Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2007 01:07:31 +0400 From: Boris Samorodov <bsam@ipt.ru> To: "O. Hartmann" <ohartman@zedat.fu-berlin.de> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Howto: Prepare USB key with FreeDOS using FreeBSD Message-ID: <66220188@bsam.ru> In-Reply-To: <470FA23C.6070507@zedat.fu-berlin.de> (O. Hartmann's message of "Fri\, 12 Oct 2007 18\:35\:08 %2B0200") References: <470FA23C.6070507@zedat.fu-berlin.de>
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On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 18:35:08 +0200 O. Hartmann wrote:
> Well, I have a bunch of TYAN S2925B based boxes, all without floppy
> drives. For BIOS flash preparation I need an installation media and
> due to the fact I do not have a Windows XP box or FreeDOS box I need
> my laptop for creation of a bootable USB key media with the
> appropriate BIOS flash images and flashing tools.
> It seems to be a desaster. Every Wiki I visited looking for the
> subject referes to Gentoo/FreeDOS or highly complicated voodoo
> sessions installing first some files on floppy drive and the creating
> a bootable USB key ... blabla.
> Sorry, but I do not have FreeDOS running nor do I have Linux/Gentoo or
> Windows XP, I run FreeBSD on all of my machines. But in the age of
> legacy free computers, were floppy drives seems to be not essential
> anymore I run into massif problems having a legacy free server from
> TYAN without the ability taking any BIOS images from an USB key :-(
> The problem is I picked up some memory issues which have been solved
> with one of the newer BIOS images so I desperately need an update
> solution.
> Does anyone do have an idea?
It is not an answer to your question. It's just how I do
it.
1. Set up a dhcp server. In my case all servers are located at one
hardware server.
2. Set up a tftp server.
3. Use pxelinux [1] to boot the needed binary.
1. Dhcp config (partial):
-----
host temp1 {
hardware ethernet <MAC-address>;
fixed-address <ip-address>;
filename "pxelinux.0";
server-name "booting.domain.com";
next-server booting.domain.com;
option host-name "temp1.domain.com";
}
-----
2. /tftpboot directory contains
. a directory "pxelinux.cfg" with the config file "default"
(partially):
-----
default memtest
prompt 5
timeout 30
label memtest
kernel memtest86+-1.70
label 3ware
kernel memdisk
append initrd=3WARE-FLASH-9.4.0.1.DOS
label ep
kernel memdisk
append initrd=EP-9HEAI.DOS
label freebsd7
kernel pxeboot.0
-----
. file "pxelinux.0" [1];
. file "memdisk" [2] needed to load floppies with DOS images;
. file "memtest86+-1.70" is an image of memtest floppy, good for
testing new hardware;
. file "3WARE-FLASH-9.4.0.1.DOS" is an image of DOS floppy with 3WARE
updates;
. file "EP-9HEAI.DOS" is an image of DOS floppy with flasher for the
EP-9HEAI motherboard;
. file "pxeboot.0" (renamed from pxeboot since pxelinux need it) is a
real pxeboot to boot FreeBSD.
One can choose what to boot while PXE-booting (use a label from the
config file).
I use one of those free DOS available at internet. To create the
needed image:
-----
# mdconfig -a -t vnode -f <floppy_dos_image> -u 0
# mount -t msdosfs /dev/md0 /mnt
-----
Then copy the needed files to /mnt. Don't forget to do:
-----
# umount /mnt
# mdconfig -d -u 0
-----
That's it, here is a floppy image one can boot via PXE.
Limitations:
1. I use only PXE-capable network cards.
2. An old flash image cannot be saved.
[1] http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php
[2] http://syslinux.zytor.com/memdisk.php
WBR and HTH
--
bsam
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