Hard Disk Upgrade Mini How-To
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# 10. Make a boot diskette (optional)

If you wish, you can make a boot diskette, in case you run into problems when trying to boot the new disk.

Insert an empty diskette, format it, create a file system on it and mount it:

    fdformat /dev/fd0H1440
    mkfs.ext2 /dev/fd0
    mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /mnt

Debian only. With Debian 2.x, use `/dev/fd0u1440` instead of `/dev/fd0H1440`. With Debian 1.x, use `/dev/fd0h1440`, with a lower case h.

Debian only. With Debian 2.x, use superformat instead of fdformat. You can ignore the error `mformat: command not found`. With Debian 1.x, if you don't have the command fdformat, you can omit it if the floppy is already formatted. In this case, you should check the diskette for bad blocks by adding `-c` after the mkfs.ext2 command.

Slackware only. Use `/dev/fd0u1440` instead of `/dev/fd0H1440`. With older versions, try `/dev/fd0h1440`, with a lower case h.

SuSE only. Use `/dev/fd0u1440` instead of `/dev/fd0H1440`.

Copy all files in `/boot` to the diskette:

    cp -dp /boot/* /mnt

Red Hat only. If the `/boot` directory contains both `vmlinux` and `vmlinuz` files (note the difference in the last letter), you only need to copy the `vmlinuz` files to the boot diskette. They are the same as the vmlinux files, except that they're compressed to save space.

Slackware only. Copy the file `/vmlinuz` to the boot diskette; use the command cp /vmlinuz /mnt.

Create a new file `/mnt/lilo.conf` as follows:

    boot=/dev/fd0                 # Install LILO on floppy disk.
    map=/mnt/map                  # Location of "map file".
    install=/mnt/boot.b           # File to copy to floppy's
                                  # boot sector.
    prompt                        # Have LILO show "LILO boot:"
                                  # prompt.
    timeout=50                    # Boot default system after 5
                                  # seconds. (Value is in tenths of
                                  # seconds.)
    image=/mnt/vmlinuz            # Location of Linux kernel on
                                  # floppy. The actual name may
                                  # include a version number, for
                                  # example "vmlinuz-2.0.35".
        label=linux               # Label for Linux system.
        root=/dev/hda1            # Location of root partition on
                                  # new hard disk. Modify this as
                                  # appropriate for your system.
                                  # Note that you must use the name
                                  # of the future location, once the
                                  # old disk has been removed.
        read-only                 # Mount partition read-only at
                                  # first, to run fsck.

Install LILO on the boot diskette:

    /sbin/lilo -C /mnt/lilo.conf

The `-C` option tells LILO what configuration file to use.

Unmount the diskette:

    umount /mnt

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Prepare LILO to boot the new disk |  | Remove the old disk