Re: Installing NetBSD on a MicroVax 3900

[Patrick Finnegan <pat%computer-refuge.org@localhost>]

On Saturday 07 June 2008, Mr Ian Primus wrote:
> I found out that MOP is rather picky when it comes to the networking
> devices it'll play with. I kept getting ?4B CTRLERR errors with the
> two computers connected with a Kensington hub. It also did not like
> the Cisco Catalyst 2900 - which makes sense, this is a switch, and
> MOP isn't TCP/IP. Then, I swapped in an old, reliable BayStack hub.
> This seems to work fine. I now get MOP requests on the screen when
> running mopd -d eth0.

Actually, a switch should work fine.  It's a layer 2 device, not a layer 
3 device (like a router).  You may have spanning tree set up on the 
ports, which may cause problems (as it'll take 30 seconds of link 
before the switch passes packets through that port).  I've never had 
any problem with switches or hubs passing MOP packets.

> I have copied the "boot" file from the CDROM and put it in
> /tftpboot/mop, and named it 08002b17fbd5.SYS (the MAC address of the
> Vax's ethernet card). Booting the vax gets MOP requests to show up on
> the screen of the Sun, and on two occasions it seemed to actually
> download the file - lots of stuff scrolled up the Sun's screen,
> network activity blinking... but it wouldn't boot. Once I got the Vax
> to go to 1...0. and then it crashed with an error. Most of the time
> though, it just doesn't load, and goes to "Retrying network
> bootstrap". I have yet to get the Vax to actually execute the code,
> or give any hint of NetBSD or a bootloader.

I strongly suggest using boot.mop (and maybe just the whole distro) from 
NetBSD 1.5.3.  After that version, boot.mop got broken, and I don't 
think that I've had any luck with any release after that point.

Pat
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