NEXTSTEP for Intel Processors

Title: Duplicating the NEXTSTEP CD-ROM Installation Disk
Entry Number: 1561
Last Updated: <<Date November 15, 1995>>

Overview

It is a good idea to create a backup copy of the boot floppy disk, in case the original copy is ever lost or damaged.  To do this you must first successfully install NEXTSTEP.  You can then use the UNIX dd command to create a copy of the boot floppy.  Please note that you can't make a duplicate boot floppy with DOS and Windows floppy duplication software; you must use the procedure below.

Procedure

1	Log in as root on your Intel computer. 

2	Insert a blank 1.44 megabyte 3.5" HD floppy disk into the floppy drive.

3	In the Workspace, choose the command Check For Disks from the Disk menu.  Initialize the disk as a NEXTSTEP filesystem.  NEXTSTEP then formats and initializes the disk.  When the disk is initialized, eject it using the Eject command in the Disk menu and remove it from the floppy drive.  

4	Insert the NEXTSTEP CD-ROM Installation Disk (the boot floppy) into the floppy drive and choose Check For Disks. 

5	Once the boot floppy has successfully mounted, launch the Terminal application in /NextApps.  Type this command in a Terminal window to store an image of the boot floppy.

	# dd if=/dev/rfd0b of=/tmp/image conv=sync bs=8k

	This causes NEXTSTEP to read the bootable diskette and save it to the file /tmp/image.

6	When the command completes, physically eject the original boot floppy and insert the floppy disk you formatted in step 3.  You don't need to use the Eject and Check For Disks commands for this step.

7	Type this command to copy the boot floppy image to the new disk.

	# dd if=/tmp/image of=/dev/rfd0b conv=sync bs=8k

8	Store your original boot floppy in a safe place.

9	Reboot.

Problems

There is a known bug in 3.1 and 3.2 that causes the Check For Disks command to fail once the raw device has been opened.  You must reboot your machine to restore floppy drive functionality.  The above procedure takes this bug into account, in step 9.

See Also:

1921_Creating_FDs_From_Images_Under_NEXTSTEP_and_DOS.rtf