sbm.bin to floppy

Robin,

This is in response to your question, "how do I copy sbm.bin (using dd) to floppy".

These are the steps to perform that operation in linux:

1. Open up a terminal. In a Gnome desktop that should be Applications > Accessories > Terminal. Another shortcut would be to hit the [Alt][F2] key combination, then type in gnome-terminal.

2. Attach the floppy drive if it is an external drive. Have available a floppy disk, don't insert it yet.

3. Identify the device for the floppy. In the termal, type the following (everything but the '$' symbol):

    $ mount > pre

    Insert the floppy, and type the following into the terminal:

    $ mount > post

    Wait until the drive settles and is finished, and type the following into the terminal:

    $ diff pre post | awk '{ print $2 }'

    The floppy drive device will be /dev/<whatever>

4. Now write sbm.bin to the floppy using dd. This assumes you know the path to sbm.bin. Enter the following into the terminal, modify the path and device as necessary:

    $ dd if=/<path>/<to>/sbm.bin of=/dev/<whatever>

That's it.

Please let me know if this resolves your question, or if more information is required to answer it.

Regards,

Harvey

Hi Harvey - and thank you!

   Your advice worked out just fine, and to prove things I then powered
up the laptop with the sbm.bin floppy in it, and - lo and behold - the
Smart Boot Manager boot menu appeared.

   Two things you might be interested to know:
   1) I tried before to use dd just like that, but it failed because I
wrote of=/media/floppy0 ...evidently the correct /dev/ has to be there.
I thought there must be a switch I was missing, but it was much simpler!
   2) By accident I found an even easier way to find the dev of the
floppy - as follows: using the gnome file manager, I went to /media and
right-clicked on Floppy Drive, then selected Mount Volume from the
drop-down menu. The warning comes:"Cannot mount volume ...etc", and when
one clicks "Details", one gets the useful info: "Mount: /dev/fd0 is not
a valid block device".

   Anyway, be as it may, I am very grateful for the excellent advice;
maybe you'll post it and this reply to help others if you think it a
good idea.

   Best regards

      Robin
On Wed, 2008-04-09 at 15:22 +0000, Harvey Muller wrote:
> Your question #29313 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/29313
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Harvey Muller proposed the following answer:
> Robin,
>
> This is in response to your question, "how do I copy sbm.bin (using dd)
> to floppy".
>
> These are the steps to perform that operation in linux:
>
> 1. Open up a terminal. In a Gnome desktop that should be Applications
> > Accessories > Terminal. Another shortcut would be to hit the
> [Alt][F2] key combination, then type in gnome-terminal.
>
> 2. Attach the floppy drive if it is an external drive. Have available
> a floppy disk, don't insert it yet.
>
> 3. Identify the device for the floppy. In the termal, type the
> following (everything but the '$' symbol):
>
> $ mount > pre
>
> Insert the floppy, and type the following into the terminal:
>
> $ mount > post
>
> Wait until the drive settles and is finished, and type the following
> into the terminal:
>
> $ diff pre post | awk '{ print $2 }'
>
> The floppy drive device will be /dev/<whatever>
>
> 4. Now write sbm.bin to the floppy using dd. This assumes you know the
> path to sbm.bin. Enter the following into the terminal, modify the path
> and device as necessary:
>
> $ dd if=/<path>/<to>/sbm.bin of=/dev/<whatever>
>
> That's it.
>
> Please let me know if this resolves your question, or if more
> information is required to answer it.
>
> Regards,
>
> Harvey
>
--
***********************************
Robin King
Punamäenpolku 1 D 51
00300 HELSINKI
Puh/tel: +358-41-5346512
***********************************

Robin,

Glad to be of help! Yes, there are many ways to do the same thing in linux. At least most times. On most systems, the floppy device is the same as yours, /dev/fd0. But, some systems (like mine) don't have a floppy and an external usb floppy drive has used in these cases. In my system it could therefore be anything starting with /dev/sd? Really, the only thing in my case, is to plug in the floppy drive, insert a floppy, and wait for it to settle, then run mount and observe the results.

But knowing there are possible cultural, knowledge, and technical differences I opted for the more elaborate approach. The answer you get when you run the diff command is pretty definitive, no guessing!

You might mark the question as solved also, it will help others that come searching later to reduce their list of search hits.

Best regards,

Harvey

Thanks Harvey Muller, that solved my question.