Hi,

This is my first post - i've watched the list for a little while, but i'd like  
to get NetBSD up and running ASAP, so i've decided to just jump in...

Basically, I don't get past the first hurdle.  Run loadbsd -b netbsd, and it  
reports all my hardware correctly (except for calling my machine an A1200??)  
but then it locks up, not getting to the root device> prompt; this is with the  
standard boot floopy from the release distribution...

My setup; B2000 rev 4.4 motherboard, AmigaDOS 3.1, OCS except for a 1MB Agnus,  
GVP Series II SCSI and RAM board with 8MB 16-bit Fast RAM, a Retina Z2 with  
4MB VRAM, an Emplant board with serial ports, a Microbotics VXL-30 full  
030@25MHz + 881, 2MB 32-bit RAM on board, a Micropolis 2210AV 1Gig SCSI2  
drive, a Toshiba XM-3401B CD-ROM drive, and a Power XL high-density floppy  
drive plus the normal single built-in 880K floppy.  I've got a 1084S on the  
ami, and a Tatung multisync on the Retina output.

I tried experimenting a bit more this morning, and using the  
netbsd-almostgeneric.940721 kernel from ..regensburg.. it actually gives me  
the prompt!!  However, with this version, there is still a serious problem;  
since it chooses the Retina output by default, a bug shows up where as soon as  
the screen scrolls, all the characters get totally garbled.  This means of  
course that I can't read what the bloody thing is saying and can't get any  
further with the install.
I've taken the Retina out, and it all seems to work correctly; i'll install it  
like this, but can anyone answer some questions about it all for me?

So, my questions;
1)  Where's the config file for this almostgeneric kernel?  What's the
     differences between it and the release kernel?
2)  I know that loadbsd uses lots of Chip RAM to put the kernel into; where's
     the source for this so I can look at making it use less,
3)  When i've got a working system, will I be able to replace this
     almostgeneric kernel with the full release one (at least till I can build
     one without the devices I don't have), or will it fail to boot again??
4)  It seems to me that my problem is that the release kernel requires more
     than 1MB of Chip; can anyone confirm this, and if so, does that in itself
     mean that I have to use the almostgeneric kernel forever?
5)  If I do replace the kernel with the full one, does it fix the Retina
     scrolling problem?
6)  If i'm stuck with the dodgy scrolling version of the kernel, is this going
     to happen inside NetBSD proper, or is it only the configuration stuff
     that's broken?  If it's going to be this way forever, how do I turn off
     the Retina display permanently, since i'm *NOT* going to take my card out 

     every time I want NetBSD... (bear in mind that i'm kinda stuck if I can't
     see what i'm doing on the default Retina display...)
7)  Can some desperately kind soul build me a kernel that only supports the
     devices i've listed above??  That would certainly cure my problems, but I
     don't want to install the whole thing on to AmigaDOS unless it's my last
     resort...
8)  Last one, honest. :-)  Is there any way to mount the CD drive (which is
     correctly identified at boot time) as the AmigaDOS partition to read the
     various sets off of?  It's a pain to have to copy them to the hard drive
     when they're already on my CD...
    p.s. I have available a CD cutter - if anyone wants a CD with NetBSD on
     and anything else you can think of, mail me...

Well, sorry to bombard you with these newbie questions, but i'm certain it's  
stuff that's not discussed anywhere else... :-)
I work in R&D in Insignia Solutions, makers of SoftWindows PC emulators for  
Mac and UNIX workstations, so feel free to get techy if it helps...

Cheers!
IanW, NetSlut.
ian@isltd.insignia.com   <-- Preferred
isl.wellock@net-link.com