[syslinux] booting a 486 laptop

[Ian Molton]

Hi.

Im tryuing to boot a 486 laptop with syslinux. I want to boot from a CF
card in an IDE adapter, plugged into the IDE interface.

my procedure is:

fdisk (create 1 partition, mark it bootable)
mkfs.vfat (format it)
syslinux /dev/disc/partition
copy bzImage to the partition and rename it LINUX

this fails either with a blinking cursor and no text, or a 'Boot failed'
prompt.

if I format and syslinux the card with win2k (formated as 'FAT' (not
sure which type it doesnt say)) then I can get a syslinux prompt,
however it seems unable to find the kernel image.

also, why does syslinux require mtools?

I'd like to use mformat to format the card but Im unsure as to what
parameters to pass (I have a 32MB and an 8MB card available.

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