On Wed, 30 Apr 1997, Anne Bennett wrote:

> I was trying to install netbsd-1.2 (pmax) on a DECstation 5000/125,
> using the miniroot method, but when I tried to boot the miniroot, after
> telling me the sizes of the kernel and claiming at was starting at
> "blah" address, it started methodically writing garbage to the top half
> or so of my screen and "sort of" scrolling it (i.e. "scrolling" the top
> half of the screen in a funny horizontal and vertical pattern).  After
> it while this stopped the screen went blank, so, guessing that the
> kernel had perhaps written its boot messages and was asking me for the
> root device, I typed in a a root device, and the disk became active
> briefly, confirming my guess.

I experienced the same problem on a 5000/125 with a pmag-b.  It seemed that
the mfb console driver was broken, up until a few weeks ago, when patches
were submitted and (I believe) integrated into -current.  

If you have another pmax running netbsd, you could roll a nfsinstall kernel
from -current and boot it over the network.  

Personally, I had been running the thing headless from a vt100 until the mfb
stuff was tinkered with.  If you have an old vt terminal or a 386 with
kermit, you could just boot the thing headless, roll a -current kernel, then
switch to the console.

[snip]
__
-Matthew Schnierle
-pyld@grove.iup.edu
-http://www.iup.edu/~pyld/
-"If you came in here to bitch, you have wasted 98% of your time;
  may I suggest you spend the other %2 finding the door."