[lug] mkbootdisk -- no space left on device

[Matt Thompson]

On Thu, 2004-04-08 at 08:04, David Stepaniak wrote:
> I am attempting to create a boot diskette for RH Enterprise Linux WS v.3,
> kernel 2.4.21-9.0.1, with mkbootdisk which copies over
> /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.21-9.0.1.EL to the diskette, but then
> runs out of space during the transfer of initrd-2.4.21-9.0.1.EL.img.
> What is really essential to get my machine booted from a diskette?
> Is it possible to put vmlinuz-2.4.21-9.0.1.EL by itself on one diskette
> (i.e. the "boot" diskette) then other ancillary files on a second diskette,
> using cp or dd, etc? (By the way, after using fdformat to format
> the diskettes, what filesystem type - e.g. ext2, msdos -- should be
> applied to the diskettes with mkfs?)

I'll let others more knowledgeable than I answer if you can split the
boot disk, but I will tell you what I've been doing.  Since I use an SMP
kernel on one of my boxes, I hit the diskette barrier a long time ago. 
I think it's 4 or 5 MB by now.

Instead I now use mini CD-RW's.  Same size as a floppy so all my
holders, &c. still work.  Of course, I am wasting about 200 MB of space,
but seeing as how I used to use a full CD-RW, it's better.  (Plus you
can put Morphix on one of the spare minis.)

Oh, and FYI, I always used ext2 for my boot floppies.
-- 
Matt Thompson -- http://ucsub.colorado.edu/~thompsma/
440 UCB, Boulder, CO  80309-0440
JILA A510, 303-492-4662