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Note: This guide is broken, sorry... Ubuntu chose to make IDE support a kernel module rather than builtin, so using the existing kernel will not work. I'm not presently aware of a workaround that doesn't involve recompiling the kernel. If you know of a way to use initrd to overcome this limitation (and stay under 1.44MB), please edit.

Creating an Ubuntu boot disk

Making a boot disk is a good precautionary tool. If you can't boot up, it becomes essential (bad kernel install, another OS wipes out grub, etc...) This is NOT a full recovery disk. For that, google for tomsrtbt.

Required items

You will need:

  • A blank or unused floppy disk

Finding the kernel

1) Open a terminal (Applications > System Tools > Terminal).

2) Type:

ls /lib/modules

3) This will list several kernel possibilities.

  • Make note of the one you want, for example: 2.6.8.1-3-386

4) Insert the floppy.

5) Type (edit after vmlinuz- to match the kernel you chose):

mkboot /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.8.1-3-386

6) Reboot and test the boot floppy.

Troubleshooting

Make sure the floppy is unmounted before attempting to make the boot disk (or between attempts if it fails). Running mkboot as root (or sudo) will attempt to make a lilo boot disk, however on my system this existed with a fatal error.

See also


CategoryRescueAndCloning

RescueDiskHowto (last edited 2017-09-16 20:12:36 by ckimes)