Re: Creating an i386 root disk that can boot

[Alexander Schreiber <als%thangorodrim.ch@localhost>]

On Mon, Dec 23, 2024 at 02:04:38PM -0800, Joel wrote:
> Hello -- It's that time of year to play with NetBSD 10.1 and some old
> hardware!
> 
> I'm having trouble creating a bootable disk for my old i386 laptop (1998
> Satellite Pro 445). It starts to boot, then fails with an error:
>     NetBSD/x86 ffsv2 Primary Bootstrap
>     Boot failed (errno  2): Can't open /boot
>     Insert system disk in drive.
>     Press any key when ready....
> 
> Can someone advise what I'm failing to do to create an i386 bootable drive?
> 
> I know the CF to IDE adapter works as I can successfully boot an i386
> install image downloaded from netbsd.org.
> 
> Unfortunately this old laptop cannot boot from USB or PXE, and the FD and
> CDROM drives long since died; hence the need to create a bootable image.

My method for dealing with this (e.g. for Alixes): take the system disk
(e.g. CF card), connect to a Sufficiently Fast Machine (TM) and spin up
a suitable VM (e.g. i386) that has both that system disk and a suitable
installer boot medium (e.g. ISO) connected, do the system install that
way and finally put the system disk into the intended machine. Usually
needs some minor fixup (e.g. fixing NIC device names), but I found that
the least effort method.

That's how I've setup PCEngines Alix and APU systems for NetBSD (those
typically only have serial consoles _and_ those usually run at more useful
speeds than 9600).

Kind regards,
           Alex.
-- 
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and
 looks like work."                                      -- Thomas A. Edison