Re: MicroVax 4000/200

["Jan Prunk" <janprunk%gmail.com@localhost>]

Hello Ian,

Thank you for your extended description of the installation process. I
will report it later on this mailing list, if there will be any issues
during my installation.

Kind regards,
Jan

On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 6:14 PM, Mr Ian Primus <ian_primus%yahoo.com@localhost> 
wrote:
> --- On Sun, 6/22/08, Jan Prunk <janprunk%gmail.com@localhost> wrote:
>
>> I have been reading this thread for the last few days, and
>> I am very
>> happy to hear that someone managed to put NetBSD to a drive
>> in
>> Microvax. I was thinking of replacing VMS version 5 with a
>> NetBSD 4.0.
>> but I wasn't sure if it is going to work on my MicroVax
>> 4000/200 ? I
>> would like to see a step by step instructions of the
>> succesfull installation,
>> if someone cares to write it somehwere, it would be very
>> usefull also
>> for the others.
>> I would like to proceed with netboot serving MOP from a
>> linux server, however I
>> couldn't find any MOP related software for Debian,
>> which will act as my stream
>> server.
>
> Well, I just did this on my MicroVax 3900, so I'll list what I did...
>
> I used a Sun Ultra 2 running Debian Linux as a boot server. To boot the Vax 
> via MOP, you need:
> A MOP server running on the Linux box
> The boot.mop file from NetBSD 1.5.3
> The NetBSD 4.0/Vax distribution
> bootparamd server running on the Linux box
> NFS server running on the linux box
>
> Vax with Ethernet
>
> Both computers connected to an ethernet hub - best to keep it separate from 
> the rest of the network for now.
>
> -Install the mopd server on the Linux box (in Debian, apt-get install mopd)
> -create a directory /tftpboot/mop, and copy boot.mop from the NetBSD 1.5.3 
> distro there, naming it xxxxxxxxxxxx.SYS, where the x's are the hardware MAC 
> address of the ethernet card in your VAX (find this by typing SHOW DEV on the 
> VAX, or reading the tag on the board itself)
> -install the NFS kernel server support on your Linux box (in Debian, apt-get 
> install nfs-kernel-server)
> -create directory for the NFS load of the NetBSD distro, and copy the distro 
> there (I used /export/netbsd)
> -export this directory by editing /etc/exports to include it, add a line 
> "/export/netbsd   192.168.0.200(rw,no_root_squash)" where 192.168.0.200 is 
> the IP you're going to give the vax in the next steps.
> -export the above by typing "exportfs -ra"
> -install the bootparams server on the Linux box. (in Debian, apt-get install 
> bootparamd)
> -Configure bootparamd - edit /etc/bootparams to add an entry for your Vax, I 
> entered two lines, one by hostname, and one by IP, for example, 
> "192.168.0.200   root=192.168.0.77:/export/netbsd" and "microvax   
> root=192.168.0.77". (Where 192.168.0.77 is the address of the Linux box) I 
> also edited /etc/hosts to add a line for "microvax". I also installed and 
> configured dhcpd, and set it's range to include only 192.168.0.200, the 
> address I want the Vax to have.
>
> Connect the Vax to an ethernet hub along with the above computer.
>
> On the Linux box, you need to put the ethernet interface ito promiscuous 
> mode. Quick and dirty way to do this, is to run tcpdump on another virtual 
> console, or run it, and put it in the background (control Z). But, it's handy 
> to watch while you're messing with this.
>
> Start mopd by typing "mopd -a -f", this starts it on all interfaces, in the 
> foreground so you can see what's going on.
>
> Fire up the Vax (being careful not to blow fuses...). Once it gets to the 
> chevron prompt, type boot xqa0 (assuming xqa0 is your ethernet board, might 
> have to run show dev to find out).
>
> Cross your fingers.
>
> If all goes well, it should find the MOP server, download the file, and start 
> loading the NetBSD loader. It should then say "Trying BOOTP", then it will 
> use bootparams and should pick up your bootparams server, and get an IP 
> address, as well as the location of your exported distro. If it has problems 
> mounting the NFS share, you'll have to play with permissions a bit (look in 
> /var/log/messages for clues). I ended up clearing the root password on this 
> box, setting it to nothing in trying to work out NFS permissions. I don't 
> know what incantation got it to mount, but I did get it to work.
>
> At this point, if all went well, you can run the NetBSD installer, partition 
> and format disks, and install. If you want to install the rest of the distro 
> from the internet, you can patch your hub into the 'net at this time.
>
> I got this all to work, and it took me a couple days of fiddleing to figure 
> out all the steps, and my documentation here is created from that memory. So, 
> it might not be 100% accurate, and there may be extra steps, the NFS setup is 
> really insecure, and running a box with no root password is silly (keep it 
> off the 'net when it's like that!) But, that's roughly what I did. A word of 
> warning, if your Vax has RA90's, they draw a lot of power, so be sure you 
> have enough juice...
>
> Happy NetBSD-ing.
>
> -Ian
>



--
Jan Prunk <janprunk AT SPAMFREE gmail DOT com>
Website: http://www.prunk.si PGP key: 00E80E86
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