OPTIONS
- -o, --output DEVICE
- Specify the output device. It must be the device where you want
to setup the filesystem. You can use the special a"usba" value to
automatically select the USB Mass Storage device connected at the
system. This option is always required.
- -b, --boot FILE
- -1, --boot-fat12 FILE
- -2, --boot-fat16 FILE
- -3, --boot-fat32 FILE
- Specify the FAT boot sector images to use. The -b option uses
the same sector for all the FAT types. The other options can be
used to specify a different sector for different FAT types. The FAT
types for which a boot sector is not specified are not used. This
option is always required.
- -m, --mbr FILE
- Specify the MBR sector image to use. If this option is
specified a partition table is created on the disk. Otherwise the
disk is filled without a partition table like a floppy disk.
- -F, --mbrfat
- Change the MBR image specified with the -m option to pretend to
be a FAT filesystem starting from the first sector of the disk.
This allows booting from USB-FDD (Floppy Disk Drive) also using a
partition table generally required by USB-HDD (Hard Disk Drive).
The MBR image specified with the -m option must have executable
code positioned like a FAT boot sector. You can use the included
oqmbrfat.bincq file.
- -c, --copy FILE
- Copy the specified file in the root directory of the disk. The
file is copied using the readonly attribute.
- -x, --exclude FILE
- Exclude the specified files and subdirectories in the IMAGE
directory to copy. The path must be specified using the same format
used in the IMAGE directory specification.
- -X, --syslinux2
- Enforce the syslinux 2.xx FAT limitations. Syslinux 2.xx
doesncqt support FAT32 at all, and FAT16 with 64 and 128 sectors
per cluster formats. This option excludes all the FAT formats not
supported by syslinux. Please note that it limits the maximum size
of filesystem to 1 GB.
- -Y, --syslinux3
- Enforce the syslinux 3.xx FAT support. Syslinux 3.00 supports
all the FAT types and sizes but it requires a special customisation
of the boot sector and of the file oqldlinux.syscq. This option
does this customisation without the need to use the syslinux
installer if the oqldlinux.syscq file is copied on disk with the -c
option.
- -Z, --zip
- If possible force the ZIP-Disk compatibility. It sets a
geometry of 32 sectors and 64 heads. It also uses the 4cqth
partition entry in the partition table. Itcqs required to boot also
in USB-ZIP mode.
- -P, --partition
- Ensure to operate on a partition and not on a disk.
- -D, --disk
- Ensure to operate on a disk and not on a partition.
- -L, --label LABEL
- Set the FAT label. The label is a string of 11 chars.
- -O, --oem OEM
- Set the FAT OEM name. The OEM name is a string of 11 chars.
- -S, --serial SERIAL
- Set the FAT serial number. The serial number is a 32 bit
unsigned integer.
- -E, --drive DRIVE
- Set the BIOS drive to setup in the FAT boot sector. Generally
this value is ignored by boot sectors, with the exception of the
FAT12 and FAT16 FreeDOS boot sectors that require the correct value
or the value 255 to force auto detection.
- -v, --verbose
- Print some information on the device and on the filesystem
created.
- -i, --interactive
- Show the errors in a message box. Only for Windows.
- -h, --help
- Print a short help.
- -V, --version
- Print the version number.
- IMAGE
- Directory image to copy on the disk. All the files and
subdirectories present in this directory are copied on the
disk.
DISKS AND PARTITIONS NAMES
In Linux disk devices are named
/dev/hdX or /dev/sdX where X is a letter. Partition devices are
named /dev/hdXN or /dev/sdXN where X is a letter and N a digit.
In Windows disk devices are named rsrs.rsPhysicalDriveN where N
is a digit. Partition devices are named rsrs.rsX: where X is a
letter, but sometimes rsrs.rsX: is a disk and not a partition, for
example on floppies and on all the USB Mass Storage devices without
a partition table.
SYSLINUX
To make a bootable FAT using syslinux you must use
the -X option for syslinux version 2.xx or the -Y option for
syslinux version 3.xx. You must also copy in the root directory of
the disk the files:
-
- ldlinux.sys
- The syslinux loader.
