Problem with Netboot and MicroVax trying to install NetBSD

["Ron Olson" <tachoknight%gmail.com@localhost>]

Aloha all-

I have rescued a MicroVAX 3100 from the garbage; it was pulled as a
production machine and still has OpenVMS 6.2 on it. The machine does
boot to VMS and I can log on, do VMS-ish stuff, etc. Of course, what I
really want to do is put NetBSD 4.0 on it. The box is identified as a
KA41-D V1.0 (MicroVAX 3100 M10 KA41-A) that is SCSI based with a tape
drive as its only input source ( i.e. no cd-rom or floppy drives). I
have a thick ethernet-to-rj45 connected on the back and under VMS it
was able to see my home network. Attached to it is a VT420 with a
serial cable that provides the screen and keyboard. It also has two
SCSI disks, a 1 gig and a 2 gig Seagate something-or-other.

Okay, so I downloaded and burned the Vax 4.0 ISO to a disc, so far so
good. I also downloaded and built a x86 NetBSD 4.0 machine just for
the purposes of providing a MOPD server so the Vax can net boot and I
can start the installation.  I followed the instructions on the
installation page, whereby a copied BOOT to /tftpboot/mop, renamed the
file MOPBOOT.SYS started mopd as ``mopd -d -a'', then from the >>>
prompt on the Vax typed ``b/100 esa0'', then at the Bootfile: prompt
typed ``mopboot'' whereby on the x86 machine, I see it makes a
connection immediately, but what I get on the screen of the x86
machine is:

MOP RC 802.3 8:0:2b:1d:a:c8 > ab:0:0:2:0:0 len 46 code 07 SID
MOP RC 8:0:2b:1d:a:c8 > ab:0:0:2:0:0 len 37 code 07 SID
MOP DL 802.3 8:0:2b:1d:a:c8 > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 47 code 08 RPR
MOP DL 8:0:2b:1d:a:c8 > ab:0:0:1:0:0 len 39 code 08 RPR

and then it repeats the third and fourth lines over and over. On the
Vax itself, all I get is ?54 Retry.

I've tried changing the mop filename to the ethernet address, adding
and removing .SYS, tried converting the file to MOP format with
mopcopy, watching the request with tcpdump and moptrace, and I get
nothing more from the vax than ?54 Retry over and over again.

I presumably am doing something wrong, but it feels like I've tried
pretty much everything the docs and Google have to offer with no joy.
Might anyone know what I could do to get NetBSD on this machine? As I
said I don't have a cd rom, or floppy, and I can't seem to get any of
the tapes to mount under VMS, so I'm guessing net boot is the only way
to do it for me.

Thanks,

Tacho