mail rgrimes@agora.rain.com
more info to add to FDC stuff


        It was posted. It all looks correct. We need to keep a copy
        for us and our testers, just in case.


        BTW, I did not know how to do this.

        Remember, I am an MS-DOS guy.


==============================cut here=======================================
mail dsilvia@blunt.net.com
Re: Subject: FAQ: floppies that boot

*******************************   FAQ   ****************************************

Q:  How do I get a bootable floppy?

A:  Several ways, ranging from brain-dead-but-works to simplest.
    Classification into categories is left to the reader (is there
    really a difference between 'brain-dead' and 'simple'?:')

1) rawrite (or dd) dist.fs (or fixit.fs) to a disk,
   mount it, cd to the mount point, and execute:

rm -rf .

   you now have a bootable floppy!;^}

2) Take your existing dist.fs or fixit.fs boot disk and
   diskcopy it on a DOS machine.  Mount and rm as in 1)
   above.  Again, you have a bootable floppy!;^}

3) Run disklabel on the floppy, e.g.:

disklabel -w -r fd0a floppy5

   where 'floppy5' is a 'name' for an entry in the disktab
   file in /etc.  You'll get a couple of ioctl errors because
   writing a label to a floppy isn't supported (yet?), but
   the boot blocks have indeed been written.

4) Write the boot blocks to the floppy:

cat /usr/mdec/fdboot /usr/mdec/bootfd | dd of=/dev/rfd0a

   or, more simply:

cat /usr/mdec/fdboot /usr/mdec/bootfd > /dev/rfd0a

   Methods 3) and 4) require you to run newfs on the floppy, e.g.:

newfs /dev/rfd0a floppy5

   If you have a floppy that was originally bootable, but the boot
   blocks were somehow damaged, you can use method 3) or 4) to
   restore bootability (do _NOT_ run newfs).  You _could_, through
   the convolutions of copying a floppy whose boot blocks are damaged
   to a temporary location and then recopying to a bootable floppy,
   use method 1) or 2) (if you really want to!;^})

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___________________________________________________________________________
Jesus Monroy Jr                                          jmonroy@netcom.com
/386BSD/device-drivers /fd /qic /clock /documentation
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