How do I run Unix from floppy (for example, to repair a damage hard drive file system)?
Running a Standalone Shell on a 3B2 Stephen J. Friedl [Edited by Gregory Gulik] April 25, 1988 NB: the procedures described here require substantial knowledge of UNIX and entail a significant risk of causing loss of data. The obvious disclaimers apply here, so use at your own risk. Please be careful. Introduction This document is an introduction to operating your 3B from a standalone /unix. Even with inoperable hard drives, it is possible to insert the boot floppy (Essential Utilities Disk 1), say some magic words, and receive a # prompt. At this point you can do major surgery on the failing machine, often recovering a drive previously thought to be lost. Our style is informal and we’ll use lots of examples to illustrate the points at hand. We have been using standalone shells for quite some time and have learned a great deal; we hope to pass this information on to you. Please read this document carefully before trying the methods described here, and if possible have a wizard around wh
