In message <1d35d5914b.eddonnelly@freeuk.com>
          Ed Donnelly <eddonnelly@freeuk.com> wrote:

> I'm thinking of trying to install NetBSD on my SA RPC (emphasis on
> trying).

Yes, it looks quite daunting, doesn't it.  I'm not very far down the
road, but I have been making progress - it's much easier with the 1.6
release, but can still be a steep learning experience.

> I've had a quick look at the installation document and I get
> the feeling that the bulk of my computer wouldn't work with it, so
> rather than spend many hours downloading the kernel et al over my 56k
> modem,

Are you sure you want to do that?  Perhaps, if you ask nicely, someone
would be able to get the essentials onto CD for you.  It takes long
enough over an ADSL line!

> I thought I'd ask here first.
> 
> My hard disc and two CD drives (one a writer) are connected to an APDL
> Blitz card, and unless it's under a pseudonym I don't see the Blitz on
> the list of supported IDE controllers.

No, Blitz is not on the list - in fact I still haven't got the ARCIN
interface going yet.  However, once that is achieved, I would like to
get the Blitz up and running.  In the meanwhile, how about getting a
second disc and installing it on the internal interface?  If you
dedicate an entire drive to BSD, it saves having to mess around
partitioning your existing drive.

> My mouse is a PS/2 optical wheel mouse connected via STD's MiniMouse
> interface, and the list only mentions A7000 PS/2.

I wouldn't expect that to be a problem - after all, the STD interface
is designed to make the microsoft mouse look, to the computer, like a
quadrature mouse.  In any case, the mouse doesn't come into it until
you get X up and running, does it?  If I ever feel inclined to install
X, then I can move a wheelmouse/STD interface from another machine in
order to try this out.

> Finally, my modem is connected to an Atomwide triple port serial
> card - it'd be no hardship to move it to the internal port, but are
> there any plans to support cards like this in the future (I see it's
> in the list of unsupported equipment)?

Well, the beauty of NetBSD (and other freeware Unices) is that it's
all co-operative effort.  Even if you can't offer the necessary
skills, if you can demonstrate the demand, then someone may be
prepared to take this on.

-- 
Peter Bell - peter@bellfamily.org.uk