Subject: Bootable Zip Disk
To: None <port-i386@netbsd.org>
From: Andrew Ball <aball@students.prairiestate.edu>
List: port-i386
Date: 12/04/2006 02:41:19
Hello,

I would like to make a bootable Zip disk that I can use to install
NetBSD-3.1 on some machines that have neither floppy or CD-ROM drives.
I've partitioned the disk and copied some binary sets onto it.  I have
unzipped netbsd-INSTALL.gz to /netbsd and copied a file called boot
there from the base.tgz set.

Remaining is the chore of making the disk bootable.  If I remember
correctly, I need bootstrap programs in the disk's master boot record
and in the NetBSD partition's boot sector.  The catch is that I don't
have a working NetBSD 3.x machine that I can use to put them there.  I
do have access to some NetBSD 1.6.x and 2.x machines though.

Any advice or helpful suggestions would be most welcome.
  - Andy Ball

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# dmesg|grep sd1
sd1 at scsibus1 target 1 lun 0: <IOMEGA, ZIP 100, 11.V> SCSI0 0/direct
removable
sd1: 98304 KB, 96 cyl, 64 head, 32 sec, 512 bytes/sect x 196608 sectors

# fdisk sd1
Disk: /dev/rsd1d
NetBSD disklabel disk geometry:
cylinders: 96 heads: 64 sectors/track: 32 (2048 sectors/cylinder)

BIOS disk geometry:
cylinders: 96 heads: 64 sectors/track: 32 (2048 sectors/cylinder)

Partition table:
0: sysid 169 (NetBSD)
    start 63, size 196545 (95 MB), flag 0x0
        beg: cylinder    0, head   1, sector 32
        end: cylinder   95, head  63, sector 32
1: <UNUSED>
2: <UNUSED>
3: <UNUSED>

# disklabel sd1
# /dev/rsd1d:
type: SCSI
disk: ZIP 100
label: fictitious
flags:
bytes/sector: 512
sectors/track: 32
tracks/cylinder: 64
sectors/cylinder: 2048
cylinders: 96
total sectors: 196608
rpm: 3600
interleave: 1
trackskew: 0
cylinderskew: 0
headswitch: 0           # microseconds
track-to-track seek: 0  # microseconds
drivedata: 0

8 partitions:
#        size    offset     fstype  [fsize bsize cpg/sgs]
 a:    196545        63     4.2BSD   1024  8192    46   # (Cyl.    0*- 95)
 c:    196545        63     4.2BSD      0     0     0   # (Cyl.    0*- 95)
 d:    196608         0     unused      0     0         # (Cyl.    0 - 95)

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