On Sun, 2 Mar 1997, Bill Studenmund wrote:

> > I have been trying fot the last three weeks to run BSD on both a MacIIx
> > and an LC II. And have tried 1.2, generic-77, and generic-78. Booted
> > from systems 7.5, 7.5.3, and 7.5.5. Used booters 1.9.4 and 1.9.6.
> >
> > The basic quest should be for stability in the system. I experienced
> > random drops into the debugger, segmentation errors, random freezes and
> > a few really wierd problems such as logining in as a user and getting a
> > quazi-root connection that only power down could clear.

The segmentation faults and random freezes... do you have a FPU (Math
Coprocessor)?  If not, you need the fpu-less math libs.  I forget where
you can find them, but info is available at http://www.macbsd.com/macbsd
However, that doesn't quite sound like the problem, offhand.  Those would
probably have been illegal instruction errors....

If you have a coprocessor, then it sounds like you either downloaded a bad
copy of the kernel or a strange development version that had problems --
or perhaps you're using the netbsd12 "distribution" kernel.  That kernel
had many problems on many different systems for various reasons, and you
would be well advised to update to a current GENERIC kernel from
ftp.macbsd.com.  Also, though it's unlikely, if replacing the kernel
doesn't help, try getting a clean copy of base12 and installing that.
It's possible that one of the libraries is creamed and is causing multiple
programs to flake out.

> > For now, I'm pulling out an old '386 and using Linux, as NetBSD is not
> > stable enough, in my opinion, for even basic or casual use.

Eeewwww.  The last experience with Linux I had on an x86, the system
crashed once per day, sometimes twice, it was slow as heck, and that was
on a Pentium Pro....  Linux is _not_ as stable as NetBSD by any stretch of
the imagination.  Ironically, my MK Linux (microkernel linux) box (a
PowerMac) has the same basic problem as the other box, even though it's
using a year newer linux sources... but its crashes are only once a week
or so, because the load is lower.  The symptoms?  Suddenly a process
(first time, it was X, second time, it was named) causes the entire linux
server to crash, the screen is filled with a long debug message, and the
system dies.  Same thing happened with the monolithic linux on the pentium
I mentioned, and in fact, the general consensus of everyone around here
who I've talked to is that linux is not stable enough to use for _any_
production environment, even a low-load environment, unless you're willing
to reboot it daily.  puma.macbsd.com, the host site for the mac port of
NetBSD, has been running OpenBSD (almost the same thing, and the mac part
is the same) for... how long now?  60 days?  More?  Previously, it ran
NetBSD for periods of more than 60 days with ease.  And it's not too slow
for an "old" mac....

> I am not experiencing any of the difficulties you describe, nor are
> a number of other users. The IIx should have had no problems as NetBSD
> has been running on it for many years. I'm not sure of the status for
> the LC II, but it should be fine for serial console work.

The LC II should work as long as you have a fairly current kernel, I
believe.  The adb was supported _after_ netbsd12, I think (or was that
after netbsd11?) so it'd be a good idea (tm) to use a -current...
probably....

> I personally have been running NetBSD on my IIsi for almost two years,
> and I find it stable-enough for more than casual use. I have found it
> sufficiently stable to port Netatalk to NetBSD in general. I have also
> found it sufficiently stable to develop new drivers on it (as opposed
> to having to use a seperate system for development).

NetBSD on my IIsi for over a year.  Gosh, you had a lot of patience with
serial consoles.  :-)

> As this is a volinteer project, you get what you pay for. Though the
> only known, glaring bug is the LC040 incompatability (which I think
> affects neither of the machines you describe). Though I am sorry you
> encountered the problems you describe, they sound to me like they
> result from a damaged installation rather than errors in the underlying
> code. So please be careful about blaming NetBSD for problems more
> likely due to a corrupted file system. The only time I have had weird
> problems were when some of my programs were damaged. A partial
> re-installation fixed the problem.

Good call.  It does sound like an install problem, either damaged files
or an incomplete install.  Either that or a problem with the ncrscsi
driver, which could corrupt the filesystem.  Switching to an sbc-based
(GENERICsbc) kernel would help that.

Later,

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