🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <3s7d5l$qrp@news.cais.com>,
Joseph S. D. Yao <jsdy@cais3.cais.com> wrote:
> As for the former, the use
> of LILO from a floppy has been suggested / mandated for security and
> paranoia reasons - so we don't overwrite the "real" MBR, and so that
> the machine can't be booted in Linux mode without the floppy disk.
> (You decide which is security and which is paranoia.)

LILO will work either as the MBR or from a floppy.  To boot from a floppy,
you ought to be able to use a lilo.conf like this:

    boot = /dev/fd0

    compact

    # Wait one second at boot; if a key is pressed, LILO will prompt
    # for kernel parameters.
    delay = 10

    # Use the current root device as this kernel's root device.
    root = current

    # Mount the root filesystem read-only, if /etc/rc is smart enough to
    # remount it r/w.
    read-only

    # The production kernel.
    image = /vmlinuz
      label = linux

Does that not work for you?  (I haven't tried it.)

Alternatively, you can install LILO as your MBR (again, untested):

    boot = /dev/hda

    compact

    # Display a prompt at boot; wait up to ten seconds, then default to
    # the first OS.
    prompt
    timeout = 100
    # You can also display a file of up to 64K at the prompt:
    #message = /boot/boot.message

    # Use the current root device as this kernel's root device.
    root = current

    # Mount the root filesystem read-only, if /etc/rc is smart enough to
    # remount it r/w.
    read-only

    # Your MS-DOA partition.
    other = /dev/hda2
      label = dos

    # The production kernel.
    image = /vmlinuz
      label = linux

Remember, you can always restore the DOS MBR with `fdisk /mbr' (DOS fdisk,
not Linux fdisk).
-- 
Shields.