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#1 2010-09-01 05:58:49

Inxsible
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From: Chicago
Registered: 2008-06-09
Posts: 9,183

[SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.

I have a 10 year old laptop. I wanted to format the root to ext4 and also merge the root and the boot partition.

However, the CD drive is shot and doesn't work. It also does not allow for USB booting. Can I do this via floppies? That's the only option I have now.

If so, how?


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#2 2010-09-01 06:08:57

tomk
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Registered: 2004-07-21
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Re: [SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.

Not the only option - you can take the drive out and mount it in a desktop.

As for your actual question, I haven't used a floppy in years, but last time I had to, there were various tiny distros that fit on a floppy or two.

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#3 2010-09-01 06:11:07

Inxsible
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From: Chicago
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Posts: 9,183

Re: [SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.

Both valid options. Let me look into both and see which one turns out to be easier. smile

The first one would require cables etc, which I don't have. But I would still need to install Arch, so I guess I am back to option 1


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#4 2010-09-01 06:22:46

toad
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Re: [SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.

Could Atomic Linux be of help?

Not sure about ext4 on a floppy Linux though...


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#5 2010-09-01 06:39:40

jasonwryan
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From: .nz
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Re: [SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.


Arch + dwm   •   Mercurial repos  •   Surfraw

Registered Linux User #482438

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#6 2010-09-01 06:57:00

Inxsible
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From: Chicago
Registered: 2008-06-09
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Re: [SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.

Thanks Jason. Exactly what I was looking for. The link you gave uses our own wiki as Reference.

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Har … stallation

Both these links should help me do what I need to. Will mark as solved after I have completed the process.


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#7 2010-09-01 21:50:56

Inxsible
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From: Chicago
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Re: [SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.

The link talks about putting the img file on the usb key. Since Arch no longer provides the img files, can I simply use the iso file?

or do I use the img file that gets generated when you do a

dd if=archlinux-2010.05-core-i686.iso of=/dev/sdb

the archiso.img file then gets generated under /boot on the  usb key.


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#8 2010-09-01 21:54:56

falconindy
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From: New York, USA
Registered: 2009-10-22
Posts: 4,111
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Re: [SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.

The .img is no longer provided because the .iso is writeable as a disk image as well as a CD image. dd away.

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#9 2010-09-01 22:00:47

Inxsible
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From: Chicago
Registered: 2008-06-09
Posts: 9,183

Re: [SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.

falconindy wrote:

The .img is no longer provided because the .iso is writeable as a disk image as well as a CD image. dd away.

I think you misunderstood my question. I know Arch no longer provides imgs.

But I am trying to install Arch in an old machine which does not boot via usb, and the cd drive is shot. So I am creating a bootable floppy. The link that Jason gave mentions fdisk-ing the img file.

So now, that Arch doesn't provide imgs, should I just point it to the iso, or should I point it to the archiso.img that gets generated when you "dd away" ????

i.e

fdisk archlinux-2010.05-core-i686.iso

OR

fdisk archiso.img

assuming that I copy over only the archiso.img file from under /boot on the usbkey?


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#10 2010-09-01 22:39:24

falconindy
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From: New York, USA
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Posts: 4,111
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Re: [SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.

I'll take option C, Bob. I fail at reading. I'm inclined to believe you can just dd the first 512 bytes of the .iso onto the floppy. You can examine this sector via dd piped to hexdump, and it looks an awful lot like a bootloader.

However, you're going to have to deviate a bit from the article since the 2010 images are using syslinux and not grub any longer. syslinux comes with chain.c32 which provides a similar chainloading functionality.

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#11 2010-09-01 22:55:10

Gusar
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Registered: 2009-08-25
Posts: 3,605

Re: [SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.

I have a simpler solution. Put Plop Bootmanager onto the floppy, there's a floppy image ready made in the download. Plop will then allow you to boot an USB.

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#12 2010-09-01 23:22:53

Inxsible
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From: Chicago
Registered: 2008-06-09
Posts: 9,183

Re: [SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.

Gusar wrote:

I have a simpler solution. Put Plop Bootmanager onto the floppy, there's a floppy image ready made in the download. Plop will then allow you to boot an USB.

Sweet. I'll give that a try as well


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#13 2010-09-02 04:36:46

Inxsible
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From: Chicago
Registered: 2008-06-09
Posts: 9,183

Re: [SOLVED]Using floppies to format disk.

The BG Rescue didn't work out as it would not correctly read from the iso file or the img file. Maybe I was missing something.

However, Gusar's suggestion worked perfectly. Put the Plop on floppy and select USB from the Plop menu, once it loads. This will then allow for USB booting. Extremely useful for old machines.

I'll probably write up a wiki article later this week detailing my travails. Should help others in a similar situation.


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