Fw: [ale] Building Linux manually

[Joe Knapka]

The easy way is to just use LILO on the HD's MBR. LILO
should work fine even on ancient, decrepit systems. If
you don't want to use LILO for some reason, then you can
do this (which I haven't done yet, but will try later
today on a throwaway HD):

(1) Create a very small (1MB) /dev/hda1 partition and dd your
kernel zImage to that. (The kernel has to occupy a separate
partition from any filesystem, since it's just a string of
bytes, not a collection of logical filesystem blocks - the
kernel partition doesn't contain a filesystem at all.)
(2) Create a /dev/hda2 partition for your actual filesystem
and populate it with whatever software you need.
(3) Ensure that the dd'd kernel image will mount /dev/hda2 as /
(using rdev, or else just build it that way).
(4) Mark the /dev/hda1 partition "bootable" in fdisk.

This scheme will probably not work unless you have a
standard DOS MBR on the HD (I'm pretty sure that
booting a "bootable" partition normally requires this).

-- Joe

Rod Young wrote:
> 
> So dd it to /dev/hda1 then? I have an interest in recycling old systems.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joe Knapka <jknapka at charter.net>
> To: Gary Lawler <axxess-spamgard. at denied.com>; ale at ale.org <ale at ale.org>
> Date: Saturday, July 08, 2000 1:13 AM
> Subject: Re: [ale] Building Linux manually
> 
> >I said: dd a kernel to /dev/hda
> >
> >DO NOT DO THIS! It will destroy your partition table,
> >which will be really bad if you've got other partitions
> >you want to preserve. I'm sorry I mentioned it.
> >Apologies.
> >
> >-- Joe
> >
> >Joe Knapka wrote:
> >>
> >> For partitioning, you'll need a statically-linked fdisk
> >> executable. Unless you plan to have multiple kernels
> >> installed, you may not even need LILO; a normal kernel
> >> will boot if it's just dd'd to a floppy, and I think
> >> the same will work if you dd it to a raw HD. So you'd
> >                            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >
> >> create an initial partition /dev/hda1 that's at least
> >> big enough to hold the kernel, then dd the kernel to
> >> /dev/hda (not /dev/hda1 - you want to write the beginning
> >> of the kernel over the MBR of the HD). Then
> >> make a root partition /dev/hda2 (and rdev the kernel
> >> image appropriately, if required). Then make /sbin/init
> >> a link to /bin/bash, and you get a system that boots
> >> straight into bash from the word go.
> >>
> >> I did this a long time ago (about 1992), and I just happen to
> >> have a machine that I'm going to blow away tonight and install
> >> a fresh copy of Slackware on. I'll try to do a minimal install
> >> first and let you know how it goes.
> >>
> >> -- Joe
> >>
> >> Gary Lawler wrote:
> >> >
> >> > I have a disk with the basic boot up for linux. I downloaded the kernel
> >> > (2.2.16), the kernel patch, and the basic GNU utilities. I want to
> >> > partition the drive, install the kernel, bash, and lilo manually. Which
> >> > should I do first and how should I do it? What utilities to I need on
> >> > disk to make the partitions and format them for linux? Dose the kernel
> >> > have to go on the disk first before lilo or the other utilities? Please
> >> > help!!!
> >> > Thanks a head of time. All comments are wanted.
> >> >
> >> > Gary Lawler
> >> > glawlert6 at yahoo.com
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > To unsubscribe: mail majordomo at ale.org with "unsubscribe ale" in
> message body.
> >>
> >> -- Joe Knapka
> >> * What happens when a mysterious force meets an inscrutable object?
> >> --
> >> To unsubscribe: mail majordomo at ale.org with "unsubscribe ale" in message
> body.
> >
> >-- Joe Knapka
> >* What happens when a mysterious force meets an inscrutable object?
> >--
> >To unsubscribe: mail majordomo at ale.org with "unsubscribe ale" in message
> body.
> 
> --
> To unsubscribe: mail majordomo at ale.org with "unsubscribe ale" in message body.

-- Joe Knapka
* What happens when a mysterious force meets an inscrutable object?
--
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