LinuxQuestions.org
Latest LQ Deal: Latest LQ Deals
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - General
User Name
Password
Linux - General This Linux forum is for general Linux questions and discussion.
If it is Linux Related and doesn't seem to fit in any other forum then this is the place.

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 03-03-2003, 02:42 PM   #1
kkempter
Member
 
Registered: Dec 2002
Posts: 187

Rep: Reputation: 30
Help! - Boot Disk won't boot


I have redhat 8 on a laptop with a USB floppy drive. I can create the boot disk with 'mkbootdisk --device /dev/sbd <kernel>'

however when I test it out, it won't boot off the floppy.
 
Old 03-03-2003, 03:00 PM   #2
Mara
Moderator
 
Registered: Feb 2002
Location: Grenoble
Distribution: Debian
Posts: 9,696

Rep: Reputation: 232Reputation: 232Reputation: 232
Does your labtop have a BIOS option to boot from your USB floppy drive?
 
Old 03-03-2003, 03:16 PM   #3
kkempter
Member
 
Registered: Dec 2002
Posts: 187

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 30
Yes it does !
 
Old 03-03-2003, 03:22 PM   #4
Mara
Moderator
 
Registered: Feb 2002
Location: Grenoble
Distribution: Debian
Posts: 9,696

Rep: Reputation: 232Reputation: 232Reputation: 232
So what happens when you choose to boot from the floppy, reset your machine and....?
 
Old 03-03-2003, 03:29 PM   #5
kkempter
Member
 
Registered: Dec 2002
Posts: 187

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 30
If I boot off a DOS floppy it boots up. If I boot off the redhat boot disk I get the message "boot failed"
 
Old 03-03-2003, 03:47 PM   #6
Mara
Moderator
 
Registered: Feb 2002
Location: Grenoble
Distribution: Debian
Posts: 9,696

Rep: Reputation: 232Reputation: 232Reputation: 232
Have you tried with more than one floppy? DOes it print more or only 'boot failed'?
 
Old 03-03-2003, 03:49 PM   #7
kkempter
Member
 
Registered: Dec 2002
Posts: 187

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 30
Yeah I tried 2 different floppies
 
Old 03-03-2003, 03:55 PM   #8
Mara
Moderator
 
Registered: Feb 2002
Location: Grenoble
Distribution: Debian
Posts: 9,696

Rep: Reputation: 232Reputation: 232Reputation: 232
Does it print something more? Only 'boot failed'?
 
Old 03-03-2003, 03:57 PM   #9
kkempter
Member
 
Registered: Dec 2002
Posts: 187

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 30
Just "boot Failed" at the top of the screen - nothing else
 
Old 03-03-2003, 04:03 PM   #10
Mara
Moderator
 
Registered: Feb 2002
Location: Grenoble
Distribution: Debian
Posts: 9,696

Rep: Reputation: 232Reputation: 232Reputation: 232
Do you have all you need to boot into the kernel (not as modules)? USB drivers? Drivers for your main filesystem? Do you use kernel you compiled yourself or kernel that came with your distro?
 
Old 03-03-2003, 04:07 PM   #11
kkempter
Member
 
Registered: Dec 2002
Posts: 187

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 30
I think so - I'm using the kernel that came from RH - I didn't recompile it myself. The kernel recognizes my USB floppy and/or my USB CDRW when I login.

The system bios is supposed to allow me to boot from the USB floppy without any needed drivers.
 
Old 03-03-2003, 04:26 PM   #12
Mara
Moderator
 
Registered: Feb 2002
Location: Grenoble
Distribution: Debian
Posts: 9,696

Rep: Reputation: 232Reputation: 232Reputation: 232
I guess you use ext3 filesystem. Look if your kernel uses initrd (ramdisk) to start (as far as I remember, it does).If it does, you need to make the same with the boot floppy (--mkinitargs switch for mkbootdisk).
 
Old 03-03-2003, 05:43 PM   #13
kkempter
Member
 
Registered: Dec 2002
Posts: 187

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 30
I tried this:
mkbootdisk --mkinitdargs --with usb-ohci 2.4.18-24.8.0

Not sure if this is the right syntax, it created te disk but got the same results trying to boot from the floppy
 
  


Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Grub (error 17) won't boot after new motherboard/vid card.. boot disk anyone? r3dhatter Linux - Newbie 5 02-16-2005 06:52 PM
Fresh Slackware 9.1 installation requires boot disk to boot smithtodda Slackware - Installation 7 06-23-2004 09:06 PM
Grub Dual Boot Mandrake 9.2 and Win2000 Invalid Boot Disk larsenmtl Linux - Newbie 1 02-01-2004 03:29 PM
Red Hat 9.0 Wont Boot Lost Boot Disk! AndrewBalmos Linux - Newbie 8 01-05-2004 07:06 PM
Win2K/RH7.1 Dual, RH won't boot from boot disk after install marktaff Linux - Software 4 08-24-2001 05:29 PM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - General

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:41 AM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration