Subject: RE: Boot Disks
To: None <port-i386@netbsd.org>
From: David Woyciesjes <DAW@yalepress3.unipress.yale.edu>
List: port-i386
Date: 10/16/2001 11:17:00
! From: Dan Melomedman [mailto:dmelomed@devonitnet.com]
! 
! Daniel Gerber writes: 
! > It's described in the README on the ftp server where you 
! > get the boot floppy images and the distribution
! 
! I posed the question incorrectly. I know how to write boot
! floppy images to the floppys, but I would like to know how
! to make the images. Thanks. 

Well, this is how I created a floppy boot disk for my Multia. Umm, just the
kernel on the floppy, since Multias can't boot from the internal IDE drive.
Not sure how different the process is between Alphas and i386, but here
goes...

1. created custom kernel, about 2 MB in size. Not sure how big of an
uncompressed kernel you can use. Anyone know the average compression ratio
when squishing down a kernel?
2. cp netbsd /usr/src/distrib/alpha/floppy-GENERIC/floppykernel
3. make KERNEL=floppykernel
---which creates GENERIC.fs, I guess what you're looking for?
4. dd bs=18k if=GENERIC.fs of=/dev/rfd0a conv=sync
---to write the image to the floppy...

I figured this out by poking around, then reading through the files in the
floppy-GENERIC directory, once I found it. Not sure if this exists for i386,
but it should help.

---   David A Woyciesjes
---   C & IS Support Specialist
---   Yale University Press
---   mailto:david.woyciesjes@yale.edu
---   (203) 432-0953
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