How do you make a Red Hat 9 boot floppy?

randon · 10-03-2003, 12:50 AM

Hi all,
How in the world do you make a Red Hat 9 boot floppy? A friend of mine told me to go to the red Hat site and make one from there...but I don't understand.......I'm new to Linux, have been using Mandrake for about a week W/no complaints so far, and I'm finding out you just cant install red hat llike you do 'Drake. How do I do this? I want to see what Red Hat is all about because a friend of mine who is Linux certified, raves about it.......
Any help is appreciated........
RANDON

boreo · 10-03-2003, 01:30 AM

First of all, if you can boot from CD for Mandrake you can boot for RedHat too, now if for some unknown reason you can't start the installation and really need the boot floopy here are the instructions from redhat website... Please read everything before you ask a question, this is very easy to do so pay attention to the instructions, for more info visit the installation manual at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...EPS-MAKE-DISKS

isolinux is now used for booting the Red Hat Linux installation CD. If you have problems booting from the Red Hat Linux CD, you can write the images/bootdisk.img image to a diskette.

You may need to create a diskette from an image file; for example, you may need to use updated diskette images obtained from the Red Hat Linux errata page:

http://www.redhat.com/apps/support/errata/

An image file contains an exact copy (or image) of a diskette's contents. Since a diskette contains file system information in addition to the data contained in files, the contents of the image file are not usable until they have been written to a diskette.

To start, you need a blank, formatted, high-density (1.44MB), 3.5-inch diskette. You need access to a computer with a 3.5-inch diskette drive. The computer must be able to run either an MS-DOS program or the dd utility found on most Linux-like operating systems.

The images/ directory on your Red Hat Linux CD-ROM contains boot images. Once you have selected the proper image (bootdisk.img), transfer the image file onto a diskette using one of the following methods.
1.4.3.1. Using the rawrite Utility

To make a diskette using MS-DOS, use the rawrite utility included on the Red Hat Linux CD-ROM in the dosutils directory. First, label a blank, formatted 3.5-inch diskette appropriately (such as "Boot Disk" or "Updates Disk"). Insert it into the diskette drive. Then, use the following commands (assuming your CD-ROM is drive D

:

C:\> d:
D:\> cd \dosutils
D:\dosutils> rawrite
Enter disk image source file name: ..\images\bootdisk.img
Enter target diskette drive: a:
Please insert a formatted diskette into drive A: and
press --ENTER-- : [Enter]
D:\dosutils>

First, rawrite asks you for the filename of a diskette image; enter the directory and name of the image you wish to write (for example, ..\images\bootdisk.img). Then rawrite asks for a diskette drive to write the image to; enter a:. Finally, rawrite asks for confirmation that a formatted diskette is in the drive you have selected. After pressing [Enter] to confirm, rawrite copies the image file onto the diskette. If you need to make another diskette, label that diskette, and run rawrite again, specifying the appropriate image file.

randon · 10-03-2003, 02:04 AM

Thanks, that was excellent!! Haven't tried it yet but I'm sure it will work. When I go to put the CD (RH9) in the drive with mandrake, I got a "reboot to install the installation process" so that was easy but when I put in the RH9 cd, all I saw was folders without seeing anything about installing....That's why i'm assuming I have to use a floppy to boot........
Thanks again!!

RANDON

boreo · 10-03-2003, 02:57 PM

Dude, you do not browse the CD while you are in Mandrake... This is not like Windows that you put the CD and the installation starts, you have to put the CD in your CD-Rom and restart your computer and the installation will start automatically, but if it doesn't make sure that your primary boot is set to CD-Rom, not Hard Drive or floppy and if this doesn't work, well try the boot floppy.

randon · 10-03-2003, 06:21 PM

ok that's cool so tell me is it better to have a 2nd hard drive to put RH9 on instead of trying to do a triple boot with XP/mandrake/RH9? I'm assuming the MBR is going to get all messed up if I try that........
Thanks
RANDON

kilgoretrout · 10-03-2003, 06:42 PM

If you install redhat with it's boot loader, it will overwrite mandrake's lilo and you will not be able to boot into mandrake without a mandrake boot floppy. Easyiest option, when you do the redhat install, tell it not to install a boot loader and it will ask if you want to make a boot floppy for it. Say yes and the mandrake lilo will be intact and you can boot into redhat off the floppy. Afterwards, it's not too hard to make an entry in mandrake's lilo for redhat.

randon · 10-03-2003, 06:52 PM

Quote:

[i] Afterwards, it's not too hard to make an entry in mandrake's lilo for redhat. [/B]

ok how would I go about doing that? ---->

Thanks.......

kilgoretrout · 10-03-2003, 07:50 PM

Basically, you can copy the contents of the redhat floppy to a directory in mandrake. Then you edit the lilo configuration file, /etc/lilo.conf, to add a new entry:

image=<path to redhat vmlinuz>
label="redhat"
root=/dev/hdx (with x=the redhat root partition)
initrd=<path to redhat initrd>
append="<same stuff that's in the "linux" append line>"
read-only

The vmlinuz and initrd files you need to boot redhat are on the redhat boot floppy which is why you copy them to a directory in mandrake(i.e. they will be accessible to lilo during boot time). They will have some numbers and letters after the name identifying the specific kernel version from redhat.

When done you open a console and run:

$ su
<enter root password>
# lilo -v

That writes the new info to the mbr. When you reboot, you'll see the new redhat entry and it will work.