[ale] Any way to patch a RedHat 4.2 boot.img file?

[Larry Gee]

Here is how to do it.  You must have a working linux box to do it
though.

1.  dd the boot.img onto a floppy.
2.  mcopy a:initrd.img onto your hard disk
3.  mv initrd.img initrd.img.gz
4.  gunzip initrd.img.gz
5.  insmod loop
6.  mkdir /mnt/image
7.  mount -t ext2 -o loop=/dev/loop1 initrd.img /mnt/image
8.  make the updated module
9.  gzip the module (seagate.o.gz)
10.  cp module.o.gz  /mnt/image/modules
11.  umount /mnt/image
12.  gzip -9 initrd.img
13.  mcopy initrd.img.gz a:initrd.img


Then if you want, dd the floppy into a new boot.img
enjoy.

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	shl at cc.gatech.edu [SMTP:shl at cc.gatech.edu]
> Sent:	Friday, January 02, 1998 12:44 AM
> To:	ale at cc.gatech.edu
> Subject:	[ale] Any way to patch a RedHat 4.2 boot.img file?
> 
> Folks,
> 
> I'll bet I can't replace a module loaded by the 4.2 install boot.img,
> but I'll
> ask anyway, in case someone has a clever hack. 
>  
> BACKGROUND:
> 
> I have an approx 3 year old Dell Latitude XP.  It lacks an internal CD
> so I use its advanced port replicator, containing a Future Domain
> TMC950
> SCSI controller, to attach an external SCSI CD for software 
> installation. 
> 
> Approx 14 months ago, I went through intense agony attempting to
> install RedHat 4.0 via the local CD setup.  It was absolutely NOT
> possible to install RedHat 4.0 via this setup -- it would randomly
> flake out with funky errors, teasing me with failure at a different
> place in the install process each time.  If only it had died
> consistently, I would have given up long before I did! RedHat support
> was clueless, and it was only through the graciousness of a fellow ALE
> member and his home network that I was ever able to get Linux loaded
> at
> all on the laptop.
> 
> Subsequently, I figured out the magic to build a kernel that could
> recognize the CD player via the TMC950. Specifically I needed to
> compile the
> seagate.o module (that drives the TMC950) without the -DFAST32 define.
> Eureka. I had a working setup.  I could access CDs via Linux.  Life
> was good. 
> 
> Then my hard disk died.  The gods snickered and laughed at me, and
> like 
> Sisyphus, I was sentenced to push that rock back up the hill again.
> Once 
> again, I had to do a RedHat install onto a bare disk.  And you guessed
> it, I am experiencing the *same* difficulties with a local CD install
> of
> RedHat 4.2 that I ran into with RedHat 4.0.    
> 
> The new install process at least gives me more input, and I can see
> that it loads a seagate.o module that was compiled with -DFAST32.
> Great, so I know EXACTLY what and where the problem is this time.
> This is progress.  If I can replace the seagate.o module in question
> with 
> one compiled sans the FAST32 define, it will all work.
> 
> THE QUESTION:
> 
> Can I somehow patch the boot.img file and replace a module loaded
> during the install process?  
> 
> It's not simply a case of creating a new boot disk -- the boot.img
> file
> is special in that it immediately invokes the installation script, and
> I don't have a clue how that install script is invoked. I have
> searched
> the RedHat site but found no information on how to do what I want.
> And
> I don't have access to RedHat support this time, for all the good that
> it did me last time, to ask them to generate a special boot.img file
> for me.
> 
> Is it time to admit defeat and arrange to install via the network
> again?  Can this boot.img file be saved?
> 
> Thanks for any suggestions. 
> 
> Susan 
> 
> -- 
> ======================================================================
> =====
> Susan Liebeskind (susan.liebeskind at gtri.gatech.edu) 
> GTRI/ITTL/CSITD
> 347 Ferst St
> Atlanta, GA  30332-0817				 Phone
> 404-894-4266