GRUB boot floppy

[Steve Furbish]

Cedric wrote:
> I've made an article about it recently, it will create a boot floppy from your 
> current working config. I'm planning to put it onto my website, so feedback 
> is very welcome. The html version is available on request.
> Regards,
> Cedric.
> "
>
> you are here:/Website/Linux/Software/Distributions/Kubuntu/boot_floppy/
> Creating a GRUB bootable floppy
> When you install windows on a PC that already has linux installed, the windows 
> installer will in some cases overwrite the bootloader. This bootfloppy can be 
> used to boot your linux installation, and can also be used to reinstall GRUB 
> To create this floppy you need the following:
> -A PC with a floppydrive.
> -A floppy disk. 
> -A working linux installation with the GRUB boot loader. I have tested the 
> below procedure with Kubuntu 7.04 
> Procedure:
> 1)Check the floppydisk for defects:
> # badblocks -v /dev/fd0
>
> Controleren van blokken 0 tot 1439
> Zoeken naar slechte blokken (alleen-lezen-test): done
> Doorloop voltooid, 0 slechte blokken gevonden.
> 2)Create the filesystem on the floppy. I recommend vfat, as it's accessable 
> from both linux and windows:
>  # mkfs.vfat /dev/fd0 
> 3)Mount the newly created floppy, and copy the grub components to it:
> # mount /dev/fd0 /media/floppy0
> # cd /media/floppy0
> # mkdir -p boot/grub
> # cd boot/grub/
> # cp /boot/grub/* .
> 4)Use grub to write the bootblock on the floppy, this will make the floppy 
> bootable:
>  # grub
>  GRUB version 0.93 (640K lower / 3072K upper memory)
>  
>   [ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB
>     lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible
>     completions of a device/filename. ]
>  
>  grub> root (fd0)
>    Filesystem type is vfat, using whole disk
>  
>  grub> setup (fd0)
>    Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes
>    Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes
>    Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... no
>    Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (fd0) /boot/grub/stage2 p
>    /boot/grub/menu.lst "... succeeded
>  Done.
>  
>  grub> quit
>  
> Now the floppy can be used to boot your PC when the bootblock is damaged or 
> overwritten.
> last update: may 2007
> "
>   

This worked perfectly on my PC with the only needed change being to 
change the mountpoint of the floppy from your "/media/floppy0" to 
"/media/disk".  I've had to restore GRUB from the live CD before and a 
boot floppy with a copy of my own GRUB seems like a pretty good idea as 
long as I remember to update it each time a new kernel is released.