* redhat bootdisks with brltty @ Cheryl Homiak ` Jude DaShiell 0 siblings, 1 reply; 17+ messages in thread From: Cheryl Homiak @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list I added a serial line to the syslinux.cfg so I could see what was going on. The message I got was unable to find kernel image: vmlinuz and also I still haven't figured out for sure about the "dd", though I'm sure it is now needed for using two floppies. I did get debian installed finally and i also have gotten brltty to work on my debian installation so this wasn't a brltty or braillelite problem. The vanilla flavored woody installation disks still won't work for me on my laptop but will on my desktop, so I think that's a laptop/kernel issue rather than a brltty issue. I tried the woody install cds (rescue and root) on my laptop without any modification for brltty and they still didn't work there and worked on the desktop. so I have an email in to debian-laptop about that. Still think it might be fun to try Red hat sometime but at least I do have a system installed now. Cheryl ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty redhat bootdisks with brltty Cheryl Homiak @ ` Jude DaShiell ` Cheryl Homiak ` Gil Andre 0 siblings, 2 replies; 17+ messages in thread From: Jude DaShiell @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list I know what's going on. Your laptop and your desktop do not share identical disk formats for floppy disks. The disks you were sent will work with your desktop machine since that's probably standard format, but your laptop has a different and possibly proprietary disk format in use. Software exists to analyze disks and detect the formats used on odd machines though that stuff runs in dos. You'll need to search something like the simtelnet archives to find it though probably in the msdos/diskutls directory. x On Tue, 27 Aug 2002, Cheryl Homiak wrote: > I added a serial line to the syslinux.cfg so I could see what was going on. The > message I got was > unable to find kernel image: vmlinuz > and also I still haven't figured out for sure about the "dd", though I'm sure it > is now needed for using two floppies. > I did get debian installed finally and i also have gotten brltty to work on my > debian installation so this wasn't a brltty or braillelite problem. > The vanilla flavored woody installation disks still won't work for me on my > laptop but will on my desktop, so I think that's a laptop/kernel issue rather > than a brltty issue. I tried the woody install cds (rescue and root) on my > laptop without any modification for brltty and they still didn't work there and > worked on the desktop. so I have an email in to debian-laptop about that. > Still think it might be fun to try Red hat sometime but at least I do have a > system installed now. > > Cheryl > > > > _______________________________________________ > Blinux-list mailing list > Blinux-list@redhat.com > https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list > ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` Jude DaShiell @ ` Cheryl Homiak ` Jude DaShiell ` L. C. Robinson ` Gil Andre 1 sibling, 2 replies; 17+ messages in thread From: Cheryl Homiak @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list Well, it could be that the laptop floppy has a different format; in fact, just this evening it was insisting I was putting in some floppies with vfat. However, the Redhat disks aren't working on either machine and they were done on the desktop. so I don't think that's the problem with the Redhat floppies. It might, however, explain why the debian floppies, both standard and brltty-modified, work on my desktop but not on my laptop. I'll go looking for the disk utilities, as I do have a DOS partition. Cheryl ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` Cheryl Homiak @ ` Jude DaShiell ` Cheryl Homiak ` L. C. Robinson 1 sibling, 1 reply; 17+ messages in thread From: Jude DaShiell @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list Oh! Very interesting. Has somebody been using your laptop as a football lately? Reason I ask is that it sounds as if your floppy drive is misaligned and/or dirty. My forecast is for more bad disks to be written by it in the near future and previously useable disks likely will quit working that were made either for or on the laptop in near future if it hasn't already started happening. x ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` Jude DaShiell @ ` Cheryl Homiak ` L. C. Robinson ` Jude DaShiell 0 siblings, 2 replies; 17+ messages in thread From: Cheryl Homiak @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list No, nobody has been using my laptop as a football. In fact, it's brand new. Since it's removable from an ultrabay perhaps it isn't seated firmly. Just to be sure, I will make redhat disks that I know for sure are from floppies that haven't been anywhere near