From: Simon Burge <simonb@wasabisystems.com>

> I finally got another pc532 over the weekend (and a SPARE UNSOLDERED
> BOARD still in it's clear sealed plastic wrap!!) to replace my dead
> unit.

Wow!  If I had one of those, I'd build it a little different that
the one I have now... (The crystal would be in a socket, and the
serial port PLCC sockets would go into soldered 44pin PGA sockets
instead of being soldered directly in. That would help in overclocking
the machine and adding a parallel port, which I haven't attempted
because I'm too chicken to try unsoldering those parts...)

> My first attempts to download a 1.5 floppy/kernel weren't successful
> unfortunately.  I tried:
> 
> 	% tip console
> 	~
> 	NS32000 ROM Debugger
> 	Version: Sat Jan 18 18:58:15 1992
> 	Auto-boot enabled.
> 	RAM free above 0x129c
> 
> 	Command (? for help): download 0x260000
> type "~$./download floppy-144.fs"
> 	~$Local command? ./download floppy-144.fs
> 	away for 25 minutes 44 seconds 
> 	!
> 
> and at this stage got no response.  It's been about *seven* years since
> I've used a '532 - anyone able to help refresh my memory on what I
> should be doing?

Hmm, that should be about right.  I used a SPARCStation LX, ttya
going into tty00 and ttyb going to tty01 on the pc532.  I connected
to the console using "cu -l /dev/ttya".  I then did typed the rom
download command, but with no 0x on the 260000.  Could that be your
problem?

After waiting "forever", the rom came back with something like "crc
ok" and the length of the image.  Then I just typed "run 3be000"
and "md0a:/netbsd.gz" and was in the install program. (Or in the
shell with an error that the install program couldn't be found,
can't remember which images had which behaviour right now.)

> I'm also wondering from Jon's message if that kernel will be very
> useful, in terms of having a working bim on it.

bim seems to work fine, it even puts an image on the disk, I just
don't know exactly what is wrong.  I noticed that the disk image
was the same as the file image at 02000 (as reported by "od -x",
whatever base it uses to print file offsets.)  Perhaps it is using
the wrong offset or something.  Anyway, the install image works
for labeling, partitioning, etc.  I then setup a PPP link on
ttyb-tty01 to transfer the tar balls onto the disk, (an eternity
at 38400 baud as it's 17 megs of stuff instead of 1.4 megs of floppy
image) manually untar them, run /dev/MAKDEV, use bim to install
the bootloader, and then reset the pc532.

At this point, reading the boot loader with "read 2 3be000 50" and
"run 3be020" failed as described, so I downloaded the boot image
again, and did "write 2 3be000 50" to write the image to the disk.
(This assumes the boot partition starts at sector 0 and you are
writing to the one and only boot image bim tried to make.) NOW,
you can reset your machine, type "read 2 3be000 50", "run 3be020",
and "sd0a:/netbsd" to get some message about how you didn't bother
to play with rc.conf. 8^)

I assume that you don't have to bother with the read and run commands
if you have an autoboot monitor, I don't, and mine is living in a
10 year old NVSRAM, so I am beginning to worry about the battery
in it going out, and leaving me with a boat anchor instead of a
computer...  Anyone want to send me an EPROM with an autoboot
monitor burned into it?

Let me know if it works, or what problems you are having, and I'll
try to help out...  Now if I could just figure out how to make pppd
assign an ipv6 prefix to it's link, I'd have my pc532 on the 6bone.
8^)

Jon