On Tue, Sep 09, 2003 at 10:38:42AM +0100, David Laight wrote:
> > Especially given that the installboot manpage (at least on i386) is flat out
> > wrong right now - if you install bootxx_ffsv1 with /usr/sbin/installboot,
> > your system Will Not Boot. I have an old 80386 here that I recently wanted
> > to switch to serial console, and tried to installboot the new bootblocks (I
> > found that there are no biosboot_com<whatever> bootblocks in -current
> > anymore, apparently) and the system came up saying something about not being
> > able to run BASIC, in a gross 40x25 font on the monitor.
> 
> You need to see the error mssage aoutput just before you bios decides that.
> (most use that bios call as a 'boot failed' entry, although it is indeed
> a request to run the ROM resident BASIC interpreter in order to boot
> from cassette tape!)

Given the age of this machine and some of the esoteric features I've found
in its BIOS (such as an option to make it able to run 80286 code) it doesn't
surprise me that it uses it as the ROM resident BASIC interpreter call...

> Most probably you forgot to copy /usr/mdec/biosboot to /boot

Shouldn't installboot do that?
I'm pretty sure I did it at least one of the times I tried it. And the ONLY
error it displayed was "CANNOT RUN RESIDENT BASIC"This machine is not fast
enough at booting that its easy to miss an error message. I see the video
card BIOS, a lengthy ram test (for only 8MB), a beep, a blank screen for ~
60 seconds, then the BASIC message.

> 
> > What is the proper method for making an i386 machine boot serial console
> > now? (without reverting to bootblocks that, from all i can tell, are no
> > longer built)
> 
> installboot -o console=com0 -o speed=9600 /dev/rwd0a /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv1

Ok, assuming that is what I did, I still wonder why it doesn't copy biosboot
to /boot, or at least say "Don't forget to copy biosboot to /boot" a-la
config's "don't forget to make depend" message.

When you're used to installboot's syntax being "installboot
biosboot_com0.sym /dev/rwd0a" and not ever having to touch /boot manually,
it can be really easy to forget :-)

FWIW, the old installboot did that for you. I never touched /boot myself,
yet the date on is is sept. 6, which is the date I got the machine back up
and running with the old /usr/mdec/installboot.

-Sean

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