In message <199910182237.SAA84804@weedcon1.cropsci.ncsu.edu>,
NetBSD Bob writes:

>> In message <199910181947.PAA84462@weedcon1.cropsci.ncsu.edu>NetBSD Bob writes:
>> >If you find out something, do holler.  Mine would only netboot on the
>> >7.00 or 7.01 rom, and died on the 7.03 rom.
>> 
>> Ah.  *Netboot* is the key.  They're probably running into a bug where
>> the PROM grabs some page that the kernel is trying to load itself
>> over.  The approved method was to grab the NFSINSTALL kernel--
>> basically a copy of INSTALL but without the ramdisk.
>> 
>> Oops. Someone seems to have clobbered that config and done away with
>> the include.  What gives?

Oh. Silly me. You want the `INSTALL' config, not the `RAMDISK' config.
Try building one of those, use Simon's new bootblocks on your scsi
floppy, and try a gzipp'ed floppy. Maybe it'll fit. Heck, maybe
a gzipped GENERIC kernel would fit.

Simon -- do the bootblocks support bz2?


>Well, for the sake of discussion, since the upgrades to 7.03 seem to
>center on adding the floppy capability, is there any way to put together
>a boot floppy like the VAX crew has?  Most of the 3100's I have run across
>from Moo U have had the scsi floppy on them.  It would be ideal to be able
>to use them for booting a system, as opposed to netbooting, if the floppy
>is already there.  Even the 2100's apparently were scsi floppy capable with
>the right roms, if I am reading the manuals correctly.

You can boot from the floppy with 7.0 PROMs; it looks like any other
SCSI device.  Mips opcodes are too dense to fit userland in tho', so
you'd have to boot a kernel from floppy which then runs diskless.  Try
the recipe above; should Just Work, if you have another machine to do
the compile on.  Please let us know if it works!

--Jonathan