Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!n3dmc!brian
From: brian@n3dmc.UU.NET (Brian Lloyd)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.microport
Subject: Re: minor dev nums, bootable disks
Keywords: minor device number boot disk
Message-ID: <776@n3dmc.UU.NET>
Date: 14 Sep 89 02:01:20 GMT
References: <774@n3dmc.UU.NET> <9087@saturn.ucsc.edu>
Reply-To: brian@n3dmc.UUCP (Brian Lloyd)
Organization: N3DMC, Silver Spring, Maryland
Lines: 36

In article <9087@saturn.ucsc.edu> laurie@ucscb.UCSC.EDU Ken Chapin writes:
>In article <774@n3dmc.UU.NET> brian@n3dmc.UU.NET (Brian Lloyd) writes:
>>
>>For uPort SysV/AT 2.4 (286).
>>2.  How do I create a bootable floppy disk for SysV/AT v2.4?
>>
>>I have the v2.4 distribution on 1.2Mb 5" floppies but I want to convert to
>>1.44 Mb mini floppies.
>
>You won't be able to do this unless you want to write your own boot code. The
>boot code that uport uses has 5.25" geometry hard wired into it. There is also
>code in the kernel startup routine that looks at the primary 5.25" high density
>floppy only if there is no hard disk to boot from. Both of these would have to
>be changed to make a 3.5" boot disk. I did it for the uport 3.0e.1 386 
>distribution.
>
>-Ken Chapin
>-

Could you describe the "geometry" that uPort has hard wired?  I was planning
to make the 3.5" drive the primary floppy.

How about another trick: formatting the 3.5" floppy with only 15
sectors/track? Then the 3.5" floppy should be indistinguishable from a
5.25" HD floppy.  I just don't want to put a 5.25" drive in my new
luggable system. 

Perhaps I should look at this another way.  Is there some way to put
both a 5.25" HD drive and a 3.5" HD drive in one of these
lunch-box-with-an-LCD-display cabinets and still have room for at least
1 half-height hard disk.  The key is that the 3.5" floppy is mandatory
but I would take the 5.25" HD drive along for the ride if there is room.

Brian Lloyd
uunet!n3dmc!brian
(301) 881-2580