Make LILO boot floppy

[mbowler9]

I am trying to make a lilo boot floppy but for some reason when it comes time for the lilo install it just spits out the lilo options as if I am missing something. The directions that I am following are at

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialRecoveryAndBootDisk.html#LILO

One deviation is that I am making a boot image by loopback mounting it. The file is larger than 1.44MB as well. I am making the boot image for VMWare and it needs more space.

Thanks for your help.

 

[sbix]

I am not a Linux guru, but normally the procedure you're doing is used just to start a small system image of a very simple system, with just some basic utilities to format the disk and run a backup from tape

 

[gbaughma]

Go here:

http://www.toms.net/rb/

This is "Tom's Root/Boot"... it is by far the best "emergency boot floppy" for Linux I've ever found.



Just my $.02

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify it's owner." --Me
--Greg

 

[mbowler9]

gbaughma, that floppy is awesome and it is going to go into my box of tricks, but it's not quite what I am looking for.

Here is my whole situation. I have my main boot drive, mirror drive, hot spare, and one last drive that is a copy of the boot drive. This is a last line of defense for me. I need an image that when used will boot the system from that last disk.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

 

[stefanwagner]

I'm not sure whether I understood you right.

Can't you create a second entry in /etc/lilo.conf:

boot=/dev/hda
#...
default=Linux1
image=/boot/bzImage-2.6.7
	label=Linux1
	read-only
	root=/dev/hda1

image=/boot/bzImage-2.6.7
	label=Linux2
	read-only
	root=/dev/hdd1

run Lilo, try to boot from the 4. HD.
If it works, copy the mbr to a floppy:

dd if=/dev/hda1 of=/dev/fd0 bs=512 count=1

Be sure to read the dd-manual!

I use it very seldom, and wrote the line from my memory, which might be wrong, and can cause serious damage!!!

I'm not sure, whether this solution should work, but I guess you only need the bootloader on floppy - nothing else.

I guess /etc/fstab needs to be modified on the fallback-system at least.

seeking a job as java-programmer in Berlin:

http://home.arcor.de/hirnstrom/bewerbung

 

[arn0ld]

A: making a boot image by loopback mounting it.
B: The file is larger than 1.44MB as well.

B: Assuming you are referring to the linux boot sector , this appears rather large - Was this created with "make bzimage"? Did you use modules where possible?

A: lilo (and, i guess, grub) can boot a linux stored on a hard or diskette drive by using the address of the linux image on that drive. If the image disappears (e.g is loopback mounted), then I can not see how the boot would work.

Why is it loopback mounted?

 

[mbowler9]

It is loopback mounted in order to create an image file that I can boot from with ILO on our Compaq DL740 machines. I don't want to walk to our servers which are 5 floors away just to put a floppy in.

 

[RhythmAce]

Just wondering if vmware can boot from the network and does it have to load first?