On Fri, 25 Sep 1998, Jon Fullmer wrote:

> I'm certain this is a horribly common issue, and I imagine that there's a
> really simple solution to it.  But I've extensively read through the
> documentation for both NetBSD (Install file) and the read me for the
> Booter, and I can't get it to boot.
> 
> Here's the breakdown. The machine is an LCIII (68030, no FPU) with 36 MB of
> RAM. It's running System 7.1. I've installed NetBSD on an external Quantum
> 260 MB HD at SCSI ID 2. I partitioned the drive using Apple HDSC Setup
> 7.3.5, and I partitioned it into two HFS partitions:  one 256 MB partition
> and one 4 MB partition.  I then used Mkfs to convert the partitions to
> UNIX_SVR partitions.  I set the 256 MB partition as the Root & Usr
> partition and the 4 MB as the swap.  I then installed (using the Installer)
> base.tgz, comp.tgz, kern.tgz, and several others in the binary directory
> (from the FTP site). I "built devices" after it was through. I then made
> certain that 32-bit addressing was on, virtual memory was off, and the
> monitor set to Black & White (1-bit color).  I ran the Booter and changed
> the following settings in the "Booting" option:

You didn't say if you used Mkfs to actually make a file-system. Unlike
MacOS partitioning tools, setting the partition type to 'Root & User' in
Mkfs does exactly that--it doesn't also make a file-system. You have to
do that explicitly, using the pull-down menu.

> I changed the SCSI ID from 0 to 2.
> 
> The rest of the settings were left to default. I then chose to "Boot Now,"
> and I got the following message:
> 
> Booting...Partition -1 is non-existent.
> Could not open kernal "(2,?)netbsd".
> ******** Boot Stopped ********
> Restoring Monitor settings...
> 
> I found mention of this error in the read me for the Booter, and it seems
> clear that there's probably some setting that should be altered, but for
> the life of me, I can't figure out which one it is.  I tried entering
> "NetBSD Root & Usr" into the Partition name field (as that's the default
> name that Mkfs assigned to the partition), but nothing has worked.  What
> should I try?  I confess, I'm a novice at best when it comes to UNIX, but
> I'm a long-time Mac expert, and would love to see what all the buzz is
> about (referring to BSD).  Any help you could offer would be greatly
> appreciated.  Thanks again.

You shouldn't have to enter the name of the partition in the Booter,
unless you have more than one root partition. The "?" in "(2,?)" means
that the Booter didn't find a valid ffs partition in the first place.
Therefore the name is irrelevant.

Supposing you do have a filesystem, and the kernel (at least) was
installed correctly, you should be able to "ls" from the installer's
minishell. If you can't, you'll have to remake the filesystem and
reinstall. Rather than wait 12 hours for the whole thing to complete
before seeing if it's going to work, you could try installing only the
kernel and devices, just to see how that looks in the minishell, before
proceeding. 

With 256M, you should have just about enough room for the man pages,
compiler, X Windows, and a few packages. Getting a system to boot, getting
ppp, then X Windows up, is a little like climbing to the moon with a five
foot ladder--when you get to the top of it, you raise the ladder up over
your head, and climb to the top again. There is definitely work to be done
in that area, but who do you know that uses NetBSD, who doesn't love it?