Putting Linux on ZIP disk using ppa ZIP Drive Mini-Howto
v0.2, December 5, 1996
by John Wiggins <jwiggins@comp.uark.edu>
Slackware 2.2 section courtesy of
Michael Littlejohn <mike@mesa7.mesa.colorado.edu>
[------- Index -------]
0. Disclaimer
1. Introduction
1.1. Conventions
1.2. Updates
1.3. Related documents
2. Setting up the ZIP disk (Common for both distributions.)
2.1. Partitioning ZIP disk
2.2. Formating and mounting ZIP disk
2.3. Creating the boot disk
2.3.1. Configuring and making the kernel
2.3.2. Getting the kernel to a floppy
2.3.3. Setting the root and swap devices on the boot floppy
3. RedHat 4.0.1 installation
3.1. Personal setup
3.2. Package installation
3.2.1. What packages to get
3.2.2. How to install the packages with rpm
3.3. Problems after installation of packages
3.3.1. /etc/ld.so.cache
3.3.2. pamconfig
3.3.3. Setting things back
4. Slackware 2.2 installation
4.1. Requirements
4.2. Installation
4.3. What to install
5. Modifying /etc/fstab (Common for both distributions.)
-----------------------------------
0. Disclaimer
This document is only useful for those with the printer port
version of a ZIP drive who wish to have either a portable or
backup Linux system on a ZIP disk.
This document assumes the following:
* You already have Linux installed and running; this document is
not for a first time install of Linux.
* You have ppa support in your current kernel or if module, the ppa
module has been loaded.
* The mount point for the ZIP disk is the /iomega directory.
1. Introduction
This document is divided into three sections each describing how to
install a Linux system on a 100MB ZIP disk using a ppa ZIP drive.
The first section describes how to set up the ZIP disk and is common
to both distribution installations. The second and third sections
describe how to install RedHat 4.0.1 and Slackware 2.2 distributions,
respectively, onto the ZIP disk.
1.1. Conventions
==> Indicates the following text are commands.
1.2. Updates
For any updates, please check:
http://comp.uark.edu/~jwiggins/linuxZIP/
1.3. Related documents
* Installation-HOWTO
* SCSI-HOWTO
* ZIP-Drive (mini-HOWTO)
2. Setting up the ZIP disk (Common for both distributions.)
2.1. Partitioning ZIP disk
First, I ran fdisk:
==> fdisk /dev/sda
Here is a snap of the partition table I have setup:
Disk /dev/sda: 64 heads, 32 sectors, 96 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 bytes
Device Boot Begin Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 1 81 82928 83 Linux native
/dev/sda2 82 82 96 15360 82 Linux swap
I decided to use a swap partition since I wanted to be able to use
this with any machine.
2.2. Formating and mounting the ZIP disk
After running fdisk, format the new partition:
==> mke2fs -c /dev/sda1
Then, create the swap partition:
==> mkswap -c 15360 /dev/sda2
Last, you'll need to mount the ZIP disk:
==> mount /dev/sda1 /iomega -t ext2
2.3. Creating the boot disk
Since the ppa version of the ZIP drive isn't a true SCSI device, it
isn't a bootable device and, therefore, requires a boot disk.
2.3.1. Configuring and making the kernel
First, you'll need to configure and make a kernel that has ppa
support enabled and not as a loadable module. In order to get
to the ppa option, select SCSI support:
SCSI support (CONFIG_SCSI) [Y/m/n/?]
Plus, SCSI disk support:
SCSI disk support (CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SD) [Y/m/n/?]
And finally, under the SCSI low-level drivers, is the ppa support:
IOMEGA Parallel Port ZIP drive SCSI support (CONFIG_SCSI_PPA) [Y/m/n/?]
Again, be sure not to include ppa as a module, but rather in the kernel.
Thus far, the ppa driver will not allow the passive port of the ZIP
drive to be used for a printer, so you may want to say no to
parallel printer support:
Parallel printer support (CONFIG_PRINTER) [N/y/m/?]
NOTE: For more information concerning the ppa driver, please refer
to the ZIP-Drive mini-HOWTO.
Once the kernel is configured, make the kernel:
==> make dep;make clean;make zImage
The new kernel should be found in arch/i386/boot/zImage.
2.3.2. Getting the kernel to a floppy
Copy the newly made kernel to a floppy disk:
==> cp arch/i386/boot/zImage /dev/fd0
or
==> cat arch/i386/boot/zImage > /dev/fd0
Yes, there are many ways to copy the kernel to a floppy, but the
last way, my favorite, is a little more encryptic. Try not to
forget the > unless you like viewing binary files :)
2.3.3. Setting the root and swap devices on the boot floppy
Once the kernel is on the floppy, you need to set the root device to
the ZIP disk:
==> rdev /dev/fd0 /dev/sda1
I'm not sure if the next option is needed, but I did it none the less.
