At 5:22 AM -0600 12/20/01, you wrote:

:)    First let me say that I'm real excited about joining the NetBSD
:)community.

Cool!  Welcome aboard.

:)my first time using a Unix(-like) OS, and I really need your help!

First-time unix-like user, and Mac owner?  I'd suggest starting with MacOS
X.  Your hardware should handle it admirably, if you've got enough RAM.
There's a really handy utility at www.macsales.com to help get older macs
to install and run MacOS  X.

:)The FAQ, install docs, and NetBSD offline manuals
:)seem at times vague, disjointed, and aimed at the intermediate user when it
:)comes to 3rd party devices and configurations (understandably so) so here I
:)am.

OK, I'll admit to the FAQ, and I'm in the process of rejointing it, but I
really felt the INSTALL docs were pretty solid if you followed the step of
"print out the INSTALL notes and cross off stuff not pertaining to your
configuration".

I'd appreciate if you could give me feedback on what you find poorly
documented, and I'll do my best to fix it in time for the 1.5.3 release.

:)              OF 1.0.5 System Disk Utility patch? I think I read somewhere
:)              that 8bpp is the max with the SDU patch but is that not just
:)              for the output-device /chaos/control or does that also apply
:)              to output-device /bandit@F4000000/ATY,RADEONp@E which is my
:)              specific graphics device?

That's pertaining only to /chaos/control.  I don't have a third-party video
card, so I can't answer your other questions about that.  By the same
token, the docs aren't fleshed out in that area, since I rely on other
users to feed me information, and it seems not too many macppc'ers use
third-party video cards.

:)Question 9-10: I can't boot into MacOS from OF. I type the bye
:)               command and it hangs with the ? mac icon. I have to use the
:)               virtual firmware system boot disk from XLR8 to get back to
:)               MacOS. Anyone have any ideas? Is it a load-base/real-base
:)               issue? Can I reboot to MacOS from the NetBSD shell?

That's strange.  You should be able to boot to MacOS from the Open Firmware
prompt with "bye".  load-base doesn't affect MacOS.  real-base does, but
Open Firmware is smart enough to reset it (it says "RESETTING to change
configuration" and reboots).  The only other things are if your XLR8 card
*needs* its "virtual firmware" to boot or you're using a third-party disk
formatting tool and it's somehow not happy.  I'm not sure many of us use
anything other than Drive Setup, though I've had no problems with
Silverlining 5.8.2.

I found on my XLR8 card that the XLR8 driver installed an nvramrc patch in
Open Firmware, but the patch is not necessary to boot MacOS.  Keep in mind
that System DIsk also applies nvramrc patches to help boot NetBSD.  System
Disk and the XLR8 software will just overwrite the current contents of
nvramrc.

It'd be a shame for you to have to install XLR8's virtual firmware each
time you want to boot MacOS, but that's probably not necessary if you don't
use System Disk.  The patches System Disk applies are highly recommended,
but your system will boot and run fine without them.

AFAICT, what the System Disk patches do are:
	fix the MAC address (it's stored backwards in early PCI PowerMacs)
	 this is not a problem if you only have a few ethernet devices on
	 your subnet and none of them conflict with the bad MAC address
	fix /chaos/control so it gets a stable video signal
	allow you to delay booting until the HD has spun up

So, since you're not using the on-board video, probably don't have an MAC
address conflict, and can deal with the last problem easily enough with
other
means, you might want to try the following:
	Install the XLR8 virtual firmware
	Use BootVars to set your system to boot into Open Firmware with your
	 ATI card

If you never use System Disk again, then the XLR8 virtual firmware will
always stay in nvramrc and hopefully your card will "just work" for both
OSes.

:)Any help from you guys would certainly make my day!!! I've got a bajillion
:)more questions regarding PPPoE, Audio, and Networking as well but I think
:)this is enough for my first post! :) Damn this is fun!!!! It's like learning
:)to walk all over again! My brain hurts!

Yummy!  BTW, other than the audio questions, the other stuff typically
belongs on netbsd-help@netbsd.org, but we'd be more than happy to help here
as well.

Good luck,
  -- MW