On Mon, Jul 16, 2001 at 10:42:46PM +0200, Håkan Thörngren <Håkan Thörngren wrote:
> I use NetBSD on Sparcs today. I do not own any i386 hardware, but I am
> considering getting a diskless i386 machine.  That is, a machine with
> no HD, CDROM or floppy.  (I might be pursuaded to get a floppy for it,
> but barely).
> 
> I have a NetBSD server (Sparc), have done NetBSD diskless in the past
> on Sun3s.  I have also done some Linux diskless stuff on i386 a couple
> of years ago.  I am reasonably familiar with the procedures.
> 
> Now the two problems as I see it:
> 
> 1. How do I get a Netboot or Etherboot image onto a suitable network
>    card?  I have not yet bought a card, so I am free to choose...
>    For a motherboard I am leaning towards an ABIT VA6.

sys/arch/i386/stand/netboot/ has support for a few network adapters

> 2. How do I make a diskless kernel?  Will GENERIC do for a start, and
>    then a rebuild with more suitable parameters when the system is up?

GENERIC should just work for a diskless machine.

> 
> I do have very LIMITED access to PC hardware, virtually none actually.
> Can it be done, and how?

You need to compile the netboot boot loader. Maybe this can be done from
the linux box without too much trouble.

--
Manuel Bouyer <bouyer@antioche.eu.org>
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