Re: Getting started...

[Donn Cave <donn%oz.net@localhost>]

Quoth Allen Briggs <briggs%wasabisystems.com@localhost>:
...
| Rob loaded me up with SCSI disks (thanks!), but it looks like I
| need to get an IDE disk to be able to install onto (unless I want
| to try to run "diskless").  However, I'm currently stuck at the
| booting-from-floppy part.  I have used a NetBSD/i386 system dd both
| generic_vga.fs and inst_vga.fs onto a floppy.  In both cases, the
| floppy light does come on right before it boots BeOS from disk.
| In at least the inst_vga.fs case, I can browse down to the kernel
| within BeOS, so the disk image looks to be OK.
|
| Anyone have any ideas?
| Is anyone using SCSI yet, or is that still in the needs-to-get-working
| category?

The boot floppy (I believe it was inst_vga.fs) works OK for my
late model 603e machine, so so I believe you need some diagnostics.
Or who knows, maybe just write another floppy, I have had pretty
bad luck with those things.  I made mine from BeOS,
$ dd if=inst_vga.fs of=/dev/disk/floppy/raw obs=18k

My video is the stock S3.  If the problem turns out to be that
the floppy kernel can't configure your video, I gather from
recent traffic in this list that you may need to custom build
a kernel + floppy image that configures the serial console
instead.  I have a hunch that you might possibly see something
from earlier in the boot, though, if it's convenient to hook
up a serial console at 19200.  Do you hear the floppy drive
loading off the floppy for several seconds?  It would take
some really noticeable time to load the kernel, otherwise your
immediate problem is not the install kernel.

This is really timely, arrived as I was thinking about what
questions I might need to ask about getting an IDE disk!
My install boot found no disk, which confirms the IDE-only
documentation (I too have only SCSI.)  I'm guessing the
cheap 10Gb IDE drive at the corner PC shop will do just fine,
but if anyone knows of problems with modern IDE drives on
this hardware, don't be shy!

(Since this is my first post here, let me introduce myself
by saying I am NOT bailing out of BeOS, or the modest projects
I'm working on there, I just thought it would be fun to see
NetBSD running on this very under-utilized hardware.  I used
to run NetBSD-Amiga, 0.8 through 1.1.)

        Donn Cave, donn%oz.net@localhost