the laptop and test them only on the desktop. I am being very careful with my laptop, and with my floppies, so while misalignment is a possibility, dirtiness should not yet be an issue. There certainly are cleaning methods for floppy drives if that was the problem, however. And again, the floppy that isn't mounting properly on my laptop is fine on the desktop, so I still don't think this is the reason why my redhat brltty-modified floppies aren't running on the desktop. Cheryl ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` Cheryl Homiak @ ` L. C. Robinson ` Cheryl Homiak ` Jude DaShiell 1 sibling, 1 reply; 17+ messages in thread From: L. C. Robinson @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list And may we assume that the BIOS is configured to boot from the floppy drive? Easy to overlook the obvious sometimes.... LCR On Wed, 28 Aug 2002, Cheryl Homiak wrote: > ... > And again, the floppy that isn't mounting properly on my > laptop is fine on the desktop, so I still don't think this is the > reason why my redhat brltty-modified floppies aren't running on the > desktop. -- L. C. Robinson reply to no_spam+munged_lcr@onewest.net.invalid People buy MicroShaft for compatibility, but get incompatibility and instability instead. This is award winning "innovation". Find out how MS holds your data hostage with "The *Lens*"; see "CyberSnare" at http://www.netaction.org/msoft/cybersnare.html ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` L. C. Robinson @ ` Cheryl Homiak 0 siblings, 0 replies; 17+ messages in thread From: Cheryl Homiak @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list Yes, we may assume the bios is configured to boot from the floppy drive. When I first got this computer it had windows on it and i couldn't do anything without using floppies. But it never hurts to check the obvious; thanks. Cheryl ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` Cheryl Homiak ` L. C. Robinson @ ` Jude DaShiell ` Cheryl Homiak 1 sibling, 1 reply; 17+ messages in thread From: Jude DaShiell @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list It may be a misaligned disk drive that can be fixed with software in the laptop. There's another possibility, do you know if your laptop comes with special software to read and write diskettes from standard pc's? laptops exist where I work, but I've never had access to that level of technology so couldn't say one way or the other on that count. x ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` Jude DaShiell @ ` Cheryl Homiak ` Jude DaShiell 0 siblings, 1 reply; 17+ messages in thread From: Cheryl Homiak @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list No, Jude, I honestly don't think special software is supposed to be needed to read and write software from "standared' pcs to a laptop. I don't think it's supposed to be any different, and I don't see any evidence that that is the problem here so far. Cheryl ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` Cheryl Homiak @ ` Jude DaShiell ` Cheryl Homiak 0 siblings, 1 reply; 17+ messages in thread From: Jude DaShiell @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list Okay, why not try something to test if syslinux.cfg is in a bad sector on the floppy? Rename syslinux.cfg to syslinux.txt and get yourself a new copy of syslinux.cfg off a known good source also put onto that floppy if room permits. If the system finds this new one and doesn't find the old one the old one is probably in a bad sector. x ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` Jude DaShiell @ ` Cheryl Homiak ` L. C. Robinson 0 siblings, 1 reply; 17+ messages in thread From: Cheryl Homiak @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list Jude: I have done this over more than once on different floppies. It isn't having trouble reading the syslinux.cfg; it says it can't find the kernel image: vmlinuz. that's exactly the message. I will try your suggestion, though, because it never hurts to cover the bases. thanks. Cheryl ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` Cheryl Homiak @ ` L. C. Robinson ` Cheryl Homiak 0 siblings, 1 reply; 17+ messages in thread From: L. C. Robinson @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list On Wed, 28 Aug 2002, Cheryl Homiak wrote: > isn't having trouble reading the syslinux.cfg; it says it can't > find the kernel image: vmlinuz. that's exactly the message. vmlinuz.? With a dot on the end? Humm.... Perhaps you should paste in the relevant parts of the config file for proofreading? LCR -- L. C. Robinson reply to no_spam+munged_lcr@onewest.net.invalid ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` L. C. Robinson @ ` Cheryl Homiak 0 siblings, 0 replies; 17+ messages in thread From: Cheryl Homiak @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list No, not with a dot; that was supposed to be a period at the end of my