<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9"> <TITLE>The Loopback Root Filesystem HOWTO</TITLE> <LINK HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-1.html" REL=next> </HEAD> <BODY> <A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-1.html">Next</A> Previous Contents <HR> <H1>The Loopback Root Filesystem HOWTO</H1> <H2>by Andrew M. Bishop, <CODE> <A HREF="mailto:amb@gedanken.demon.co.uk">amb@gedanken.demon.co.uk</A></CODE></H2>v1.1, 24 September 1999 <P><HR> <EM>This HOWTO explains how to use the Linux loopback device to create a Linux native filesystem format installation that can be run from a DOS partition without re-partitioning. Other uses of this same technique are also discussed.</EM> <HR> <P> <H2><A NAME="toc1">1.</A> <A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-1.html">Introduction</A></H2> <UL> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-1.html#ss1.1">1.1 Copyright</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-1.html#ss1.2">1.2 Revision History</A> </UL> <P> <H2><A NAME="toc2">2.</A> <A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-2.html">Principles of Loopback Devices and Ramdisks</A></H2> <UL> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-2.html#ss2.1">2.1 Loopback Devices</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-2.html#ss2.2">2.2 Ramdisk Devices</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-2.html#ss2.3">2.3 The Initial Ramdisk Device</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-2.html#ss2.4">2.4 The Root Filesystem</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-2.html#ss2.5">2.5 The Linux Boot Sequence</A> </UL> <P> <H2><A NAME="toc3">3.</A> <A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-3.html">How To Create a Loopback Root Device</A></H2> <UL> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-3.html#ss3.1">3.1 Requirements</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-3.html#ss3.2">3.2 Creating the Linux Kernel</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-3.html#ss3.3">3.3 Creating the Initial Ramdisk Device</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-3.html#ss3.4">3.4 Creating The Root Device</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-3.html#ss3.5">3.5 Creating the Swap Device</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-3.html#ss3.6">3.6 Creating the MSDOS Directory</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-3.html#ss3.7">3.7 Creating the Boot Floppy</A> </UL> <P> <H2><A NAME="toc4">4.</A> <A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-4.html">Booting the System</A></H2> <UL> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-4.html#ss4.1">4.1 Possible Problems With Solutions</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-4.html#ss4.2">4.2 Reference Documents</A> </UL> <P> <H2><A NAME="toc5">5.</A> <A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-5.html">Other Loopback Root Device Possibilities</A></H2> <UL> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-5.html#ss5.1">5.1 DOS Hard-disk Only Installation</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-5.html#ss5.2">5.2 LILO Booted Installation</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-5.html#ss5.3">5.3 VFAT / NTFS Installation</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-5.html#ss5.4">5.4 Installing Linux without Re-partitioning</A> <LI><A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-5.html#ss5.5">5.5 Booting From a Non-bootable device</A> </UL> <HR> <A HREF="Loopback-Root-FS-1.html">Next</A> Previous Contents </BODY> </HTML>
