Summary: [leaf-user] Boot problems with Supersize (1680) floppy
Thank you all for your replies, you have all been most helpful. To make up some deficiencies in my post... I used the idiot image for 1680 from the downloads. Since my redhat box doesn't have a device for 1680, I used the Windows exe version, which works great! Thank you. The floppy I created works OK in several boxes, except for this Old Pentium, that I got for cheap. However, the 1440 version of the old lrp DOES work in the Old Pentium, so the floppy drive is good, but perhaps not good enough. I have a couple of spare 1.44 drives, so I will try that next. And report back the results when I do... BTW, these boxes do come with a 1 GB SCSI drive and an adaptec 2940 controller, so all is not lost. I will probably just hook up a cdrom and load a redhat on there, since I already have the wireless stuff working on Redhat. Thanks again! -- Timothy Burt Internet Specialist ___ Don't miss the 2002 Sprint PCS Application Developer's Conference August 25-28 in Las Vegas -- http://devcon.sprintpcs.com/adp/index.cfm leaf-user mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/leaf-user SR FAQ: http://leaf-project.org/pub/doc/docmanager/docid_1891.html
Re: Summary: [leaf-user] Boot problems with Supersize (1680) floppy
A few comments ... 1. We don't have idiots here (at least I don't think we do), so I infer from your use of the phrase "idiot image for 1680" that you are using Dave Cinege's old LRP 2.9.8, not one of the newer LEAF distributions that this list primarily supports. This increases the plausibility of the guess (that someone else made) that you have a syslinux problem. Try a newer image from one of the current LEAF versions and see if that helps. 2. I'm surprised that RH does not include /dev/fd0u1680, but you can easily make it yourself with the mknod command. The major and minor values you need (taken from my Debian workstation) are 2, 44. We shouldn't rule out the possibility that your Win2K box's handling of the 1680 format was marginal, causing it to work with some drives and not others. 3. The third realistic possibility is a marginal floppy drive, one that can't quite manage to read the additional tracks that the 1680 format uses. If the target hardware uses a standard floppy drive, you might see if swapping in a newer one improves the device's performance. At 12:53 PM 6/3/02 -0700, T Burt wrote: >Thank you all for your replies, you have all been most helpful. > >To make up some deficiencies in my post... > >I used the idiot image for 1680 from the downloads. Since my redhat >box doesn't have a device for 1680, I used the Windows exe version, which >works great! Thank you. > >The floppy I created works OK in several boxes, except for this Old >Pentium, that I got for cheap. However, the 1440 version of the old lrp >DOES work in the Old Pentium, so the floppy drive is good, but perhaps not >good enough. > >I have a couple of spare 1.44 drives, so I will try that next. And report >back the results when I do... > >BTW, these boxes do come with a 1 GB SCSI drive and an adaptec 2940 >controller, so all is not lost. I will probably just hook up a cdrom and >load a redhat on there, since I already have the wireless stuff working on >Redhat. -- ---"Never tell me the odds!"-- Ray Olszewski-- Han Solo Palo Alto, California, USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- ___ Don't miss the 2002 Sprint PCS Application Developer's Conference August 25-28 in Las Vegas -- http://devcon.sprintpcs.com/adp/index.cfm leaf-user mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/leaf-user SR FAQ: http://leaf-project.org/pub/doc/docmanager/docid_1891.html
Re: Summary: [leaf-user] Boot problems with Supersize (1680) floppy
> 3. The third realistic possibility is a marginal floppy drive, one that > can't quite manage to read the additional tracks that the 1680 format uses. > If the target hardware uses a standard floppy drive, you might see if > swapping in a newer one improves the device's performance. For the record, the 1680K format does not use extra tracks on the floppy, it simply reduces the "inter-sector-gap", or the blank space between data sectors on the floppy. Conventional 1.44 Meg floppies have so much blank space between the sectors, you can squeeze another 3 sectors of data per track onto the disk. IIRC, the reason the inter-sector-gap for "standard" 1.44 Meg disks is so big has something to do with limitations of some really early floppy controllers (maybe for the XT platform?), and the requirement to do some floppy I/O tasks in software (with what would today be considered REALLY SLOW