1.  What does "IIRC" mean?  Not familiar with that abbreviation.
2.  NetBSD booted from generic_com0.fs or sysinst_com0.fs does not like 
my Linux nfs server, which supposedly, is a BSD port.  It was the only 
version I could find, but I really don't have to have it, I don't care 
to do nfs anyway.  My Linux box is running Gentoo x86 2004.1 with updates.
3.  When I try to boot from disk, it cascades thru the boot options 
(floppy, cd, disk, net) and finally tries to find a BOOTP server to send 
it it's disk image via tftp.
4.  Kernel compile?  One step at a time, I am a long-time Linux bithead 
(since 1994), and a UNIX admin for 14 years, but I know damned little 
about bsd.
5. No X, huh?  Can I at least run X remotely to an X display on another 
machine?  Anybody wanna kick-ass GXT800P video card?  I think the damned 
thing sold for over $10,000 US originally.  Think I'll sell it on eBay

Two excerpts below:

Excerpt from session log:
boot device: <unknown>
root device: sd0a                                           <-- Manual 
entry of sd0a
dump device (default sd0b):                          <-- Manual entry of 
<ENTER>
file system (default generic):                          <-- Manual entry 
of <ENTER>
root on sd0a dumps on sd0b
sd0(esiop0:0:0:0): command timeout, CDB: 0x25 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
esiop0: scsi bus reset
sd0: async, 8-bit transfers, tagged queueing
cd0: async, 8-bit transfers
sd0: sync (100.00ns offset 8), 16-bit (20.000MB/s) transfers, tagged 
queueing
root file system type: ffs
init path (default /sbin/init):                          <-- Manual 
entry of <ENTER>
init: trying /sbin/init
Thu Jan 27 00:18:55 GMT 2005
swapctl: adding /dev/sd0b as swap device at priority 0
Checking for botched superblock upgrades: done.

Excerpt from session log:
ganymede # mount 192.168.0.5:/u /mnt
ganymede # pwd
/
ganymede # ls mnt
ls: mnt: Protocol not supported



Jochen Kunz wrote:

>On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 22:27:33 -0500
>Tim Gallagher <tim.gallagher@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>  
>
>>First off, NFS doesn't work, not even a little bit.  Seems nfs version
>>in Linux is incompatible with BSD.  BSD wants version 3, which Linux 
>>doesn't understand.
>>    
>>
>NetBSD should be able to fall back to NFS version 2. But yes, the Linux
>NFS implementation is not the best on this planet. Recent Linux versions
>should be able to supply NFS V3.
>
>  
>
>>(I assumed, I guess correctly, that /dev/sd0c is the same as /dev/sda
>>in Linux)
>>    
>>
>Yes. This is true for most non-i386 machines. On i386 /dev/sda
>corresponds to /dev/sd0d.
>
>  
>
>>My system is unable to boot from disk.  For some reason, it can't find
>>the boot partition and load from it.  I was, however, able to boot
>>from the generic.fs which I wrote to floppy. 
>>    
>>
>You wrote that you wrote "generic.fs" to the disk. "generic.fs"
>uses VGA console. IIRC you are using serial console, so you need
>"generic_com0.fs".
>
>What is the exact symtom when booting from disk?
>Does nothing happen at all?
>Do you get the bootloader?
>Does the kernel boot up and then asks for the root device?
>Is the kernel unable to mount the root device when you enter "sd0a" etc.
>when it asks for the root device?
>
>You will have to enter "sd0a" etc. every time the machine boots. This is
>because NetBSD has no way to ask the firmware where the kernel was
>booted from. AIX as some undocumented ways to retrive this information,
>but NetBSD has not unfortunately.
>
>To get the machine to boot without interaction you have to recompile the
>kernel and hard code the root file system location. To do this change
>the line:
>config          netbsd  root on ? type ?
>to
>config          netbsd  root on sd0a type ffs
>in the kernel configuration file.
>
>  
>
>>I guessed correctly that the root fs was /dev/sd0a, and that the dump
>>device was sd0b.
>>    
>>
>Yes. Slice a is used for the root fs and b for swap.
>
>  
>
>>Now, I have to figure out how this BSD thing works :-)  Struggling
>>with system startup routines (so used to SysVinit), like how to start
>>sshd, 
>>    
>>
>http://www.netbsd.org/Documentation/ should answer most of your
>questions.
>
>  
>
>>how to get X configured (that'll be a doozy).
>>    
>>
>You will not get any X11Server on NetBSD/prep at the moment. :-(
>  
>