At 8:13 PM -0500 7/25/01, Dave Burgess wrote:

:)I've been an i386 user for years.  I now have three Macs that I'd really like
:)to start using NetBSD on.

OK, cool.

:)The problem is that they are completely naked machines.  No OS, nothing.

No problem.  You will have issues if you try using your screen as console
without some nvram patches, otherwise the 7600 should be OK (tho it's best
to apply the patches anyways).

:)It's not like I'm new at this: I've been working with NetBSD since 0.8.
:)
:)I've been through the MacPPC FAQ front to back.  I've been through 4 years
:)of news archives.  I've been at this since 6PM last night (it is now 8PM).
:)The only break I've taken is a few hours at work and 4 hours of sleep last
:)night.  I'm driving myself quietly MAD.....
:)
:)Is there any hope that I can get this thing working?

I hate to say this to someone who's obviously been around for a while, but
have you tried reading the INSTALL notes?

They spell out in gory detail:
a) supported hardware, and how to figure out what quirks your model has
b) how to get System Disk booted on your machine with the nvram patches
c) how to create the bootable NetBSD media (floppies, CDs, etc)
d) how to enter open firmware
e) how to set up open firmware to boot NetBSD
f) commands to use in open firmware to boot various models from various media

If you have indeed read the INSTALL notes and still can't make heads or
tails, please let me know how to improve them.

Good luck,
  -- MW