processors). Mac's have used exactly the same linear bit density as PC's for ages, and gotten nearly 2 Meg on a disk, rather than the typical 1.44 Meg for PC's, due partly to a more reasonable inter-sector-gap, and partly to a "zoning" scheme similar to that used on Hard Drives, putting more sectors/track on the outer tracks. Anyway, there could still be hardware problems at fault. Typically, problems like this can be caused by alignment errors (ie the read/write head is not over the center of the track on the drive used to read the floppy, write the floppy, or both), or (much less common), a problem with the write or erase head gap width on the floppy drive used to write the disk image. Charles Steinkuehler http://lrp.steinkuehler.net http://c0wz.steinkuehler.net (lrp.c0wz.com mirror) ___ Don't miss the 2002 Sprint PCS Application Developer's Conference August 25-28 in Las Vegas -- http://devcon.sprintpcs.com/adp/index.cfm leaf-user mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/leaf-user SR FAQ: http://leaf-project.org/pub/doc/docmanager/docid_1891.html
Re: Summary: [leaf-user] Boot problems with Supersize (1680) floppy
At 03:31 PM 6/3/02 -0500, Charles Steinkuehler wrote: > > 3. The third realistic possibility is a marginal floppy drive, one that > > can't quite manage to read the additional tracks that the 1680 format >uses. > > If the target hardware uses a standard floppy drive, you might see if > > swapping in a newer one improves the device's performance. > >For the record, the 1680K format does not use extra tracks on the floppy, it >simply reduces the "inter-sector-gap", or the blank space between data >sectors on the floppy. Conventional 1.44 Meg floppies have so much blank >space between the sectors, you can squeeze another 3 sectors of data per >track onto the disk. Oops. Quite right. I was getting it mixed up with the 1722 KB format, which does use 82 tracks instead of the standard 80 (and which, as a consequence, has a lot more compatibility problems than does the 1680 format). -- ---"Never tell me the odds!"-- Ray Olszewski-- Han Solo Palo Alto, California, USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- ___ Don't miss the 2002 Sprint PCS Application Developer's Conference August 25-28 in Las Vegas -- http://devcon.sprintpcs.com/adp/index.cfm leaf-user mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/leaf-user SR FAQ: http://leaf-project.org/pub/doc/docmanager/docid_1891.html
Re: Summary: [leaf-user] Boot problems with Supersize (1680) floppy
On Mon, 3 Jun 2002, T Burt wrote: > > Thank you all for your replies, you have all been most helpful. > > To make up some deficiencies in my post... > > I used the idiot image for 1680 from the downloads. idiot image... is this a hint that you are referring to LRP2.9.8? or Eigerstein, Dachstein, Oxygen, or Bering? From what website? We would ordinarily assume leaf.sourceforge.net, but I think that site is pretty clear about the variety available that you are not ruling out. > Since my redhat > box doesn't have a device for 1680, I used the Windows exe version, which > works great! Thank you. Mmmm.. I doubt your RH kernel cannot handle 1680, though it is quite possible that your /dev directory doesn't have a device node to refer to that capability with. http://c0wz.steinkuehler.net/dox/LRP-Large_Floppy_write-HowTo.txt > The floppy I created works OK in several boxes, except for this Old > Pentium, that I got for cheap. However, the 1440 version of the old lrp > DOES work in the Old Pentium, so the floppy drive is good, but perhaps not good >enough. If you _are_ using the LRP2.9.8 1680 image, it was infamous for not having been syslinuxed with the "-s" switch. Don't blame the hardware yet Your best option is probably to use Dachstein or Bering. > I have a couple of spare 1.44 drives, so I will try that next. And report > back the results when I do... > > BTW, these boxes do come with a 1 GB SCSI drive and an adaptec 2940 > controller, so all is not lost. I will probably just hook up a cdrom and > load a redhat on there, since I already have the wireless stuff working on > Redhat. The temptation with RH is to leave all those services it installs by default running... which is risky for a firewall. --- Jeff NewmillerThe . . Go Live... DCN:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Basics: ##.#. ##.#. Live Go... Live: OO#.. Dead: OO#.. Playing Research Engineer (Solar/BatteriesO.O#. #.O#. with /Software/Embedded Controllers) .OO#. .OO#. rocks...2k --- ___ Don't miss the 2002 Sprint PCS Application Developer's Conference August 25-28 in Las Vegas -- http://devcon.sprintpcs.com/adp/index.cfm leaf-user mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/leaf-user SR FAQ: http://leaf-project.org/pub/doc/docmanager/docid_1891.html
