Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!samsung!olivea!oliveb!veritas!amdcad!sun!imagen!roger
From: roger@imagen.UUCP (Roger C. Wang)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: RE: PC Minix won't boot
Message-ID: <17634@imagen.UUCP>
Date: 27 Dec 90 13:54:50 GMT
Reply-To: roger@imagen.COM (Roger C. Wang)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Imagen Corporation, Santa Clara, CA
Lines: 16

oberme@bass.bu.edu (Lance Obermeyer) wrote:

> When I try to boot with any of the 3 diskettes, I get the first line
> and then 'Read error.  Automatic reboot."  It then really shakes the
> floppy disk and repeats.

I had the same problem. My hardware has Phoenix BIOS, 1.2 MB and 1.44MB drives.
My minix boot diskette is 3.5 720K.  Even though I did run CMOS setup to
set my disk drive to 3.5 720K, BIOS still try to read it as 1.44MB
density on reboot.
I wound up writing a program to copy 720K diskette to 1.2MB diskette sector by
sector in logical order (track 0 head 1 sector 1 of 720K diskette is mapped
to track 0 head 0 sector 10 of 1.2 MB drive); then reboot from 1.2MB diskette.
I am sure there are other ways to do it, but ...

If you need my simple program for reference, send my a mail.