Subject: Re: NetBSD/pmax installation
To: Jonathan Stone <jonathan@DSG.Stanford.EDU>
From: Gregory McGarry <gmcgarry@lux.sprc.qut.edu.au>
List: port-pmax
Date: 07/12/1997 21:59:09
Jonathan Stone wrote:
 
> To me, this looks like a PROM problem.  The PROM is dying with a bad
> access even beofre it gets to ask for its adress via BOOTP.  There is
> no way I can fix that.  (Well, I could, by disassembling the PROM and
> fixing it, but I am not going to try. Life's too short.) 

So we say this is an 'official' unsupported prom.

> So the only way around this problem is to upgrade your PROM, or to use
> MOP for diskless booting.  Sorry for not making that plainer.

> If someone wants to take the existing mopd code and add ELF or ecoff
> support , that would be great.  I won't have time to do it myself
> before 1.3.

Something else to put on the TODO list.

> >Jonathan expressed interest in improving the NetBSD/pmax installation
> >procedure.  I would tend to agree, given that the first contact many
> >have with the OS is when installing it.
> 
> Yes, given the recent discussion on comp.sys.ultrix, I think so too.

I was following that thread too.  I think the outdated webpage has
contributed to a lot of misunderstanding.  There still are some errors ---
almost the whole FAQ is wrong!  The quicker the webpage is sorted out
the better.  Maybe explicitly mentioning this mailing list might get
people to ask for solutions to their problems before they go 'round
telling everybody that its not worth it!

> Writing that up on the installation-notes Webpage would be a good
> start.  
 
> Netbooting and asking for a root filesystem has worked fine for me on
> a 5000/150, a 3100, and a 5000/200.  This is only a problem for
> Personal DECstations.  AFAIK it's a problem which is specific to the
> ``desktop bus'' keyboard.
> 
> It sounds like a simple interrupt or autoconfiguration code.  I have
> found figuring those out from desk-checking code is very
> time-consuming, especially wiht hardware like the Desktop Bus [sic]
> for which I have no documentation other than the driver source code.
> 
> I have no idea if I will get time to figure it out before 1.3 is out.
> I doubt it. It would be much easier if I had physical access to a
> Personal DECstation.  I don't....

Something else for the TODO list.  There is enough of us around with
Personal DECstations to be able to solve this, I'm sure.

> But,  AFAIK, once you get the system installed there *is* no problem.

Well, I should be able to tell you tomorrow, but that is the story from
Tohru Nishimura.  We'll see.

Regards,
Greg