Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 08:16:42 -0700 (MST) From: Don Yuniskis <dgy@rtd.com> To: CombsSF@Salem.GE.COM Cc: dgy@rtd.com, pechter@shell.monmouth.com, FreeBSD-hackers@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: File System on a tape Message-ID: <199608161516.IAA15847@seagull.rtd.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.SUN.3.94.960816104852.487B-100000@combs.salem.ge.com> from "Stephen F. Combs" at Aug 16, 96 10:53:17 am
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
It seems that Stephen F. Combs said: > > The Pechter(s) are speaking of having a BOOTABLE Tape system. I'd Love to I don't see that mentioned in any of the messages thus far -- including the one you cc'ed below. I don't think anyone is asking for the ability to type "mt0" at the FBSD boot prompt (though it *would* be nice!) Rather, I think a single boot floppy that brings in the required device drivers and kernel could be used with a tape based filesystem: mount /dev/mt0 /mnt chroot /mnt twiddle with bare essentials of fsck'ing disk, etc. ^D (out of /mnt) tar cf - /mnt | tar xf - /disk > have one! While CDROMs are great, there are times when I don't have a > CDROM system available and 'twould be nice to be able to boot from tape > and do a 'fbsdinstall' (ala, suninstall) I've got fbsd systems in Puerto > Rico, Mebane, NC, Ft. Wayne, IN and Shanghi, China (as well as here!) > I've got QIC-250 tape drives on All of them, but a CDROM on none!:-< (I'm > trying to get them all upgraded to DDS-2 4mm DAT's). Being able to support *all* of the many tape devices in the bootstrap loader I think would be ridiculous. Rather, getting a kernel up and running with a floppy and letting that kernel carry the device drivers (including a block tape device) is the WIN. --don > On Fri, 16 Aug 1996, Don Yuniskis wrote: > > > Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 07:19:04 -0700 (MST) > > From: Don Yuniskis <dgy@rtd.com> > > To: Bill/Carolyn Pechter <pechter@shell.monmouth.com> > > Cc: dgy@rtd.com, FreeBSD-hackers@FreeBSD.org > > Subject: Re: File System on a tape > > > > > > > have a floppy on their system (or perhaps a CDROM drive), but how many > > > > > have a tape drive? > > > > > > Folks, it also is kind of nice for those folks who have access to some > > > kind of tape drive and no CDROM -- or (more common) an Unsupported > > > CDROM. > > > > > > Imagine if the folks with wierd IDE CD's could cut a tape and install > > > from that before having to get hacked kernels. I've had to make the > > > floppy sets at times because of not enough DOS partition space > > > to put the distribution. If I could dd or tar to tape and install from tape > > > it would be a great ease of installation issue at times. > > > > I *thought* installing from tape *was* supported?? Or, is this broke? > > > > > Also, sooner or later we're going to go multiplatform (I hope) and one > > > day we may need the capability. > > > >
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?199608161516.IAA15847>