Chris; He's working with system's from the late 80's or early 90's so no access to USB or CD-ROM. The only bet is is to use what was around when the systems were current aka some form of DOS and maybe Word Perfect at best.
Personally I would not waist time nor the electricity on such ancient systems ( maybe for a museum display ). You can e-bay/cregs-list systems that will run semi-current OSes for around $100 or less. Sometimes the best solution is to find a different path. On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 10:16 PM, Chris Knadle <[email protected]>wrote: > On 2011-05-16 17:38, WestHurley ComputerReCycling wrote: > >> Normally use DBAN on a Bootable Floppy and it uses some version of >> Linux. >> >> Any recommendations for software to make a standard 1.44MB Linux >> Bootable Floppy? >> > > > > Would like to have the smallest size to allow more room for apps and > > data. > > It is possible, but it isn't easy; generally this is done by stripping the > kernel down and compiling it for the specific hardware in mind, otherwise it > won't fit on the floppy along with a minimalistic environment. > > It's also to put a specialized kernel on one floppy, and prompt the user to > switch floppies for the root image (e.g. the environment). If I remember > correctly, compiling via "make floppy" was the method that prompted for the > separate root disk. I'm sure I'm forgetting details, though, because it's > been forever and a day since I've done this. This is how Slackware would > install way-back-when, and there were several of these "boot" images > dedicated to SCSI, IDE, Network, etc, because even if the kernel itself was > all that was on the floppy, it still wouldn't fit all of the hardware > drivers for booting. > > It isn't possible to make a generic kernel fit on a floppy -- it's just too > big. If you want to make a generic image, make a custom boot CD or USB > stick image instead. > > > -- > -- Chris > > -- > Chris Knadle > [email protected] > > _______________________________________________ > Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org > http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug > > Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium > Jun 1 - Zimbra > Jul 6 - Jul 2011 > Aug 3 - Scala - 100th MHVLUG meeting >
_______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Jun 1 - Zimbra Jul 6 - Jul 2011 Aug 3 - Scala - 100th MHVLUG meeting
