Subject: Re: NetBSD v2.0_RC1, successfully installed on 420R
To: Philip Jensen <phil_jensen@yahoo.com>
From: sideband <sideband@ameritech.net>
List: port-sparc64
Date: 10/01/2004 18:57:36
Let us know if the SMP works.
73 de AI8W, Chris
At 18:32 01-10-04, Philip Jensen wrote:
>Thought members of this mailing list would like to hear a success story
>installing NetBSD onto a Sun 420R.
>
>I got the ISO image of the SPARC64 port for NetBSD 2.0_RC1 from Karsten's
>unofficial site.
>
>My first attempt to install went through with no problems, finding all the
>disks, including the external array (it has a D1000 array connected) no probs.
>Unfortunately when I went to reboot into the installed OS, the secondary
>boot loader barfed. Saying ".... Fast Data MMU Miss". This is not an
>uncommon problem, and a number of boot problems on SPARC64 seem to be
>resolved by updating the OpenBoot PROM. So a quick check of the version
>told me it was version 3.23 (or something similar), it was certainly
>backlevel.
>After going through the rigmirole of updating the OBP (now it's version
>3.31), which required changing a motherboard jumper and the reinstallation
>of Solaris (In hindsight I suspect putting the flash on to a NetBSD FFSv1
>filesystem would have been fine too.) I reinstalled NetBSD v2.0_RC1, and
>this time the first boot of the OS off the internal disks went without a
>hitch. I was on the network, and could see all the disks (2 internal, and
>12 in the external array) in a matter of about 15 minutes from the {ok}
>boot cdrom command. In fact the slowest part on a workgroup server is
>waiting for the memory initialisation during a system reset.
>
>My next task is to compile a Multi-Processor kernel (there wasn't one
>available on the ISO I downloaded, there doesn't seem to be one at the
>releng.netbsd.org site either), and see if it spins up all the CPU's.
>
>It's so nice to install an OS and not have to reompile a kernel just to
>get things like SCSI and network cards working. We use Debian GNU/Linux
>on most of production gear (including SPARCs), with the odd NetBSD machine
>courtesy of yours truly. Fortunately NetBSD is installed on our core
>infrastructure routers.
>
>Thanks for listening.
>
>cheers
>Phil J
>
73 de AI8W, Chris
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