Re: Is there a loadlin that runs under linux?

JIS: 1(
Is there a loadlin that runs under linux?

: I have several versions of Linux on my harddrive.
: Some are in partitions that lie beyond the 8G / 1024
cylinder limit.
)1

Bill Marcum: 2(
The 8G limit shouldn't be a problem with current
versions of Lilo or Grub, and anyway you could put
all your kernels in a /boot partition below 8G.

You could also install FreeDOS to run loadlin.
)2

REPLY: 3(
Thanks for the advice, Bill. I didn't know there
WAS such a thing as "FreeDOS" -- I'll have to
look into it.

My initial message was really a proposal for a
loadlin enhancement, something to add to the Linux
"to do" list. Don't you think it would be nice to
have the flexibility to be able to boot directly
from one Linux into another?!

I did try the newer Lilo a year or so ago. I used
it to create a boot floppy for my Corel hda7 partition.
But the floppy didn't work for some reason.

It was a complicated process, because I was unable to
use mkboot. The new LILO (LILO version 21.5-1 beta)
needs an -L option --

+(
Generate 32-bit Logical Block Addresses instead of
C:H:S addresses, allowing access to all partitions
on disks greater than 8.4Gb.
)+

and mkboot was invoking LILO with no options. So
I had to create a LILO config file especially for
the floppy, then run LILO manually. I think I
used the following commands, taken from the LILO
usr/share/doc file, under the heading

+(
Floppy disk installation

/sbin/mke2fs /dev/fd0
[ -d /-fd] || mkdir /fd
mount /dev/fd0 /fd
cp /boot/boot.b /fd
cp /zImage /fd
echo image=/fd/zImage label=Linux |
/sbin/lilo -C - -b /dev/fd0 -i /fd/boot.b -c -m /fd/map
umount /fd
)+

I see there's no -L in this example, but I
didn't follow the example exactly -- I replaced the
echo line with a reference to a LILO config file I
set up for the floppy. I STILL don't understand
what the brackets do in the second line.

I need to try it again, now that I'm a little more
confident.

Thanks again for your reply.
)3

---

Bill Marcum <bmarcum@iglou.com> wrote in message news:<1cfps-56o.ln1@don.localnet>...


> On 24 Jun 2003 17:41:30 -0700, JoyInStruggle

> <JoyInStruggle@yahoo.com> wrote:

I wrote:
> http://www.scyld.com/products/beowul...are/monte.html

>I think I recall hearing that 2.5 has something functionally similar.

I hate giving vague references like that so I did some searching today.
The Linux 2.5 feature to which I referred is called "Kexec".
http://lwn.net/Articles/15468/
http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache...ng_en&ie=UTF-8

Although it's apparently geared toward allowing developers to reboot
quickly, it would also provide the "Linux loadlin" functionality
requested. I would use this as part of my network boot system (which
used Two Kernel Monte long ago).

It would also be handy for another need which I share. Ever want to
upgrade the kernel on a machine for which you don't have console
access? It can be a scary thing. With a typical setup, you need to
switch the default kernel to the new one. Then, if it doesn't work,
you'd need someone to get console access and select the old kernel.

(Yes, there are ways to get consoles remotely. You could also do
something tricky like use GRUB to grab a startup menu from another
machine over the network.)

With Kexec, it appears that you could simply load the new kernel and
if it fails, simply reset/power-cycle the machine to restore it.

Gotta try it soon. I'm compiling 2.5.73. Too bad there doesn't
appear to be a Debian package for kexec-tools yet.
http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/lin...12.0/0121.html

--kyler