Re: Suitable host to (cross-)build NetBSD?

[Alan Barrett <apb%cequrux.com@localhost>]

On Mon, 05 Sep 2011, Thomas Mueller wrote:
> I installed NetBSD 5.1_STABLE amd64 on a Kingston Data Traveler 
> 16 GB (USB stick).  That booted but would go into instant reboot 
> if I tried anything relating to X, like startx or even Xorg 
> -configure .

Please submit a bug report using send-pr (if you have 
a working NetBSD system), or the web interface at 
<http://www.netbsd.org/support/send-pr.html>.

Several of your problems are really bugs or missing features in 
NetBSD, and it would be helpful if you could report them formally, 
with a separate report for each problem.  When a single email 
message reports many problems, it's unlikely that anybody will 
track them all.

> There would still be the problem of booting.  I would need to 
> cross-compile a good Linux system and build the latest version 
> of GRUB2, now at 1.99, be able to set the configuration.  I see 
> FreeBSD ports collection has grub2 at v1.98; NetBSD pkgsrc has 
> no grub2.  Maybe NetBSD won't boot with grub2?

I think NetBSD can boot from grub2, but why don't you want to use 
the native NetBSD boot loader?

> Then there is the problem of how to access the GPT partitions, 
> handled so much better in Linux and FreeBSD than in NetBSD. 
> MAKEDEV only goes up to dk7 and rdk7 in /dev.  Maybe I could go 
> into /dev and ./MAKEDEV dk8 rdk8 dk9 rdk9 (and so on)?

Yes, that should work, except just use ./MAKEDEV dk8 dk9, not rdk8 
rdk9.  The "r" devices are made at the same time as the non-"r" 
devices.

--apb (Alan Barrett)