sentence, only the captial got left off of the beginning of the next sentence. Cheryl ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` Cheryl Homiak ` Jude DaShiell @ ` L. C. Robinson ` Cheryl Homiak 1 sibling, 1 reply; 17+ messages in thread From: L. C. Robinson @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list Well, based on what I have read in the syslinux documentation, it's probably buggy BIOSes (the BIOS can only read certain dos based formats). Syslinux has some workarounds for such situations, such as memdisk, and some options. You'd have to experiment with modifying the boot disks with small syslinux config changes to find out for sure. Make sure you have the latest syslinux, too, so that you have the most recent improvements for buggy BIOSes: see syslinux home page at http://syslinux.zytor.com/ Quote from the syslinux site: "NEWS! SYSLINUX 1.76 was released on August 27, 2002; this version contains a workaround for certain broken Toshiba BIOSes." I know that RH uses syslinux on their boot disks, but don't know about Debian -- but you will be able to determine that easily enough (probably already know). LCR On Wed, 28 Aug 2002, Cheryl Homiak wrote: > Well, it could be that the laptop floppy has a different > format; in fact, just this evening it was insisting I was > putting in some floppies with vfat. However, the Redhat > disks aren't working on either machine and they were done > on the desktop. so I don't think that's the problem with > the Redhat floppies. It might, however, explain why the > debian floppies, both standard and brltty-modified, work > on my desktop but not on my laptop. I'll go looking for > the disk utilities, as I do have a DOS partition. -- L. C. Robinson reply to no_spam+munged_lcr@onewest.net.invalid People buy MicroShaft for compatibility, but get incompatibility and instability instead. This is award winning "innovation". Find out how MS holds your data hostage with "The *Lens*"; see "CyberSnare" at http://www.netaction.org/msoft/cybersnare.html ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` L. C. Robinson @ ` Cheryl Homiak 0 siblings, 0 replies; 17+ messages in thread From: Cheryl Homiak @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list Hi. Again, the unmodified red hat disk is working; the modified one(s) are not working, so I'm not sure this could be a syslinux problem. My laptop is an Ibm thinkpad, not a toshiba, though this certainly doesn't rule out bugs with the toshiba as well. Cheryl ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` Jude DaShiell ` Cheryl Homiak @ ` Gil Andre ` Cheryl Homiak 1 sibling, 1 reply; 17+ messages in thread From: Gil Andre @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list Jude/Cheryl Excuse me for jumping in but this drew my attention: On Tue, 27 Aug 2002 17:40:36 -0400 (EDT), Jude wrote: > I know what's going on. Your laptop and your desktop do not share > identical disk formats for floppy disks. The disks you were sent will > work with your desktop machine since that's probably standard format, but > your laptop has a different and possibly proprietary disk format in use. Hello? There is only "one" standard for FDD and that's the good ol' Sony HD 1.44MB standard. If floppy disks work on one machine, they should work on another machine! The ONLY exceptions to this rule are the following: 1. The floppy was formatted in a completely non-standard way. The only Linux distribution that I know which uses that kind of format (1.7MB format) is tomsrtbt -- and that is a VERY special case indeed (entire linux system on one floppy -- but I digress). Most Linux distributions use standard, 1.44MB floppies. Which is why Slackware 8.1 is a pain to install (5 "root" floppies -- but I digress again). 2. The floppy disk itself is totally defective. Highly possible since floppies have a very, very short life span. And don't give me the "but I have used the same floppy for the past three years!" lecture -- they just don't make 'em like they used to. 3. The FDD itself is going bonkers. Replace the FDD and retry. I think you mentioned this before... Just my US$ 0.02... -- Gil Andre ___ Technical writer ___ Arkeia Corporation email: gandre@arkeia.com | web: http://www.arkeia.com ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
* Re: redhat bootdisks with brltty ` Gil Andre @ ` Cheryl Homiak 0 siblings, 0 replies; 17+ messages in thread From: Cheryl Homiak @ UTC (permalink / raw) To: blinux-list Hi Andre. So far that does seem to be the case; other than the debian install floppies not working on my laptop, which I think is not a floppy issue at all, I've had no problem with floppies working on one machine and not the other. The Redhat/brltty floppies are failing on both machines. Cheryl ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 17+ messages in thread
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