Bruno Wolff III wrote:

On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 20:36:09 +0000, "n2xssvv.g02gfr12930" n2xssvv.g02gfr12930@ntlworld.com wrote:

...

I've been using a floppy boot disk as reserve if my HD boot fails, But it appears floppy support as now been removed. Why? Then how can I create an emergency media that is flexible enough to be updated as required?

I haven't gotten around to filing a bug about this since I wasn't sure if it was intentional or not, but you can use: modprobe floppy to create /dev/fd0 and be able to use your floppy drive.

I filed one awhile back, don't know if it fits your issue. Before filing I did check to see the /dev/fd0 and/or the link to /dev/floppy existed. I haven't again tested recently above and beyond confirming that it wasn't working under f12 (the bug was filed under f11)

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=537741

Bruno Wolff III wrote:

On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 14:45:59 -0800, Paul Allen Newell pnewell@cs.cmu.edu wrote:

...

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=537741

I am already cc'd on that one. Though I suspect my issue is a udev one, not a nautilus one.

P.S. I did get the wx8000s flashed, though the latest bios still didn't support booting from USB drives. I used a floppy to do it, though in the future I would probably take a look at using flashrom to do bios flashing.

Bruno:

Thanks for the reply. Let me/us know what the bug ID is of what you end of submitting as I have this feeling it will all end up be related and a fix in one will impact the other.

I haven't flashed my wx8000 nor moved it from F9 as it works quite nicely and don't want to mess. Not to mention I really don't want to deal with what happens if I make a mistake in flashing.

The bug was submitted against x4000 which no longer have BIOS updates and I know they are at the latest.

Plus, I have to admit a floppy drive is only a convenience for me, not a mandatory.

Paul

Bruno Wolff III wrote:

On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 20:17:36 -0800, Paul Allen Newell pnewell@cs.cmu.edu wrote:

...

Bruno:

Thanks for the reply. Let me/us know what the bug ID is of what you end of submitting as I have this feeling it will all end up be related and a fix in one will impact the other.

I created bug 567533 for the no /dev/fd0 after boot part of this problem.

Thank you for the info Paul

On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 17:23:32 -0500, Ralph Blach rcblach@gmail.com wrote:

What is a floppy drive???

Well seriously, I think their are better options now.

I use a couple of laptops every summer that the easy ways to share data with my other computers is with floppies. For backing them up where I use them (in case someone mistakes them for computers that have value to normal people), floppies are again the most conventient thing.

On Sunday 21 February 2010, Sam Sharpe wrote:

On 21 February 2010 22:23, Ralph Blach rcblach@gmail.com wrote:

...

I used an 8 inch floppy a long time ago

*must* *resist* *smutty* *jokes*

-- Sam

Probably just as well Sam, but I'm still using 5.25" drives almost daily here.

On 02/22/2010 03:25 PM, Aaron Konstam wrote:

On Sun, 2010-02-21 at 20:36 +0000, n2xssvv.g02gfr12930 wrote:

...

I've been using a floppy boot disk as reserve if my HD boot fails, But it appears floppy support as now been removed. Why? Then how can I create an emergency media that is flexible enough to be updated as required?

JB

I would suggest changing to pen drives. They are potentially much larger than floppies in capacity and most machines have extra places to insert them.

OT - If anyone is intrigued by the Windows 7 with Touch Screen and Web Cam capabilities here is a tip. You need 5 usb ports for the various gadgets, and my Dell came with 4 on the back of the machine. Inserting a usb hub caused the machine to crash.

--

All I ask is a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.

Aaron Konstam telephone: (210) 656-0355 e-mail: akonstam@sbcglobal.net

Just this very day I have successfully set up 2 pendrives to boot GRUB and all the explanations I could find made the process appear harder than it actually is/was. To be honest, it was easier than floppies.

JB

| From: Gene Heskett gene.heskett@verizon.net

| I take it you are referring to modern machines? This one was new in '81, I | think. Maybe '82.?

I'm confused. What machine built in 1981 or 1982 can run Fedora? A recent enough one that you can file a BZ on (i.e. F17, F18, F19)?

Heck, I vaguely recall that soft-sectoring wasn't even universal then.

(My NABU-1600 is from that era. It runs (essentially) 7th Edition UNIX. It has a quad-density 5.25" floppy drive and an ST506-class hard drive. Fedora requires way more RAM than there is hard drive on that machine (10M).)