On Wednesday, December 8, 2004, at 12:48  AM, Ed Schouten wrote:

> In the FAQ, I read that you could boot NetBSD from a small Mac OS 
> install or
> from a bootable floppy, with Booter. Does any of you guys know if it is
> possible to do an automated bootup on these things?
>

I wouldn't recommend a floppy but you might be able to get away with 
creating a bootable CD if you have the tools and experience. I have two 
Quadra 840av's that boot unattended (without monitors, keyboards, etc.) 
all the time. The majority of the time, I simply access them via SSH 
from a terminal window in OS X on my main machine. Otherwise, they just 
sit there, working unceasingly, protecting my network, without 
complaint.

Occasionally, when I do something wrong with a kernel compile, I will 
have to hook up a keyboard and boot into single user mode. But, 
(recommendation coming) I _DO_ have them both attached to a 4-port USB 
KVM Switch box, which is connected to my main monitor. At the push of 
the button, I'm working on the console of either one of my NetBSD 
machines.

Here's the key:

Simply create a Mac OS partition on the Mac's hard drive and install a 
minimal System Folder and Applications. I use System 7.6.1 on a 25MB 
partition. Then what you do is place an alias of the booter application 
into the Startup Items folder.

BUT FIRST...

1) Make sure everything is booting properly.

2) Edit the preferences of the booter application to pause 10 seconds 
(or more) before loading and booting NetBSD. This gives you time to do 
a Command-. to cancel the boot process if you need to do something 
(like upgrade or use the machine as a Macintosh).

3) Save your preference settings in the booter application.

Once you do all of this, you can basically disconnect all monitors and 
keyboards, and it should boot all the way into NetBSD upon power up. 
There is some mention in the archives about the boot process hanging 
without a monitor attached, but I can't recall if I ever had the 
problem. A mac-to-svga monitor adapter will help this, or, as a 
recommended earlier, a KVM switch box is very handy.

Best regards,

Ron

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