On Sun, 31 Dec 2000, der Mouse wrote:
> Not that it helps your particular problem much, since it seems you're
> having trouble getting it to see the partition - I daresay once it can
> open the partition it'll have no trouble finding the kernel in it.

I read the technotes on OpenFirmware, and now know a tiny bit more about
it :)

A "dev /packages/mac-parts see open" shows that that message is coming
from part-valid? And a "see part-valid?" says:
: part-valid?
  pmbfr >pmsig 2c@-be kpmsig = pmbfr >pmparttype " Apple_HFS" comp 0= pmbfr
  >pmparttype " Apple_Boot" comp 0= or and ; ok

I have no idea what "2c@-be" means, but I pretty much grok the rest of
it... it looks like the code returns true if pmsig = kpmsig (which is
0x504d, the "PM" magic number) and (pmparttype = " Apple_HFS" or
pmparttype = " Apple_Boot"). My NetBSD partitions are type
"Apple_Unix_SVR2", so OF thinks they're invalid.

So, my questions to those who actually know something about OpenFirmware
(unlike me :) are 1) is it possible to modify that code (and make the
change semi-permanent... something about nvramrc, maybe?), and 2) is it
safe and useful to do that? :)

> > 3) I occasionally get "Spurious interrupt" messages.
>
> Me too, though in my case they're "sprious interrupt" (yes, missing
> vowel and lowercase).  But I'm running 1.4T, not 1.5.

I looked, and mine are actually "spurious interrupt" (lowercase)... I
saw the "sprious interrupt" while I was booted with an older (1.5K?)
snapshot from the ftp site, in order to compile the latest and greatest
stuff... looks like someone fixed the typo :)

> Under ill-defined circumstances apparently having something to do with
> high traffic rates, gm0 on the iMac gets into a state where it seems to
> work briefly and then fall over for several seconds; pinging a host on
> the same hub will produce RTTs indicating that a blip of ten or so
> packets was stalled, then all went through at once.  Then it will go
> out for ten or twenty seconds, then another blip will get through.

Ah, yeah, I tried keeping a ping running, and when the bad thing
happens, I see the same stuff with the RTTs. However, for, me
ifconfiging it down and back up seems to cure the problem (temporarily).