Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1998 12:55:37 +1100 From: Peter Jeremy <peter.jeremy@auss2.alcatel.com.au> To: current@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: New drivers and install floppy space Message-ID: <98Dec7.125506est.40339@border.alcanet.com.au>
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Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au> wrote: > The way that bootable CDROMs work is that the BIOS pretends that a >1.44MB region at the beginning of the CDROM is actually a 1.44MB floppy >disk. I tend to support Mike's views on this stupidity. >The only ways out of this are: > > - mandate a floppy in addition to the CDROM (sucks) > - add CDROM drivers to the bootloader (ATAPI, SCSI for Adaptec and NCR > at least) Some additional ideas: - put a `mini-kernel' into the CD-ROM boot area. This kernel would really be just a protected-mode bootloader - it has all the CD-ROM drivers and minimal support code to be able to read the real kernel out of the ISO-9660 filesystem. (The reason for making it PM is to let it re-use the existing kernel code, rather than needing a 2nd set of CD-ROM drivers). - A 3.0-RELEASE kernel.GENERIC is nearly 1.9MB - far too large for a floppy, even stripped it's 1.6MB (and will only get larger as time goes by). If it's stripped and gzip'd, it's only 850KB (but a copy of gunzip will boost this somewhat). Why not just put a compressed kernel into the boot area? It doesn't need to include the /stand/* functions because they can be read out of the CD-ROM. Similarly, a normal kernel.GENERIC can be installed from the CD-ROM. Peter -- Peter Jeremy (VK2PJ) peter.jeremy@alcatel.com.au Alcatel Australia Limited 41 Mandible St Phone: +61 2 9690 5019 ALEXANDRIA NSW 2015 Fax: +61 2 9690 5247 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message
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