Subject: Re: NetBSD with 4mb ram
To: Julio Merino <jmmv@hispabsd.org>
From: Martin Weber <Ephaeton@gmx.net>
List: port-i386
Date: 05/23/2002 18:26:32
On Thu, May 23, 2002 at 06:12:07PM +0200, Julio Merino wrote:
> On Thu, May 23, 2002 at 06:04:15PM +0200, Martin Weber wrote:
> > On Thu, May 23, 2002 at 05:58:30PM +0200, Julio Merino wrote:
> > 
> 
> Uh, I've received your answer before my own message. lol
> 
> > I've ran 1.5.2 on my "phaeton" and now am running -current from start of may on
> > it. "Phaeton" is a toshiba t3400 w/ 4mb ram, 486dx2/66 laptop with 120 MB of
> > disk (32 MB of it being swap), and a pcmcia ne. I'm not running X on it, but

Uhm, ugh, Phaeton is my desktop, the laptop is "hermes" :)
> 
> Nice :) Mine is a 386sx 16mhz with 105mb of hard disk (I got linux slack 3.4
> on it fine). Though, I have an old 520 disk laying around that I may place
> into it (hope it works...)

Better do that, you'll need massive swap for a usable machine w/ 4 MB ram,
and that means you have only about 70 mb left for the base system, which is,
when you want to install some more tools, about too less :>

> The problem is that it does not have an ethernet card, nor pcmcia. I may
> get a parallel cable to use plip, though.

No plip on netbsd (go search for a pr which brought plip on nbsd _1.3_ !!,
it said there is no interest in PLIP and thus the pr got closed w/o merging into nbsd),
I was quite disappointed to see that, but luckily I had pcmcia :) You better
have a serial cable around, or you'll do what I started with (bought the pcmcia
ne after my third install): floppy installs :))) They _ROCK_ :>

> 
> > four consoles with window(1). It rocks. (yes, I'm quite low on space, but thx
> > to syspkgs I even have cc & gdb on it :).
> 
> Heh, I'm not used to window, but screen roolez IMHO. Btw, syspkg's are

Imho screen is too fat for such mini machines, and window already is in
the base system. Less capabilities, less size :)

> -current only, right? Are they already working? :O

Partially. The system can be packaged with those and you can do a full build,
make register then, and start deinstalling from your DESTDIR with pkg_delete
until you hit the upper bound of your disksize. As I said, they aren't bearing
dependancies yet, and you can easily ... *bang* your feet with 'em :) (like,
my first attempt gave me the following:

NetBSD/i386 (hermes.entropie.net) (console)

login: root
Shared object "libkrb5.so.18" not found

NetBSD/i386 (hermes.entropie.net) (console)

login: _

(didn't know we need kerberos for a non-kerberozed system :p)).
I asked jwise about the status of the syspkgs, and he said that currently
not much work is going into them, but he wants to continue on it after 1.5.3
is out (and I want to help him:) And imho they're not only on -current, see
if you have a distrib/syspkg directory and explore the comments/Makefiles
there :)

> 
> > If you have more diskspace (advisable :p) you'll be running fine with any 1.5 :)
> > If not, a whole lot of twiddling and multiple installs (syspkgs have no dependancies,
> > easy to miss stuff) will wait for you.
> 
> NFS may be the solution if I can get -current on it ;)

NFS via slip - yay - :) In your place, I'd try to install the 520 on it...

-Martin