Procedure to build a bootable floppy:
Additional comments for 2.1 (3-Sep-91):
I should make it clear that I didn't write this script originally.
The original source was NeXT's version of builddisk and a BLD script
that was intended to build a set of floppies capable of reloading
a hard disk. The version released with 2.0 machines had many
problems, mostly with incorrect references to files. As far as I
know it has not been released in a working form. The other major
problem was that it created too many devices which caused the floppy
to run out of inodes. I modified the script to build a single
floppy, fixing the file references and patching makedev to not blow
up the inodes. I also had to modify builddisk to work with floppy
disks.
The script has been tested and works under release 2.1. The fix
consisted in commenting out the copying of 3 files that were removed
by the 2.0 -> 2.1 update. As far as I can tell these files are
not needed for normal use (they're apparently part of NeXT's
procedure to reload the hard disk from floppies). There should be
no problem using this script under 2.0, but I haven't actually
tested that myself.
If you've previously built a bootable floppy with the original
version of this script and since upgraded to 2.1, you shouldn't
need to rebuild the floppy (the only difference will be to remove
those 3 files). I have booted a 2.1 slab with a floppy built from
the original version of this script with no problems.
I have received one comment that the script failed when building
a bootable floppy on an external floppy drive attached to a cube.
I am unable to test that configuration, but it should be a simple
fix to builddiskfd to make it work.
Original comments:
The files included here (builddiskfd, BLD.fd, fixmakedev) will
allow you to create a standalone, bootable floppy. This is a
barebones system, no fancy nextstep. The purpose is to allow you
to recover from certain situations where you have rendered your
hard disk unbootable.
This requires a 2.88MB floppy: the floppy will have almost 200KB
free after creating. The process will take almost 15 minutes to
build the disk. The files builddiskfd, BLD.fd and fixmakedev should
be in the same directory. Switch user to root (su) and type
"./builddiskfd -s fd fd0". Insert the correct 2.88MB floppy and
respond with a y. The floppy will be re-formatted. You will get
lots of output as the script works. Check for any error messages
(there will be a brief summary at the end of the build), there
should be no errors. There will be one warning about unallocated
sectors when reformatting the floppy, this can be ignored.
To reboot from the floppy disk:
hit command-command-`
type "halt"
insert the floppy
type "b fd" at the monitor (type h for help)
The system should proceed to boot. Note that the hard disk won't
be automatically mounted. You will be in single-user mode with
just a console window. From here you are on your own to try to
recover your disk. To exit, type "/etc/halt" to return to the NMI
monitor. From there, you can type "b sd" to reboot from the SCSI
disk.
Some useful tips: use "grep '' file" instead of cat. You will
have to use ed for editing (there is no vi or emacs on the floppy).
See the ed man page.
To clean up a damaged filesystem on the scsi disk type "/etc/fsck
/dev/rsd0a". See the fsck man page for details.
To attempt to mount the scsi disk type "/etc/mount /dev/sd0a
/tmp/hd". See the mount man page. If the mount succeeds, you can
refer to the hard disk as /tmp/hd. To unmount the scsi, type
"/etc/umount /tmp/hd".
If you are able to mount your scsi disk, I would suggest you copy
important files to floppy disks as soon as possible. To copy files
to a (formatted) floppy other than the boot floppy, use the following:
/etc/mount /dev/fd1a /tmp/fd
cp file(s) /tmp/fd
Be prepared to swap floppies quite a bit (the OS will prompt you
for the floppy it needs). If you need to write multiple floppies,
do a "/etc/umount /tmp/fd" after filling the first floppy. Then
repeat the mount process with a new floppy.
If you are going to be fooling around with booting from a floppy,
BACK UP YOUR HARD DISK FIRST! Recall that you will be in superuser
mode when you reboot: a mistyped command can destroy your hard
disk.
I'd welcome comments or suggestions on how to make this more useful.
Good luck,
--mike (carlton@cs.berkeley.edu)
2/26/1991
============================================
For the NS 3.0:
To prepare more space for increased "libsys_s.B.shlib" and "fdmach",
I have removed the following files:
/bin/awk
/bin/csh
/bin/df
/bin/grep
/bin/mkdirs
/bin/sed
/bin/tar
/usr/bin/touch
/usr/ucb/whoami
/usr/etc/fbshow
/usr/lib/bootimages/Helvetica.18
/usr/lib/bootimages/Helvetica-BoldOblique.18
These are the contents of the former NiCE NeXT User Group NeXTSTEP/OpenStep software archive, currently hosted by Netfuture.ch.