[ale] CRISIS -> boot/root floppy needed..........

[Courtney Thomas]

So, am I interpreting this correctly to assume that all that is needed 
when the boot floppy asks for a root floppy is to insert a floppy with 
the initrd.img file on it that has the needed driver and hit <return> 
and that the proper initrd.img is the one being used by my current kernel ?

Gratefully,
Courtney



James P. Kinney III wrote:

> Courtney,
> If you have a kernel that supports initrd and an initrd file, you don't
> need a root floppy. initrd stands for INITial Root Device. 
> 
> You can also pass some params to the kernel at boot that tells it to use
> the root filesystem on the hard drive.
> 
> linux root=/dev/sda1  or something along those lines. I can't find my
> RH6 stuff. I think it is on a tape somewhere.
> 
> On Mon, 2003-03-03 at 12:08, Courtney Thomas wrote:
> 
>>Thank you James for the, as always, excellent help.
>>
>>I have a kernel on the HD with all needed drivers/modules. All I need is 
>>the root disk. My boot floppy asks for a root floppy.
>>
>>The boot floppy allows me to successfully load the mandatory HD driver. 
>>After bootup, I can insmod the others.
>>
>>Pardon my ignorance but reading mkbootdisk, mkinitrd, & Co.,....making a 
>>root disk remains opaque.
>>
>>HOW do you make a root [NOT boot] floppy ? Is there a URL you are aware 
>>of that gives detailed instruction ?
>>
>>I find no one that is able to say, "how you make a root floppy is 
>>1,2,3.........".
>>
>>Appreciatively,
>>Courtney
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>James P. Kinney III wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I don't think you will find a redhat root floppy that will support that
>>>hardware without some tinkering. What you need is an initrd file on a
>>>boot disk that you can make with the  mkbootdisk command. Check out
>>>mkinitrd.
>>>
>>>A second option is to compile a kernel with those drivers in it. Then
>>>theres no need for the initrd other than a blank one that gets
>>>"pivotrooted" out of the way to run the real /.
>>>
>>>Since RH6.1 is using a 2.2.x kernel, be sure to read the direction in
>>>man mkinitrd about 2.2 limitations on filesystems and initrd and
>>>pivotroot.
>>>
>>>It might be a good thing to upgrade to a more current mkbootdisk as the
>>>new stuff can do some serious foomagic including the mkinitrd stuff.
>>>
>>>On Mon, 2003-03-03 at 08:27, Courtney Thomas wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Good Morning !
>>>>
>>>>I am running RH6.1 because of an Oracle installation and need to leave 
>>>>it alone for now, however, any guidance regarding SPECIFICS of upgrading 
>>>>the OS and Oracle would be appreciated.
>>>>
>>>>Setup:
>>>>	bootup uses dpt_i2o		<- OS hard drive scsi driver
>>>>	oracle uses eata		<- scsi raid driver for oracle
>>>>	tape drive uses dc390x_ncr	<- scsi tape driver
>>>>
>>>>Dilemma:
>>>>	no boot/root floppy, other than a custom one, is going to have the 
>>>>dpt_i2o & dc390x_ncr drivers, since they are non-standard scsi drivers. 
>>>>So, the boot floppy must afford the opportunity to install dpt_i2o at 
>>>>bootup, which is done by mkbootdisk under RH6.1.
>>>>
>>>>And, once the OS hard drive is up, the eata & dc390x_ncr modules must be 
>>>>installed before unmounting the OS hard drive, to provide quiescent OS 
>>>>and raid hard drives for tape backup. This assumes, of course, these 
>>>>modules would remain available after OS hard drive unmounting.
>>>>
>>>>But, the aforedescribed boot floppy asks for a root floppy, which is not 
>>>>provided AFAIK by RH6.1. I have more pressing needs than spending 
>>>>unknown hours whittling away on such a root floppy.
>>>>
>>>>Is there a 'downloadable' root floppy that can meet these requirements ?
>>>>
>>>>If not, please precisely summarize the most efficient way to create said 
>>>>root floppy.
>>>>
>>>>Else, what do you recommend ?
>>>>
>>>>Appreciatively,
>>>>Courtney
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>
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