srmboot(8)

NAME
srmbootfat, srmbootraw - SRM boot block composers

SYNOPSIS
srmbootfat filesystem_image boot_file
srmbootraw boot_device boot_file

DESCRIPTION
These tools are quick hacks and are not supposed to exist in their present state for long. Srmbootfat finds boot_file in the root directory of the FAT filesystem stored in file filesystem_image and makes it bootable by writing the appropriate SRM boot block into the filesystem image file. This will work only on unpartitioned disks (such as floppies), because otherwise the boot block would need to be written into the partition table, which is outside the filesystem. However, a hard drive containing a FAT filesystem would most probably be partitioned using the PC partition table, which SRM cannot boot from anyway. The bootloader (boot_file) must be contiguous, i.e. occupy consecutive blocks. Srmbootraw writes the image from boot_file preceded by the appropriate SRM boot block into the first blocks of boot_device, preserving the disklabel. It is intended to be used when you have a small raw partition at the beginning of your hard drive, dedicated for the bootloader. If you don't, srmbootraw will silently render your filesystem(s) unusable.

ARGUMENTS

filesystem_image
    The name of the file containing a FAT filesystem image, e.g. /dev/fd0.

boot_file
    The bootloader's file name.

boot_device
    The device you intend to boot from, e.g. /dev/sda. It must have enough room at the beggining to hold the boot block and the bootloader.

AUTHOR
Nikita Schmidt <cetus@snowball.ucd.ie>