>sd0 at scsi ID 0.
>sd1 at scsi ID 1.
>       scsi ID 2 - not responding to Mode Sense.
>       scsi ID 3 - not responding to Mode Sense.
>       scsi ID 4 - not present.
>       scsi ID 5 - not present.
>       scsi ID 6 - not present.
>
>sd0 and sd1 are quantum LPS230's one internal, one external. ID 3 is the
>internal CD-ROM drive and ID 2 is the MO. the drive selection dialog box
>then appears with only ID's 0 and 1 enabled. The older version of Mkfs
>(can't find a version#) lets me select the drive, but has no default values
>so it craps out, of course.

The message "not responding to Mode Sense" basically means the drive is 
there but it refused to answer to the Mode Sense command.  The Mode Sense 
is used by "mkfs" to get the drive geometry, and the failure to get the 
info is not necessary fatal.  Mkfs 1.4 should still let you select the 
drive and zap partitions and/or initialize them as required for NetBSD.  
It will complain about missing drive parameters, but it should select 
some default values that will work on the drive.  If not let me know.  
It's possible I haven't posted the version of mkfs with those changes in 
them yet.

-bob