Hi, all

Thank you for your kind responses. I solved the problem with the suggestions
from you. The procedure is as follows:

1.Make the boot floppy pair using the image files provided.
2.Boot the laptop using the floppy pair.
3.Start the sysinst, select installing source from floppy
4.download the binary set files and split them one by one into 1.4M files.
Taking etc.tgz as an example, suppose that it was separated into: etc.aa till
to etc.ab
5.copy the splits onto the floppy and insert into the laptop following hints
on the screen
6.sysinst may ask for etc.ac (sysinst supposes more splits than I have).
Make zero-length files on the floppy with the name that sysinst asked. 
7. that's all, sysinst accept the zero length file!

So I do not bother how to determine the split size. 

It took me about 2 hours to install all sets without X. Though it's a bit
painful, finally I'm so happy that my antique laptop can run netbsd.

Hope it's helpful for some of you and many thanks again.

Tao


> Re. http://mail-index.netbsd.org/port-i386/2004/01/03/0002.html
> 
> I don't believe that split sets are distributed any longer.
> 
> I believe that the optimal split-size was found by getting the greatest
> common divisor of 1.2MB and 1.44MB (5.25" and 3.5") (or was that 1.2MB
> and 720KB? probably the same factor either way) and splitting the files
> into blocks of that size.  N blocks would fill one disk, M would fill
> the other.
> 
> If you just want one disk type, you can split to about as many bytes as
> will fit on one disk.
> 
> 
> Secondly, speaking as someone who *has* created a set of floppies for
> installation (and then used them) I *strongly* recommend that you exhaust
> all other options, first.  (^&  As someone else said, it's painful and
> boring.
> 
> A few years ago, I wanted to install NetBSD on a laptop that couldn't
> read the (CD-R media) CDs I had.  I didn't create a stack of floppies,
> though.  Instead, I created a single boot floppy, booted NetBSD, and
> then used "slattach" to set up a SLIP network line to another NetBSD
> box and did the install that way.  NetBSD supports network installs
> via FTP, and presumably also via NFS.  (NetBSD install kernels/userland
> do not support PPP.  I guess PPP is too hefty to fit onto an install
> kernel, but SLIP is easy.)
> 
> Another way that people have outlined in the past is to move the HD
> >from the one computer and install it temporarily into another computer.
> Do the OS installation on the other computer, then put the HD back.
> 
> 
> It's nice that it is possible to install NetBSD from floppies, but
> floppies are so small and cramped that I would not care to repeat
> the process.
> 
> -- 
>   "I probably don't know what I'm talking about." 
> http://www.olib.org/~rkr/
> 

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