Re: Getting started...

[Klaus Heinz <heinz%netbsd.org@localhost>]

Allen Briggs wrote:

> 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

I have never used IDE disks with my BeBox, but as I received a disk
IBM DTLA 307030, 30GB) for other purposes yesterday I just tried that disk,
without success:


  com0 at isa0 port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4: ns16550a, working fifo
  com0: console
  com1 at isa0 port 0x2f8-0x2ff irq 3: ns16550a, working fifo
  pckbc0 at isa0 port 0x60-0x64
  pckbd0 at pckbc0 (kbd slot)
  pckbc0: using irq 1 for kbd slot
  wskbd0 at pckbd0
  wdc0 at isa0 port 0x1f0-0x1f7 irq 14

After this line the machine did not continue for 5 minutes (except blinking
with the 4 lower right LEDs) and then I switched it off . Without the IDE
disk it goes as far as the prompt for the boot device.

The disk had no MBR or disklabel, but that should not be important at
this stage.

> 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.

I *think*, when I tested the boot images from the ftp server, the machine
did boot from floppy disk. But as I have a Matrox Millennium/4MB, which
is not supported by those images, I went for a serial console.
For this I had to compile my own kernel (release 1.5), which worked
pretty good with the cross-compiler (i386->bebox) and the instructions at

  ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD-current/src/sys/arch/bebox/stand/README

I encountered a problem with the kernel and the BSS segment, which the
port-maintainer Kazuki Sakamoto seemed to know, because a short C
program he provided could fix the problem (for the program, see the list
archive 2001-01-23).

> Is anyone using SCSI yet, or is that still in the needs-to-get-working
> category?

>From what I found reading the list archive, SCSI seems to be on the todo
list.

ciao
     Klaus