Configuring the floppy disks

You can create your emergency boot floppy disk set on a pair of 3.5-inch 1.44MB (135tpi, 18 sectors per track) floppies or a single 3.5-inch 2.88MB (135tpi, 36 sectors per track) floppy diskette.

To create an emergency boot floppy disk set:

1. Log in as root.

2. Use the Floppy Manager located in the Filesystems directory of the SCOadmin hierarchy, or enter this command:
   
   mkdev fd

3. At the main menu, enter 2 to create the emergency boot floppy disk set.

4. When prompted, indicate the type of disk drive you are using. Unless you have a 2.88MB drive, enter 2.

5. If you have more than one floppy disk drive, you are prompted for the drive that you are using to create the floppy disk. Enter either 0 (for the primary drive) or 1 (for the secondary drive).

6. When prompted for the type of filesystem, select 1 to create the root floppy disk. If you are creating a single boot/root floppy disk, select 3.

7. When prompted, insert a blank floppy disk and press <Enter>.

8. When prompted to format the floppy disk:

   • If the floppy disk is already formatted, enter n. The filesystem is then created immediately.

   • If the floppy disk is not formatted, enter y. You see the track and head numbers count up as the floppy disk is formatted. (If the /etc/default/format file contains the string VERIFY=Y, the format is also verified.)
   
   

9. A filesystem is created on the floppy disk and system files are copied over to a RAM disk for compression, including copying /dev/cmos to /etc/cmos.root. You can use this file to restore the CMOS settings later as described in cmos(ADM).
   

10. When you see the message:

       Do you want a shell escape to place extra files on the root filesystem? (y/n)
    

    If you want to place additional files on the disk, enter y and follow the instructions in ``Adding files to the root floppy disk''. Otherwise enter n. If you are creating a single boot/root floppy disk, skip to step 13.

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    NOTE: Disk space on the emergency boot floppy disks is limited and only critical utilities are loaded. Where possible, additional utilities such as tar(C) are copied when space permits.

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11. The filesystem is checked using fsck(ADM) and displays messages similar to the filesystem check displayed at boot time. You are notified when the the floppy disk is ready. Remove the floppy disk from the drive, and label it ``root'' and include the machine name. Write-protect the disk so that you do not accidentally erase the information.

12. Press <Enter> to continue and you are returned to the filesystem type menu. Enter 2 to create the boot floppy disk.

13. You have two options for the boot floppy disk: a system-specific disk that contains the same kernel that is currently on your system, or a smaller ``generic'' kernel that has fewer drivers linked in. If your current kernel is too large to fit on the disk, you will be warned and you will have to select the generic disk.

14. Insert the floppy disk and respond to the prompts as you did for inserting and formatting the root floppy disk.

15. The boot floppy disk is created and you see messages as files are copied to the disk. Then, the filesystem is checked using fsck(ADM). When complete, be sure and label it as you did with the root disk.

16. Follow the procedure in the ``Testing your emergency boot floppy disk set'' section to verify that you can boot your system and access backups using your boot and root floppy disks.