From: "der Mouse"<mouse%Rodents-Montreal.ORG@localhost>
To: port-sparc%NetBSD.org@localhost
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 3:13:45 PM
Subject: Re: Re (6): installing NetBSD on a Sparcstation 2.
Ugh... 2GB limit for the / filesystem when using anything but the
2.9 PROM, from what I've gathered.
For the boot filesystem, more likely. NetBSD can work just fine with
boot and root on separate filesystems, though (at least in my
experience) you usually need a custom-configured kernel, or be willing
to type some stuff on the console at every boot.
Even then, if it's the usual problem (ROMs not knowing how to use
10-byte CDBs), the limit is 1G, not 2G (small CDBs support block
numbers from 0 to 0x1fffff). And it's not a limit on filesystem size
per se, but rather, the limit is that every disk block read using the
ROM routines must be below the line; a large filesystem is fine if the
blocks of interest are all low down - but, with most filesystems,
that's difficult to ensure short of capping overall filesystem size.