Chong Yu Meng wrote: > Hi all, > > I'm trying to create a bootable 750MB Zip disk which I can use to test > out different kickstart configurations. I downloaded the first CD ISO > image for FC5 and transferred it to the zip disk using 'dd', like so: > > dd if=FC5-xxx.iso of=/dev/hda > > I confirmed that the files were all on the disk and then I set the BIOS > to boot from the internal ATAPI Zip 750 drive, and restarted the > computer. > > On boot, I could hear the Zip drive being accessed and the LED came on, > however, it stopped after a while and continued booting from the HDD. > > I checked the Zip disk again, and the files that should be there are > there. > > Can someone help me out? Is there a special operation I have to do to > make the Zip disk bootable? > > Thanks in Advance! > Somehow, I do not think the ISO9660 file system of a CD is what the kernel expects on a ZIP disk. Every ZIP disk I have used has had a partition table, and usually partition entry number 4 has a file system defined on it. In order for the disk to boot, it needs a boot loader on ether the MBR or the active partition. A lot of BIOS will require that one partition be marked active, though they may not require this for a removable drive. As someone else pointed out, there is an image on the install CD/DVD that is designed for pen drives, but should work just fine on a ZIP disk. The main difference from the normal ZIP disk format is that partition 1 is used instead of partition 4. (I have no idea why Iomega used partition 4 instead of partition 1.) Just as a side note - the original Iomega Linux tools used partition 1 if the disk was ext2 formatted, and partition 4 if it was FAT formatted. I guess this was to keep the DOS/Windows tools from trying to read them. Mikkel -- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with Ketchup!
