creating a boot floppy. If the fdformat command fails because of read-write errors, try another floppy disk. This certainly applies for the boot floppy with LILO.

Boot Floppy with LILO

From experience with LILO, it is easiest to tell LILO that the floppy disk would be the actual root file system. Therefore, some assisting files must be written to this floppy. The advantage is that this floppy is totally independent from your system.

To create a bootable floppy disk that contains the kernel and the initrd (since SuSE Linux 6.3), proceed as follows:

Remark

From SuSE 8.0 on, the kernel plus initrd no longer fits on a floppy. Use just a LILO boot floppy.


Keywords: BOOT DISKS, BOOTING, FLOPPIES, FLOPPY, LILO

Categories: Booting/Installation

SDB-kgw_bootdisketten, Copyright SuSE Linux AG, Nürnberg, Germany - Version: 21. Apr 1998
SuSE Linux AG - Last generated: 14. Oct 2002 by swiegra (sdb_gen 1.40.0)