Subject: booting old 4/260 vme based sparc
To: None <port-sparc@netbsd.org>
From: Robert D. Keys <bsdbob@seedlab1.cropsci.ncsu.edu>
List: port-sparc
Date: 12/14/1998 19:00:19
I was thinking about installing NetBSD 1.3.2 sparc on my old 4/260 box,
and was looking through the sparc install guide, and was wondering if
it were possible to boot a miniroot in ram directly off the tape,
in the manner of the old SunOS tape installs, on my 3-110 box?
That would make life considerably easier, I would think, to have
a single or pair of tapes and just boot off the first tape and load
from the second tape.  Would something like that work with NetBSD?
That way, a prior existing running os would not be required, to bring
up a cold machine with fresh empty drives.  I have no way to netboot
it, and I may not have the passwords to get into it, originally, to
the existing OS.  The local home net is down.  The only other thing
I see is maybe writing the miniroot to a drive, if that will work.
The scsi controller on the 3-110 box is an old scsi-2 thing that
that gives me fits, and is mostly unusable.  The only other scsi box
that I have up is an old Coherent box, which might be able to dd an image.

Also, would it be better to install the current build or wait for a
1.3.3 or go with the 1.3.2?

Thanks

Bob Keys