e2writeboot

NAME

e2writeboot − Write secondary SRM bootloader to ext2 filesystem.

SYNOPSIS

e2writeboot <ext2fs> <bootloader>

DESCRIPTION

e2writeboot can be used to write a secondary bootstrap loader to an ext2 formatted filesystem (normally on a floppy disk). The loader is written in a way that allows the SRM firmware to boot from the filesystem (SRM is the firmware that is also used to boot HP Tru64, OpenVMS and *BSD). Specifically, the loader is written to occupy a physically contiguous range of sectors and the first sector is updated such that the SRM firmware can find the boot loader. The loader is always stored with filename linuxboot and if such a file already exists, it will be overwritten unconditionally. This command may fail if the filesystem is highly fragmented. If so, re-format the filesystem with mke2fs(8) (this will destroy the existing contents of the filesystem, so use this with care).

The <ext2fs> argument specifies the filesystem or special device to which the <bootloader> file should be written to. The boot loader file must be an ECOFF object file. A typical command to make a floppy disk bootable with the aboot(8) loader is shown below:

e2writeboot /dev/fd0 aboot

SEE ALSO

aboot(8), mke2fs(8), swriteboot(8)

AUTHORS

Jim Paradis <paradis AT amt DOT tay1 DOT dec DOT com>
Jay Estabrook <Jay DOT Estabrook AT hp DOT com>
David Mosberger-Tang <David DOT Mosberger AT acm DOT org>