[GLLUG] boot strap

[STeve Andre']

On Monday 09 May 2005 17:34, tk3000 wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I was in the process of doing backups of my hds in the form of images.
> But I am in doubt with respect to the area of the hd corresponding to
> the boot code/strap; I am extracting the boot code and partition table
> separately, which, for the boot strap, would be something like:
>
> A) dd if=/dev/hda of=/mnt/backup.MBRBOOTSTRAPONLY bs=446 count=1
> or
> B) dd if=/dev/hda of=/mnt/backup.MBRBOOTSTRAPONLY bs=448 count=1
>
> So, my question is: which is the correct, or more correct; or if the 2
> bytes are irrelevant (being one of those reserved areas defined at the time
> the xt was launched, and never being used...). I have some sources that
> indicate 446 and others that indicate 448; so, I am not quite sure.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Pedro Wald

I can't speak to the byte specifics of your machine and OS, but the classic
bootstrap loader is 446 bytes.  However, it isn't at the beginning of the
disk, is it?  Regardless of that, there is the partition table in general to
think of.  I'd make sure I have the software to create a new set of 
partitions, and know the sizes of everything on the disk, rather than
make an image backup of it.  Know how to create it and you can always
do that.  Make an image and you may (will?) have problems using it
anywhere else.  For backups, I prefer good old plain stupid tar.  You
can then move things to a new disk and extract what you want, etc.

--STeve Andre'