The .smi file is a RAM Disk, so you don't have to use DiskCopy to create 
a floppy.  Either a MacOS or IBM formatted floppy will work - just copy 
the file to the floppy like a normal file.  Once you have booted to 
MacOS, you should be able to open the floppy and see 
SystemDisk2.3.1.smi, which you can then double click on and it will 
mount the RAM disk for you.

If you download the file from Apple and don't have another computer with 
MacOS running on it, make sure there are no other files on the floppy. 
The file starts out in .bin format, which will require StuffIt to 
extract it to a .smi file.  I believe all of the bootable MacOS CDs have 
a version of StuffIt Expander on them, so just double clicking on the 
.bin file will extract it.  To do that you also have to have sufficient 
space for the extracted .smi file, or about 1300KB total.

Blair Stilwell

andy@neu.net wrote:

> Blair:
> 
> Thanks for getting back to me, how do I get the .smi file to a floppy?  Do
> I need to use DiskCopy 6.3.3?  That is how I made the boot disk, but the
> web page does not say how to create the SystemDisk.  TIA
> 
> Andy
> 
> On Mon, 18 Mar 2002, Blair Stilwell wrote:
> 
> 
>>
>>Nils Kassube wrote:
>>
>>
>>>* andy@neu.net <andy@neu.net> [2002-03-17 23:49]:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>I am trying to install netbsd 1.5.2 on a beige minitower powerMac G3 with
>>>>2.0f1 firmware.  I have done everything exactly according to the
>>>>documentation, the installation was successful.  The problem I am having
>>>>
>>>>
>>>The easy way: Install a Mac OS 8 (or higher) on the hard disk and
>>>run SystemDisk from there . Worked fine for me with the same hardware.
>>>
>>
>>Another alternative, if you have a bootable MacOS CD laying around, is
>>to copy the .smi file to a floppy (or ZIP or whatever) and boot to the
>>CD.  Then you don't have to actually install an OS.  To boot to CD, hold
>>down the C button when the computer starts up.  Once booted to CD, you
>>can run SystemDisk to patch the OpenFirmware by double clicking on the
>>.smi file and opening the volume it creates.
>>
>>Blair Stilwel
>>
>>