Thanks for the suggestions; I now have the installer running.  FYI, I was
using the NetBSD iso image provided by www.linuxiso.org;  it appears that
the kernel included with this image is incorrect.  I finally got the
installer running using the following procedure:

1. Create an iso image containing:
	- the binaries from ftp.netbsd.org.
	- the bootloader "ofwboot.elf" from macppc/install
	- the *unzipped* install kernel "netbsd.ram" from macppc/install
2. Boot MacOS and copy "ofwboot.elf" to the first HFS+ partition.
3. Re-boot to the OF prompt, boot the install kernel using:
	boot hd:9,ofwboot.elf cd:0/NETBSD.RAM

In retrospect, this sequence is pretty clear (OF3 has to load the
bootloader from an HFS partition, but the bootloader has too load the
kernel from an non-HFS partition).  It takes few passes through the
installation notes to really grasp this, however.

	Cheers,
		Andrew


P.S. Pity the iso images on ftp.netbsd.org are currently unavailable,
otherwise I could have saved a great deal of time :-(




On Wed, 17 Jan 2001, Manuel Bouyer wrote:

> On Wed, Jan 17, 2001 at 11:46:11AM -0800, Andrew Howard wrote:
> > 
> > Hi folks:
> > 
> > I was hoping you might have some advice for a NetBSD (and
> > Mac) newbie.  I have been trying to install NetBSD 1.5 on my iMac DV
> > (OF 3.0 with latest firmare), but I have been unable to successfully boot
> > an installation kernel.  I have tried a number of variations, without
> > success.
> > 
> > Variation 1: As per the installation notes, I tried booting
> > the (unzipped) netbsd.ram.gz kernel from an HFS+ partition.  OF seems to
> > find the file, but bombs out with a "CLAIM failed" error.  
> > 
> > Variation 2: As an experiment, I tried copying the netbsd.macppc kernel
> > found in the root directory of the iso-cd images to an HFS+ partition.
> > This will boot, but it stops and asks me for the root fs.  Since I dont
> > have a root fs, I can only assume that this is not an installation
> > kernel.  If I continue with this installation, it will bomb out with a
> > "panic: no init" error.
> 
> This one should have a ramdisk, I believe. Otherwise the CD wouldn't work
> either. do you have 'md0' in the list of possible device ?
> 
> --
> Manuel Bouyer <bouyer@antioche.eu.org>
> --
>