Re: Custom boot floppies?

[Steve Borho <steve borho myip org>]

On Tue, Aug 31, 1999 at 03:09:00PM -0400, George Lenzer wrote:
> Does anyone know if it is possible to make a custom (single) boot floppy
> that would boot into single user mode with sound and network support?

This is Linux, of course it's possible :^)

> Do I need to use an older kernel, or can I use the latest kernel source?

Any kernel will fit on a floppy (as long as vmlinuz < 1.44MB).  The trick
is where do you want to put your root filesystem.

> How important are libs to support some hardware if you are compiling
> support into the kernel?

The kernel doesn't need any libs.

> How can I find out which libs I will need for certain applications?

ix% ldd /bin/sh
        libtermcap.so.2 => /lib/libtermcap.so.2 (0x40019000)
        libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x4001d000)
        /lib/ld-linux.so.2 => /lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x40000000)

If you need to put the root filesystem on the floppy, then kernel size
becomes a major issue, and you'll probably want to go back to at least
2.0, maybe even earlier.

Making a small root filesystem for a boot kernel is an art.  People spend
years cramming more and more stuff into their root/boot disk.  It's not
very simple to start from scratch.  If you told me more about what you had
in mind, I could give you better advice.

-- 
Steve Borho