Re: What exactly does it take to boot Linux?

From: Alan Connor (zzzzzz_at_xxx.yyy)
Date: 03/25/04 

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 09:01:31 GMT

On 24 Mar 2004 23:05:48 -0800, David <blixel@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> I was just sitting here (bored) and I started to wonder what exactly
> does it take to make Linux boot? In my earliest MS-DOS days, I
> remember all I had to do was fdisk, format, and "sys c:". Granted the
> system couldn't do anything useful, but it would in fact boot. And
> from that point I could install programs or whatever.
>
> So what would it take to get Linux to boot off the hard-drive if I
> were to boot from a floppy, or from a Knoppix CD? fdisk, mkfs,
> copying over a kernel image, /sbin/init, a command shell, a getty,
> lilo'ing the MBR, and...?

Take a look at tomsrtbt. And entire network capable Linux on a floppy. Recompile the kernel
leaving out anything that isn't necessary for bare-bones functioning, and strip off most of
the device files and libraries and all the utilities and apps and you are there...

Maybe 500K or less.

http://www.netspace.net.au/~gok/power2bash/

AC

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Windows multiboot (aaargh!)
    ... I've done that with my DOS floppy. ... > seems that creating a Linux boot disk is a rather more complex procedure. ... >> FDISK showing partitions swapped, ...
    (Debian-User)
  • Re: Windows multiboot (aaargh!)
    ... >> The Linux boot floppy is a bit more tricky. ... So I tried adding cfdisk to a spare Debian Woody boot ... > I reduced all the partition sizes by a third. ...
    (Debian-User)
  • Re: How can I lock down a Red Hat system?
    ... >>> does know Linux I don't want the to be able to run command and get ... is that gdm will do some setup and then start the X server ... booting the computer from a floppy. ... Boot from floppy to install ...
    (comp.os.linux.security)
  • Re: RH 9.0 doesnt install: blank screen! (RH 8.0 & 7.2 do though)
    ... Tried 'linux text noprobe skipddc noapic apm=off noht'. ... I wanted to try on and so I chose 7 boot options: ... linux text noprobe skipddc lowres apm=off noapic nousb ...
    (linux.redhat.install)
  • Re: Suse 10.0 must do better...
    ... >> 29.6. Creating Boot CDs ... >> disk, it is also possible to create a bootable CD with all the necessary ... >> Insert a floppy disk into your computer's floppy drive. ... > with XP that I cannot do with Linux? ...
    (alt.os.linux.suse)