--On Sunday, April 14, 2002 13:55 -0400 gabriel rosenkoetter 
<gr@eclipsed.net> wrote:
> On Sun, Apr 14, 2002 at 12:19:32PM -0400, Mark E. Perkins wrote:
>
> What does file(1) say about your color X server?
>
> If it's an a.out binary, then it's working at all because you have
> a.out emulation switched on in your kernel (which is probably the
> case in the snapshot you installed). Sure enough, in the GENERIC
> config:
>
> options   COMPAT_AOUT_M68K # compatibility with NetBSD/m68k a.out
> options   EXEC_AOUT # support for exec'ing a.out
>
> So you need a.out versions of these libs installed under wherever
> COMPAT_AOUT_M68K looks for its files (/emul/a.out_m68k?).
>
> Or, you need to recompile the X server for ELF.

file(1) says it's a NetBSD/m68k executable, but I think I knew that.

I see the error in my thinking (kernel compatibility w/ a.out binaries by 
default does *not* mean the appropriate libraries are installed by 
default). I also had a look at the README for upgrading to ELF, which 
explains to deal with libraries for compatibility (/emul/aout is the 
place). So now it works.

As another educational exercise, I think I'll recompile for ELF.

Thanks for the help,
Mark