4.4. Implementation

We will need to have a read-write filesystem in order for some of the commands to work. The kernel's normal behavior is to mount root as read-only, but we can change this using a kernel option. By passing LILO the rw option before init=/bin/sh we will get a read-write root filesystem.

4.4.1. Sytem startup

Follow these steps to get the system running.

Boot the PC from using the LILO boot disk.
At the LILO prompt, type bootdisk rw init=/bin/sh and press Enter.
Insert the recently created root disk when prompted.

The terminal display should look similar to the example below.

boot: bootdisk rw init=/bin/sh Loading bootdisk Uncompressing Linux... Ok, booting kernel. .. .. [various kernel messages] .. VFS: Insert root floppy to be loaded into RAM disk and press ENTER RAMDISK: Compressed image found at block 0 VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem). Freeing unused kernel memory: 178k freed # _

4.4.2. Testing new commands

Now that the system is up and running, try using some of the new commands.

bash# uname -a bash# ls /etc bash# echo "PocketLinux" > /etc/hostname bash# hostname $(cat /etc/hostname) bash# uname -n bash# mkdir /home/stuff bash# cd /home/stuff

If everything goes well the commands like cat, ls and hostname should work now. Even mkdir should work since the root filesystem is mounted read-write. Of course since we are using a ramdisk, any changes will be lost once the PC is reset.

4.4.3. System shutdown

Remove the diskette from fd0 and restart the system using CTRL-ALT-DELETE.