If you forgot to make a boot disk during the Fedora Core 1 Installation process or mayble you lose it, this how to is just for you.
How to create a boot disk in Linux
The command you'll use to make the boot disk is '
mkbootdisk'. The mkbootdisk can only be executed from a command prompt, that's why you'll have to open a terminal.
1. The first step is to find your running kernel version on the machine. This number has to be exact 'cause it's required by mkbootdisk command. To find the number type:
uname -r
Like this:
Code:
[root@pc-gonzalo root]# uname -r
2.4.22-1.2174.nptl
(Thank you ghenry for this)
2. Log on as root with 'su -' command if you are not already logged on, you'll also need to enter the root password.
Code:
[gonzalo@pc-gonzalo gonzalo]$ su -
Password:
[root@pc-gonzalo root]#
3. Make sure that /dev/fd0 is unmounted. To check this type:
mount and check if your floppy drive is mounted or not.
If it is mounted, unmount it with the
'umount' command like this:
Code:
[root@pc-gonzalo root]# umount /dev/fd0
4. Create the boot disk
Label a floppy disk Linux Boot Disk and place it in the drive. Attention, mkbootdisk will erase and replace all information on the disk.
At the root command prompt enter the mkbootdisk command using the kernel number you obtained before. Like this:
Code:
[root@pc-gonzalo root]# /sbin/mkbootdisk 2.4.22-1.2174.nptl
IMPORTANT
You'll have to use the full pathname for the command. Without the full pathname, you'll received a 'Command Not Found' message. With "
su", instead of "
su -" you did not load roots paths, i.e. "su -" loads roots bash_profile, which tells bash that you can run commands from /sbin/. (
Thank you ghenry for this 
)
After pressing [Enter], the following message is displayed:
Insert a disk in /dev/fd0. Any information on the disk will be lost.
Press<ENTER> to continue or ^C to abort:
At this point, press [Enter] to confirm. After mkbootdisk copies the kernel and all other necessary programs to the disk, the command prompt will return.
mkbootdisk copies the following files to the floppy disk:
boot.msg
initrd.img
ldlinux.sys
syslinux.cfg
vmlinuz
boot.msg script:
Press <return> (or wait 10 seconds) to boot your Red Hat Linux system from
/dev/hda5. You may override the default linux kernel parameters by typing
"linux <params>", followed by <return> if you like.
Of course, I edited this script to:
Press <return> (or wait 10 seconds) to boot your Fedora Core Linux system from
/dev/hda5. You may override the default linux kernel parameters by typing
"linux <params>", followed by <return> if you like. Have a Fedora day !!! 
syslinux.cfg script:
default linux
prompt 1
display boot.msg
timeout 100
label linux
kernel vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.img ro hdc=ide-scsi apm=off acpi=on root=/dev/hda5
NOTE
/dev/hda5 is where I have the Fedora's boot partition
Don’t forget to test your boot disk !!!
More info at
TechRepublic
This method does not work for Fedora Core 2 and 3.
You'll receive an error message like this one:
Code:
[root@linux root]# /sbin/mkbootdisk 2.6.5-1.358
Insert a disk in /dev/fd0. Any information on the disk will be lost.
Press <Enter> to continue or ^C to abort:
cp: writing `/tmp/mkbootdisk.Vm3185/initrd.img': No space left on device
cat: write error: No space left on device
cat: write error: No space left on device
20+0 records in
20+0 records out
For Fedora Core 3
Installing GRUB on a floppy disk
Code:
# /sbin/grub-install /dev/fd0
Quote:
# /sbin/grub-install /dev/fd0
Installation finished. No error reported.
This is the contents of the device map /boot/grub/device.map.
Check if this is correct or not. If any of the lines is incorrect,
fix it and re-run the script `grub-install'.
# this device map was generated by anaconda
(fd0) /dev/fd0
(hd0) /dev/hda
|
Everytime you install a new kernel you'll need to update your floppy disk running "/sbin/grub-install /dev/fd0" again.
it only works for FC1!!
Linear Mode