Re: Summary: [leaf-user] Boot problems with Supersize (1680) floppy
On Mon, 3 Jun 2002, Ray Olszewski wrote: > A few comments ... > > 1. We don't have idiots here (at least I don't think we do), so I infer > from your use of the phrase "idiot image for 1680" that you are using Dave > Cinege's old LRP 2.9.8, not one of the newer LEAF distributions that this > list primarily supports. This increases the plausibility of the guess (that > someone else made) that you have a syslinux problem. Try a newer image from > one of the current LEAF versions and see if that helps. Sorry for the unintended inference. You are right, it is the original LRP distribution that bears the idiot moniker. I liked the name. It kinda stuck. I am sorry that my message got confused. What I meant was that it is the OLD lrp version THAT WORKS. It is the current LEAF version that fails. idiot-image_1440KB_FAT_2.9.8_Linux_2.2 <-- boots OK Bering_1.0-rc2_img_bering_1680.exe <-- Hangs on Loading.. > > 2. I'm surprised that RH does not include /dev/fd0u1680, but you can easily > make it yourself with the mknod command. The major and minor values you > need (taken from my Debian workstation) are 2, 44. We shouldn't rule out > the possibility that your Win2K box's handling of the 1680 format was > marginal, causing it to work with some drives and not others. Thank you for the major/minor. You saved me from having to hunt it down in the driver. > > 3. The third realistic possibility is a marginal floppy drive, one that > can't quite manage to read the additional tracks that the 1680 format uses. > If the target hardware uses a standard floppy drive, you might see if > swapping in a newer one improves the device's performance. > This is actually the easiest, since I have a newly purchased drive on hand. Thank you for the complete and accurate diagnosis! I am impressed with the quality of the responses I have gotten, from all of you. Thanks again. > > At 12:53 PM 6/3/02 -0700, T Burt wrote: > > >Thank you all for your replies, you have all been most helpful. > > > >To make up some deficiencies in my post... > > > >I used the idiot image for 1680 from the downloads. Since my redhat > >box doesn't have a device for 1680, I used the Windows exe version, which > >works great! Thank you. > > > >The floppy I created works OK in several boxes, except for this Old > >Pentium, that I got for cheap. However, the 1440 version of the old lrp > >DOES work in the Old Pentium, so the floppy drive is good, but perhaps not > >good enough. > > > >I have a couple of spare 1.44 drives, so I will try that next. And report > >back the results when I do... > > > >BTW, these boxes do come with a 1 GB SCSI drive and an adaptec 2940 > >controller, so all is not lost. I will probably just hook up a cdrom and > >load a redhat on there, since I already have the wireless stuff working on > >Redhat. > > > > -- > ---"Never tell me the > odds!"-- > Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo > Palo Alto, California, USA[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >--- > > > ___ > > Don't miss the 2002 Sprint PCS Application Developer's Conference > August 25-28 in Las Vegas -- http://devcon.sprintpcs.com/adp/index.cfm > > > leaf-user mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/leaf-user > SR FAQ: http://leaf-project.org/pub/doc/docmanager/docid_1891.html > -- Timothy Burt Internet Specialist ___ Don't miss the 2002 Sprint PCS Application Developer's Conference August 25-28 in Las Vegas -- http://devcon.sprintpcs.com/adp/index.cfm leaf-user mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/leaf-user SR FAQ: http://leaf-project.org/pub/doc/docmanager/docid_1891.html
Re: Summary: [leaf-user] Boot problems with Supersize (1680) floppy
On Mon, 3 Jun 2002, Jeff Newmiller wrote: > The temptation with RH is to leave all those services it installs by > default running... which is risky for a firewall. > RH was notorious for having everything enabled, but they surprised me and changed that in RH 7.2. The default now, is to disable almost everything and also install an ipchains filter that is too tight to allow even ssh. Definitely a move in the right direction. -- Timothy Burt Internet Specialist ___ Don't miss the 2002 Sprint PCS Application Developer's Conference August 25-28 in Las Vegas -- http://devcon.sprintpcs.com/adp/index.cfm leaf-user mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/leaf-user SR FAQ: http://leaf-project.org/pub/doc/docmanager/docid_1891.html
