On Mon, 28 Jun 1999, Henry B. Hotz wrote:

> At 12:12 AM -0700 6/25/99, Keiki_Sunagawa@yokogawa.co.jp wrote:
> >99/06/25 15:48:53, robert wrote:
> >
> Actually I think this is a good question.  What format *is* the boot
> floppy?  I don't understand how it can be a format that OF understands, but
> that MacOS doesn't.  Is there any reason why whatever the boot file is
> can't be created under NetBSD and then just binary copied to a normal MacOS
> format floppy a la LinuxPPC?  It would make it a lot easier for some people
> to get started.

The boot floppy is in the same format as macppc disks. There is a NetBSD
disklabel along with a hacked up macos partition table. The only valid
partition in this table is a "driver" partiton with knows how to load
ofwboot. ofwboot then knows how to read ffs filesystems and load the
kernel.

> If we need the funny-format floppy then it would be nice if someone would
> make DiskCopy images available.  Someone did that for one image a while
> ago, but that one doesn't work on my 8500.  (The latest one works fine.)

I think the boot floppies are real easy to use if you already have a
NetBSD box. I'm working on getting somethign easier for new users.

Take care,

Bill