Proper way to make an OpenBSD floppy?

[yetoo]

I used dd to copy an amd64 floppy63.fs to a 1.44 MB 3.5 inch floppy, but when I try to boot from floppy on two tested systems, one of them confirmed to be amd64, I get a No OS error. Is there a proper way of copying the filesystem or should I look a little closer on how I boot?

[jggimi]

dd(1) is one of the tools used to create a diskette. But you should follow the instructions in INSTALL.amd64, cited here. In particular, check that the image has been written correctly.

Creating a bootable floppy disk using a Un*x-like system:

        First, you will need to obtain a local copy of the bootable filesystem
        image as described above.  You should use the signify(1) and sha256(1)
        commands to verify the integrity of the images with the SHA256.sig file
        on the mirror site.

        Next, use the dd(1) utility to copy the file to the floppy drive.
        The command would likely be, under OpenBSD:
                dd if=floppy63.fs of=/dev/rfd0c bs=36b

        If you are using another operating system, you may have to adapt
        this to conform to local naming conventions for the floppy and
        options suitable for copying to a "raw" floppy image.  The key
        issue is that the device name used for the floppy *must* be one
        that refers to the correct block device, not a partition or
        compatibility mode, and the copy command needs to be compatible
        with the requirement that writes to a raw device must be in
        multiples of 512-byte blocks.  The variations are endless and
        beyond the scope of this document.

        If you're doing this on the system you intend to boot the floppy on,
        copying the floppy back to a file and doing a compare or checksum
        is a good way to verify that the floppy is readable and free of
        read/write errors.

        Note that, when installing, the boot floppy can be write-protected
        (i.e. read-only).

[yetoo]

When I tried that command, I got this:

dd: /dev/rfd0c: Input/output error
1+0 records in
0+0 records out
0 bytes transferred in 0.230 secs (0 bytes/sec)

[jggimi]

The command in the documentation is for OpenBSD systems. Do you have OpenBSD installed?

[yetoo]

Yes. Also, the command was executed on an OpenBSD system.

[jggimi]

Then your diskette drive reports an error on write when attempting to write the first sector of the media.

If your installed OpenBSD system can be LAN-connected to the system you are struggling to install to, and ... that system is PXE boot-capable, then you will find guidance for establishing PXE boot via an OpenBSD server in the pxeboot(8) man page.

[Beastie]

You don't have the sliding tab switched to write-protected by any chance?

Also try to eject and insert it again once or twice.

[yetoo]

I got the same output with both read and write and read only switched respectively.

[shep]

Another thought is the bios on the non-booting system.

Usually the bios will report a recognized drive - is the floppy drive recognized? If yes, is it a UEFI bios capable of CMS/legacy booting? Most of what I have seen regarding OpenBSD/GPT/UEFI uses flash images - does floppy63.fs contain a UEFI boot partition?
https://blog.jasper.la/openbsd-uefi-...der-howto.html

[jggimi]

floppy63.fs does not contain anything other than a single FAT filesystem and two files: /usr/mdec/fdboot saved as "boot" and a RAMDISK kernel saved as "bsd" -- but the contains are likely immaterial, because yetoo has not been able to successfully store this image on a diskette.