[1363] in linux-scsi channel archive
Re: Booting Removeable SCSI HD
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Victor Torrico)
Thu Jan 30 09:29:02 1997
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 1997 09:22:56 -0500
From: Victor Torrico <vtorrico@cfw.com>
To: Victor Torrico <vtorrico@cfw.com>
Cc: Linux SCSI List <linux-scsi@vger.rutgers.edu>
Victor Torrico wrote:
>
> Where can I get information on installing a minimal linux system on a
> removable SCSI hard drive and making the appropriate boot disk for this?
>
> Victor Torrico
Got lucky & figured it out. Please see the following:
Subject:
Re: Rescue Disk Boot Parameters For SCSI Removable HD
Date:
Thu, 30 Jan 1997 09:10:09 -0500
From:
Victor Torrico <vtorrico@cfw.com>
Organization:
Wildflower Hill, Head Waters, Virginia
To:
Victor Torrico <vtorrico@cfw.com>
CC:
Debian User Community <debian-user@lists.debian.org>
References:
1
Victor Torrico wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> Have a Syquest EZ 135 (MByte) removable HD and an aha152x SCSI Adapter.
> The main HD is a 1.6 GByte EIDE. Debian is on the EIDE HD. The Syquest
> mounts and operates fine when 'append="aha152x,0x340,11,7,1"' is the
> first line in the /etc/lilo.conf file.
>
> Would like to install a minimal version of debian on the Syquest using
> the six regular 1440 floppy disks of January 18, 1997.
>
After much futzing around and head scratching I was able to install
debian on the Syquest removable and boot it from a boot floppy whenever
needed.
> I type in 'linux append="aha152x,0x340,11,7,1"' at the "boot:" prompt of
> the rescue disk but am unable to mount or see /dev/sda1 which is the
> Syquest HD. Therefore I cannot initialize or put an ext2 fs on it as
> part of the install program. I'm sure it's probably cockpit trouble and
> I'm overlooking something.
>
The boot prompt to be typed in should be "linux aha152x=0x340,11,7,1"
without the quotes. This allows the kernel to see the SCSI HD as
/dev/sda1 provided SCSI and SCSI adapter support is part of the
kernel(or module support?). I had previously initialized the SCSI HD and
put an ext2 filesystem on it using cfdisk and mke2fs while booted from
the EIDE HD. "append" is not a boot prompt option but it is used in a
lilo.conf statement and works fine there. This was for sure a full blown
case of cockpit trouble or should have RTFM. The debian install went on
in the normal fashion from this point on. After one makes the boot disk
it is necessary to type in the above line at the prompt in order to boot
from the SCSI removable HD. If you don't type this in you would simply
wind up booting on your main drive instead of the removable.
For those interested in specifics see "The Linux BootPrompt HOWTO" v1.12
of 6 December 1996 by Paul Gortmaker in /usr/doc/HOWTO directory.
> What must I do to install Debian on the Syquest HD?
>
See preceeding paragraph.
> Does the rescue disk support SCSI and the aha152x Adapter?
>
Yes indeed.
> Could I use the appropriate Slackware or RedHat boot/root disks to get
> going and then use dselect if the SCSI & adapter support is not in the
> debian rescue disk? I would definitely prefer not to go this route if
> possible.
>
Thank heaven I didn't need to resort to this.
BTW this minimal installation used 15 MBytes out of 127 MBytes total
leaving 112 MBytes of storage available. One could now copy all the
debian critical directories and files from their main hard drive to the
removable. This is a great backup to have since, in case of problems,
you only have to copy these files back to the main drive instead of
having to do a complete reinstallation. There may be something I'm
overlooking here since I haven't done this yet.
Victor
