Hello,

With Slackware 10, I am trying to figure out how to boot from floppy (in
case of LILO problems, etc.) but then use the root file system on the hard
disk instead of the root floppies. The root partition in on /dev/hda3. The
kernel is the default basic kernel used by the installation program.

When I boot, I hold down the left shift key to get the boot prompt and then
specify "mount root=/dev/hda3" but it still prompts for root floppies. What
am I missing??

Thanks in advance,
Lars

In alt.os.linux.slackware Lars <noemail@hotmail.com> wrote:
> When I boot, I hold down the left shift key to get the boot prompt and then
> specify "mount root=/dev/hda3" but it still prompts for root floppies. What
> am I missing??

I think you must specify the ram disk option too, to prevent it from
putting its root ON that ramdisk.
Forgot what the exact syntax was (initrd=no or such), but the help
text did always mention it.

PS: the root floppy/ies is what it decompresses INTO that ramdisk,
as so to create a writable root file system.
--
************************************************** ******************
** Eef Hartman, Delft University of Technology, dept. EWI/TW **
** e-mail: E.J.M.Hartman@math.tudelft.nl, fax: +31-15-278 7295 **
** snail-mail: P.O. Box 5031, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands **
************************************************** ******************

"Eef Hartman" <E.J.M.Hartman@math.tudelft.nl> wrote in message
news:9c08a$42306b30$82a1d217$7267@news2.tudelft.nl ...
> In alt.os.linux.slackware Lars <noemail@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > When I boot, I hold down the left shift key to get the boot prompt and
then
> > specify "mount root=/dev/hda3" but it still prompts for root floppies.
What
> > am I missing??
>
> I think you must specify the ram disk option too, to prevent it from
> putting its root ON that ramdisk.
> Forgot what the exact syntax was (initrd=no or such), but the help
> text did always mention it.

Thanks for your replies, guys. I have tried the following at the boot
prompt:

vmlinuz root=/dev/hda3
vmlinuz ramdisk=0 root=/dev/hda3
vmlinuz load_ramdisk=0 root=/dev/hda3
vmlinuz prompt_ramdisk=0 root=/dev/hda3
mount root=/dev/hda3 load_ramdisk=0

But I still get:
VFS: Insert root floppy disk to be loaded into RAM disk and press ENTER

The boot disk contents:
1248111 Jun 18 2004 vmlinuz
154843 Jun 18 2004 System.map.gz
1077 Jun 18 2004 message.txt
8204 Jun 18 2004 ldlinux.sys
653 Jun 18 2004 f1.txt
41017 Jun 18 2004 config
387 Sep 10 12:00 syslinux.cfg

What am I missing???

Thanks,
Lars

Lars wrote :

> With Slackware 10, I am trying to figure out how to boot from floppy (in
> case of LILO problems, etc.)

The easiest way is to make a bootdisk for your system. This can be done
using either the 'makebootdisk' or the 'mkrescue' command.
--
Thomas O.

This area is designed to become quite warm during normal operation.

On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 05:42:06 +0000, Lars wrote:

> Hello,
>
> With Slackware 10, I am trying to figure out how to boot from floppy (in
> case of LILO problems, etc.) but then use the root file system on the hard
> disk instead of the root floppies. The root partition in on /dev/hda3. The
> kernel is the default basic kernel used by the installation program.
>
This is probably sacrilige to suggest but....
when I screw up my MBR / or grub I boot to tomsrtbt
http://www.toms.net/rb/
then just mount the devices as needed (for example my grub is located on
/dev/hda3 also)
to rerun lilo I chroot to the mount point
example:
chroot /mnt/hda3
/sbin/lilo

I found knoppix wouldnt chroot properly so wouldnt run /sbin/lilo
correctly
HTH
--

Hardware, n.: The parts of a computer system that can be kicked

In <alt.os.linux.slackware> Lars <noemail@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > I think you must specify the ram disk option too, to prevent it from
> > putting its root ON that ramdisk.
> > Forgot what the exact syntax was (initrd=no or such), but the help
> > text did always mention it.
>
> Thanks for your replies, guys. I have tried the following at the boot
> prompt:
>
> vmlinuz root=/dev/hda3
> vmlinuz ramdisk=0 root=/dev/hda3
> vmlinuz load_ramdisk=0 root=/dev/hda3
> vmlinuz prompt_ramdisk=0 root=/dev/hda3
> mount root=/dev/hda3 load_ramdisk=0

Try
noinitrd root=/dev/hda3

If that doesn't work, then make your own bootdisk. It goes something
like this...

fdformat /dev/fd0u1440
mke2fs -m0 -N32 /dev/fd0
mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy
cd /mnt/floppy

cat YOUR_KERNEL > vmlinuz
cat > lilo.conf << EOF
boot=/dev/fd0
compact
delay=100
map=map
backup=/dev/null
image=vmlinuz
root=/dev/hda3
read-only
label=linux
EOF

lilo -C lilo.conf

--
William Park <opengeometry@yahoo.ca>, Toronto, Canada
Slackware Linux -- because it works.

Lars wrote:
> Hello,
>
> With Slackware 10, I am trying to figure out how to boot from floppy (in
> case of LILO problems, etc.) but then use the root file system on the hard
> disk instead of the root floppies. The root partition in on /dev/hda3. The
> kernel is the default basic kernel used by the installation program.
>
> When I boot, I hold down the left shift key to get the boot prompt and then
> specify "mount root=/dev/hda3" but it still prompts for root floppies. What
> am I missing??

mount root=/dev/hda3 noinitrd

> The easiest way is to make a bootdisk for your system. This can be done
> using either the 'makebootdisk' or the 'mkrescue' command.

Thanks a lot! A boot disk by mkrescue did the trick.

Is it possible that the kernel that was on the other boot floppy (the
generic kernel used by the installation program) was too bare-bone and
simply ignored all the parameters I tried?

> > specify "mount root=/dev/hda3" but it still prompts for root floppies.
What
> > am I missing??
>
> mount root=/dev/hda3 noinitrd

Thanks, but I tried that too without success. It seems like the bare-bone
kernel on the boot floppy did not support the options I tried. Per Thomas
request (above), I created a new boot disk using mkrescue, and now it works
fine.

Lars

Lars wrote :

> Thanks a lot! A boot disk by mkrescue did the trick.
>
Glad to hear that.

> Is it possible that the kernel that was on the other boot floppy (the
> generic kernel used by the installation program) was too bare-bone and
> simply ignored all the parameters I tried?

The boot disk that you created from the /bootdisk directory at CD wasn't
meant to be a rescue floppy or something like that. Its solely there for
to use on computers that for some reasons cant boot from the install CD
when installing Slackware.
--
Thomas O.

This area is designed to become quite warm during normal operation.