11.3. DrakBoot: change your boot-up settings

These are three tools allowing you to format floppies and define the way your system will boot-up.

11.3.1. Formatting a floppy disk: drakfloppy

This KDE tool allows you to format floppies in DOS or ext2fs format.

Figure 11-6. The drakfloppy window

Simply choose all parameters, insert the floppy into the driver[1], and click on Format.

11.3.2. Create a boot disk

This tool allows you to create a boot disk, and then have a rescue disk allowing you to perform some maintenance tasks on your system in case of failure.

Figure 11-7. Creating a boot disk

You need to create your boot floppy, to choose three parameters:

  1. The target driver: Use /dev/fd0 for first floppy driver (/dev/fd1 for second).

  2. The kernel version, leave it unchanged for general use.

  3. For experts only, you can choose to add kernel modules to the floppy, so that your network or sound may be available while booting on the rescue disk.

When you have chosen all parameters, insert a blank disk (not necessarily formatted) into the drive and click on OK. When the writing is done, write-protect the disk, label it and test it. When all looks OK, store it in a safe place.

11.3.3. Configure LILO/GRUB

Warning

Misuse of this tool may lead to an unusable system. Use only if you know what you are doing, or have already made a boot disk.

Figure 11-8. Choosing the boot device

This tool allows you to finely tune your boot loader, either LILO or GRUB. After choosing the boot device[2] (figure 11-8), you get a list of existing boot loader entries (figure 11-8). Clicking on an existing entry allows you to modify that entry (generally the label and root device among others) and suppress this entry. The last two lines of the menu allow you to Add a new entry and save your changes and exit.

Figure 11-9. The boot loader entries

Notes

[1]

this program uses the DOS convention for naming divers, A: corresponds to the first floppy driver, and so on.

[2]

The default is generally what you need, but consult Conventions for naming the disks and partitions


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