Well... Things are, uh, "progressing," I think. Yeah. That's the word.

Here's the latest update:

Using a statically-linked cksum to check the intergrity of my distribution
bits, I noted that there were several errors. This probably came about as a
result of some of the source files being loaded while the cache was
enabled. (Argh.)

After replacing a couple pieces, I managed to get the base12G package to
"Extract" without errors. I also popped in the etc12G and kern12G packages.

FWIW, I copied the boot floppy kernel to the hard drive and booted
successfully off of that, although it created its RAM disk, and all that
stuff. The point is that I was able to boot successfully that way.

However... When I boot from the GENERIC kernel, I get a ways, and then drop
into the kernel debuggerer. Here's a reconstruction of what I see, from a
couple lines before the panic:

[...]
fd0 at fdc0 drive 0: 1.44MB 80cyl, 2 head, 18 sec
biomask 4040 netmask 4040 ttymask 4042
vm_fault(0xf880c400, 0, 3, 0) -> 5
kernel: page fault trap, code=0
Stopped at _vfs_op_init+0x18: movl $0,0(%eax)
db>

When I did a ps, I got, roughly:

pid proc       addr    uid ppid pgrp flag stat   em comm   wchan
0   0xf8329a14 0xf837a 000   0   -1   0   000204 2  netbsd swapper


When I boot from the boot floppy, the line that appears immediately after

biomask 4040 netmask 4040 ttymask 4042

is

md0: internal 1537K image area

Also, with both kernels, I get the following message:

WARNING: CYRIX 486DCC CACHE UNCHANGED.

This appears near the beginning of the kernel's messages, and it appears
regardless of whether or not the BIOS lists the internal cache as being
enabled.

If anyone can shed some light on this, I'd be appreciative! I somehow feel
I'm pretty close to having this work. (Either that, or pretty close to
concrete evidence that NetBSD will never run on this hardware!)

PS: Is it possible to use the 486 internal cache? Obviously I can't use it
if it's going to wreak havoc with my disks, but it makes things LOADS
faster when it's enabled. I'd *like* to have it turned on, but only if it
can be done safely.

Thanks in advance for the additional help!

--
        Mason Loring Bliss    /\    mason@acheron.middleboro.ma.us
     www.webtrek.com/mason   /()\   awake ? sleep() : dream();
<barbaric>YAWP!</barbaric>  /    \  Squeak to me of love!