To set the swap:
==> rdev -s /dev/fd0 /dev/sda2
3. RedHat 4.0.1 installation
3.1. Personal setup
For my installation, I have and used:
* kernel 2.0.25
* Iomega ppa disk drive
* RedHat 4.0.1
3.2. Package installation
3.2.1. What packages to get
I found what packages to install by browsing a file I had found on
one of RedHat's mirrors. This file can be found on any mirror at
redhat/redhat-4.0/i386/RedHat/base/comps
Here's a listing of what packages I installed:
pamconfig-0.50-5 setup-1.5-1
MAKEDEV-2.2-5 filesystem-1.2-1
etcskel-1.1-1 adduser-1.2-1
cpio-2.4.2-3 dev-2.3-1
rootfiles-1.3-1 redhat-release-4.0-1
libc-5.3.12-8 ld.so-1.7.14-4
zlib-1.0.4-1 gdbm-1.7.3-8
ncurses-1.9.9e-2 modules-2.0.0-4
kbd-0.91-8 db-1.85-10
termcap-9.12.6-5 slang-0.99.33-1
statserial-1.1-7 mailcap-1.0-3
libtermcap-2.0.8-2 readline-2.0-10
libgr-2.0.9-4 libg++-2.7.1.4-4
libelf-0.5.2-4 tmpwatch-1.1-1
newt-0.6-1 cracklib-dicts-2.5-1
pam-0.50-17 crontabs-1.3-1
less-321-3 zip-2.1-1
tar-1.11.8-8 unzip-5.12-5
ed-0.2-5 gzip-1.2.4-5
grep-2.0-4 bash-1.14.7-1
mingetty-0.9.4-1 initscripts-2.73-1
rpm-2.2.5-1 zoneinfo-96i-3
util-linux-2.5-26 losetup-2.5l-1
info-3.7-5 e2fsprogs-1.04-8
diffutils-2.7-5 hdparm-3.1-1
sed-2.05-6 SysVinit-2.64-2
quota-1.51-3 which-1.0-5
vixie-cron-3.0.1-9 mount-2.5l-1
textutils-1.19-2 passwd-0.50-2
gawk-3.0.0-5 sysklogd-1.3-9
file-3.20-3 groff-1.10-6
vim-4.2-5 fileutils-3.13-2
bdflush-1.5-5 ncompress-4.2.4-6
at-2.9b-2 ash-0.2-5
fwhois-1.00-5 procps-1.01-7
psmisc-11-4 sh-utils-1.12-9
procinfo-0.9-1 stat-1.5-5
time-1.7-1 gdb-4.16-5
kbdconfig-1.3-1 findutils-4.1-9
timeconfig-1.4-1 shadow-utils-960530-6
perl-5.003-4
3.2.2. How to install the packages with rpm
With rpm, use the --root option to specify the mounted directory as
the root for installation. I had discovered that many packages
were failing to install because of preinstall or postinstall scripts
that weren't executing correctly due to the different root directory,
thus, use the --noscripts option:
==> rpm --root /iomega -i --noscripts PACKAGE.i386.rpm
3.3. Finished with package installation
Once the last package has been installed, there are two slight
problems that the pre/post installation scripts were to fix but
couldn't. Without LILO (never could get it to work on the floppy)
getting into single user mode is done via editing the
/iomega/etc/inittab. Change the following lines:
From--> id:3:initdefault:
To----> id:1:initdefault:
and then, reboot the new system.
3.3.1. /etc/ld.so.cache
If you tried booting, you'd get two error messages, the first will be
the absence of /etc/ld.so.cache file. Once booted as single user
mode, run ldconfig to create the cache file:
==> ldconfig
3.3.2. pamconfig
Yet another annoyance, for those who tried booting in multiuser mode,
is that no matter what login you try, you won't be able to logon as
any user. To fix this, run the following command while still in
single user mode:
==> rpm --qf '%{POSTIN}' $(rpm -q --whatrequires pamconfig) | sh -x
3.3.3. Setting things back
Now that those two things are taken care of, re-edit the file
/etc/inittab once more, so the system will boot in multiuser mode.
4. Slackware 2.2 installation
4.1. Requirements
* ZIP Disk and Drive (obviously)
* Kernel with ZIP support
* ZIP Howto (recommended)
* 1.44" HD formated floppy
* 1 to 2 hours of time
4.2. Installation
Okay, now comes the fun part: Figuring out what files need to be
on the system disk, and what packages that you want (and can fit)
on your ZIP drive.
I decided that the easiest way to get started was install Slackware
directly to the ZIP drive. I decided on this approach mostly because
Slackware is a smaller distribution then Red Hat, and it would be easier
to trim out what I didn't want. That and the fact that I am using the
Slackware distribution anyway made it an obvious choice.
Installing Slackware onto the ZIP disk is easy, as root run the setup
program, and choose /iomega as the install to partition, set the
install from partition to where the Slackware sources are (cdrom,
harddrive, etc), select install and follow the prompts.
4.3. What to install
The hardest part is deciding what to add, and what not to add.
Obviously, you'll need the 'A' series (Which is about 8 megs),
the rest is up to you.
I managed to trim down the Slackware release to a respectable
installation of 70 megs, which included gcc/g++, perl, X11R6
(NOT ALL OF IT!), sendmail, online docs (Minus all the development
man pages, but including all the howto's), and an assortment of
other goodies, while leaving about 10 megs free for user files. YMMV
5. Modifying /etc/fstab (Common for both distributions.)
The last thing that needs to be done before rebooting is to change the
fstab on the soon to be root partion. Edit the /iomega/etc/fstab file
to look have the following as a minimum:
/dev/sda1 / ext2 defaults 1 1
/dev/sda2 none swap sw
none /proc proc defaults 1 1
Save the file, and reboot with the freshly made boot floppy and enjoy!
(Special thanks to Mike for reminding me about this very important
and crucial step. - John)