[plug] MDK 8.1 Install Blues...

[Anthony Peck]

OK I am replying to my own post now but the answer was...

append="nobiospnp"

...which was a solution I found at...

http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/81errata.php3

...and I quote...

Error scenario: The floppy drive is not accessible for use. 

Why: The PNP_BIOS does not initalize the floppy controller like 
the BIOS. Because of this, you may have difficulty access the 
drive with applications like mount or dd, and will receive 
errors such as "/dev/fd0: No such device or address" or 
"Input/output error". 

Solution: Boot your kernel with the "nobiospnp" option 
specified at the boot command line.

AP

Anthony Peck wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I have installed 8.1 three times (first upgrading 8.0) and
> then clean installs.
> 
> I seem to be missing a heap of /dev files, including fd* files
> needed to access floppy.  Install proceeds fine, even lets me
> make a bootdisk using the floppy drive, but when I try to
> mount /mnt/floppy after install reboot I get...
> 
> mount: /dev/fd0: unknown device
> 
> ...and I can't use /dev/fd0H1440 as I have done before because
> it ain't there!
> 
> Any advice?  My next try was a new CD but that seems extreme!