- syslinux.cfg
- The syslinux configuration file.
- linux
- The Linux kernel image (the file name may be different).
- initrd.img
- The initrd filesystem (the file name may be different or
missing).
You must also specify the oqldlinux.bsscq boot sector with the
-b option and possibily the oqmbr.bincq MBR sector with the -m
option. Both the sector images are present in the syslinux package.
For example:
- makebootfat -o usb rs
-Y rs
-b ldlinux.bss -m
mbr.bin rs
-c ldlinux.sys -c
syslinux.cfg rs
-c linux -c
initrd.img rs
image
LOADLIN AND FREEDOS
To make a bootable FAT using loadlin
and FreeDOS you must copy in the root directory of the disk the
files:
-
- kernel.sys
- The FreeDOS kernel. Remember to use the a"32a" kernel version
to support FAT32.
- command.com
- The FreeDOS shell.
- autoexec.bat
- Used to start loadlin.
- loadlin.exe
- The loadlin executable.
- linux
- The Linux kernel image (the file name may be different).
- initrd.img
- The initrd filesystem (the file name may be different or
missing).
You must also specify the FreeDOS boot sectors available on the
FreeDOS oqsyscq source package with the -1, -2, -3 option. For the
MBR you can use the sectors image available on the FreeDOS
oqfdiskcq source package.
For example:
- makebootfat -o /dev/hda1 rs
-E 255 rs
-1 fat12com.bin -2
fat16com.bin -3 fat32lba.bin rs
-c kernel.sys -c
command.com rs
-c autoexec.bat -c
loadlin.exe rs
-c linux -c
initrd.img rs
image
MULTI STANDARD USB BOOTING
The BIOS USB boot support is
generally differentiated in three categories: USB-HDD, USB-FDD and
USB-ZIP.
The USB-HDD (Hard Disk Drive) standard is the preferred choice
and it requires the presence of a partition table in the first
sector of the disk. You can create this type of disk using the -m
option.
The USB-FDD (Floppy Disk Drive) standard requires the presence
of a filesystem starting from the first sector of the disk without
a partition table. You can create this type of disk without using
the -m option.
The USB-ZIP (ZIP Drive) standard requires the presence of a
device with a very specific geometry. Specifically, it requires a
geometry with 32 sectors and 64 heads. It also requires the
presence of a partition table with only a bootable partition in the
fourth entry. You can create this type of disk using the -m and -Z
option.
Generally these standards are incompatible, but using the -m, -F
and -Z options you can create a disk compatible with all of them.
To use the -F option, the MBR image specified must follow the
constrains:
- *
- It must start with a standard FAT 3 bytes jump instruction.
- *
- It must have the bytes from address 3 to 89 (included)
unused.
And example of such image is in the oqmbrfat.bincq file.
For example to create a syslinux image:
- makebootfat -o usb rs
-Y rs
-Z rs
-b ldlinux.bss -m
mbrfat.bin -F rs
-c ldlinux.sys -c
syslinux.cfg rs
-c linux -c
initrd.img rs
image
and for a FreeDOS and loadlin image:
- makebootfat -o usb rs
-E 255 rs
-Z rs
-1 fat12com.bin -2
fat16com.bin -3 fat32chs.bin rs
-m mbrfat.bin -F
rs
-c kernel.sys -c
command.com rs
-c autoexec.bat -c
loadlin.exe rs
-c linux -c
initrd.img rs
image
Please note that FreeDos has some problems booting from USB. It
works only on very few conditions.
EXCLUSION
To exclude some files or directories in the image
copy, you can use the -x option using the same path specification
which are you using for the image directory.
For example, if you need to exclude the oqisolinuxcq and
oqsyslinuxcq subdirectories from the oqimagecq directory you can
use the command:
- makebootfat ... rs
-x image/isolinux
rs
-x image/syslinux
rs
image
COPYRIGHT
This file is Copyright (C) 2004, 2005 Andrea
Mazzoleni
SEE ALSO
syslinux(1),
mkdosfs(1),
dosfsck(1)