Re: Question on the images in /miniroot

[<dross00%hotmail.com@localhost>]

OK, I've figured things out.  The only real issue seems to be a kernel 
change which prevents my TT from booting on 4.0.  Every version I've tried 
prior to that boots for me (1.1 up to 3.1.1).

Here's my boot procedure...

Prerequisites:
1.  A TT030 with sufficient memory, 1.44mb floppy drive, SCSI HD with a 
bootable TOS install.
2.  A blank floppy disk.
3.  The TT Advanced Utilities Disk.  Mine is labeled HDX 5.03.
4.  A PC with a floppy drive (mine's running Windows)

I used GEMExplorer first to image the SCSI HD so I can revert to the 
original TOS install at any point.  Since this doesn't seem to work on XP or 
above, I installed WinME on a spare PC with an Adaptec 2940AU.  There are 
easier ways to rip a SCSI disk but this is what I've done in the past and 
know to be reliable.

As described above, the 4.0 kernel appears to have a bug.  It's not clear if 
it's just my hardware, but I suspect this will happen on any TT030.  As 
described in my previous mail, the 4.0 kernel locks up on boot after "kbd0 
at mainbus0".  I'm not sure if this is a TT030-specific kernel bug or what's 
going on.  (Perhaps related to Izumi Tsutsui's change here: 
http://mail-index.netbsd.org/port-atari/2007/03/oindex.html ???)  I also 
suspect it may have something to do with the floppy driver, which is what 
I've seen load just after that kbd0 line on bootable kernels.

Here are the explicit steps I followed to get booted up:

1.  On a Windows, format one floppy as a 1.44mb disk.
2.  Copy netbsd-BOOT.gz from the latest known-good NetBSD distribution to 
the floppy.  For me, that's 3.1.1.
3.  Rename the file on the floppy to netbsd.gz just to avoid issues with 
long filenames.
4.  Copy gzip.ttp and loadbsd.ttp to the floppy.
5.  Boot up the TT030 to the hard drive.
6.  In TOS, make a new directory on the hard drive and copy the files from 
the floppy there.
7.  Double-click gzip.ttp from the hard drive.
8.  As the command line parameters, use "-d netbsd.gz"
9.  Once gzip is done extracting the file, turn off the TT030.
10.  Turn on the TT030.  As soon as the power light goes on, hold down the 
"Alternate" key.  Once the memory tests pass and the hard-drive countdown 
starts, release Alternate and press it a couple of times, then hold it down 
again.  With Alternate held down, press Esc and wait a few seconds.  The 
TT030 will boot to TOS stored in ROM.
11.  Put the TT Advanced Utilities Disk in the drive.  Run AHDI.PRG.
12.  In TOS, select the menu option to "Install Devices."  Hard drive icons 
will appear.
13.  Open the hard drive and run loadbsd.ttp from the directory previously 
created.
14.  As the command line parameters, use "-b netbsd"
15.  Observe NetBSD boots to the root: prompt.

Since the NetBSD Atari install is an off-hours hobby for me right now I 
haven't gotten a chance to get any further yet.  I just wanted to document 
these procedures so anybody else looking to install NetBSD on their TT030 
doesn't get tripped up by the formal install doc, which is not particularly 
intuitive.

David Ross
dross%pobox.com@localhost


--------------------------------------------------
From: <dross00%hotmail.com@localhost>
Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 1:27 AM
To: <port-atari%netbsd.org@localhost>
Subject: Re: Question on the images in /miniroot

> So I got my TT and I've been attempting to boot NetBSD to get an install 
> going.  Being an Atari newb, I'm having a tough time...
>
> It seems I can trigger a boot off the floppy by holding Alt for a while 
> during boot.  I haven't quite gotten this down to a science yet though --  
> sometimes I end up booting to the HD regardless.
>
> It looks like the various filesystem images in the 4.0 release /miniroot 
> directory aren't bootable floppies.  Or at least I wasn't able to boot to 
> them.
>
> The furthest I got was being able to drop the boot kernel onto the hard 
> drive and then using loadbsd.ttp to kick off a netbsd boot.  Unfortunately 
> boot would hang immediately after the following line:
> kbd0 at mainbus0
>
> This would happen with both the BOOT and ATARITT kernels.
>
> So then I decided to do a little digging in the archive and found that 
> NetBSD 1.6 shipped with what really does appear to be a bootable floppy. 
> So I booted it up.  It's unclear to me if I'm just booting into TOS 
> running out of ROM or if I'm really booting up the disk -- I just get a 
> low res TOS desktop.  From there I can launch loadbsd with the "-b netbsd" 
> command line. But unfortunately I just get dumped right back into TOS. 
> Same thing if I try dropping the files on the hard drive and executing 
> them from there after booting into the TOS living on the hard drive.
>
> I'm not sure where to go with this next...  I guess what would help me the 
> most is if someone could describe a known-good way to boot NetBSD on a TT. 
> As in -- which release and which files to grab.  This machine has 10mb ST 
> RAM, 16mb TT RAM, and 1gb of disk.  No weird hardware is installed.  So 
> I'm surprised it doesn't "just work."
>
> David Ross
> dross%pobox.com@localhost
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: <dross00%hotmail.com@localhost>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 9:27 PM
> To: <port-atari%netbsd.org@localhost>
> Subject: Question on the images in /miniroot
>
> > I'm going to be installing NetBSD on a TT030 a little later this week. 
> > After reading through the install doc, I'm still unclear on the 
> > differences between the three filesystem images (miniroot.fs, prepare.fs, 
> > sysinst.fs).
> >
> > I'm guessing that I first boot off of miniroot.fs and then I'll be 
> > prompted for the other two as necessary.  Is this correct?
> >
> > It's also unclear to me if the boot floppy supports the Riebl NIC so I 
> > can install off the net, or if I'll need to go find a SCSI CD-ROM drive 
> > to install from.
> >
> > Sure I could find out by experimentation but I'd just like to save a 
> > little time.  =)
> >
> > David Ross
> > dross%pobox.com@localhost