On Tue, 13 Aug 2002 @ 12:28am (-0400), Brian A. Seklecki wrote:

BAS>
BAS> From the SUN CD-ROM FAQ AT:
BAS>
BAS> http://www.pimpworks.org/sun/general.html
BAS>

...errr send-pr(8) --- install/17973

i guess it's up to somebody to decide how to keep INSTALL.txt and the FAQ
synced up.

-lava

BAS> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAS> Sun CD-ROM FAQ: General
BAS>
BAS> How do I use the CD-ROM drive on <insert non-Sun operating system here>?
BAS>
BAS> SparcLinux, NetBSD/sparc, OpenBSD/sparc, etc
BAS>
BAS> To boot from a bootable CD-ROM, a Sun compatible (512 byte block) CD-ROM
BAS> drive is still required since it is the PROM which handles booting from a
BAS> CD-ROM drive, but once the system has been booted, any CD-ROM drive will work
BAS> (as the CD-ROM driver supports 2048 byte blocks).
BAS>
BAS> It has been reported to me that the boot loader in Solaris 2.6 and later does
BAS> something very early on in the boot process to allow support for virtually
BAS> all CD-ROM drives. I suspect it will not be long before the same thing is
BAS> done for the bootloaders of the abovementioned operating systems.
BAS>
BAS> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAS>
BAS> ...I don't see any copywrite, but obviously we shouldn't use this verbatim:
BAS>
BAS> i.e.:
BAS>
BAS> Q: Why won't my non-Sun SCSI CD-ROM drive boot the NetBSD/Sparc CD-ROM ?
BAS>
BAS> A: Most UNIX workstations, including SUN, have a PROM that requires the
BAS> CD-ROM to support a 512 byte block size.  Most OEM Sun CD-ROM drives are set
BAS> to 512 byte block size by default.  Other 3rd party drives may have a jumper
BAS> to change the value from 2048 bytes.  Check with your hardware vendor --
BAS> those drives that do not will be unusable for booting, but will be useable
BAS> once the kernel is loaded for normal operations.
BAS>
BAS>
BAS> later -           | _BonaFide[] = { coder, author, | /~\ The ASCII Ribbon
BAS> Brian A. Seklecki | problem solver, scholar, BOFH, | \ / Campaign Against
BAS>                   | vegetarian, runner, NetBSD     |  X  Exchange, Outlook
BAS>                   | advocate, spiritual machine }; | / \ & HTML Email
BAS>
BAS> PGP: 0111 4618 0111 4618 4AB2 24EB C853 6611 75C4 A91E A7A7 4973
BAS>
BAS>

later -           | _BonaFide[] = { coder, author, | /~\ The ASCII Ribbon
Brian A. Seklecki | problem solver, scholar, BOFH, | \ / Campaign Against
                  | vegetarian, runner, NetBSD     |  X  Exchange, Outlook
                  | advocate, spiritual machine }; | / \ & HTML Email

PGP: 0111 4618 0111 4618 4AB2 24EB C853 6611 75C4 A91E A7A7 4973

"Microsoft Windoze: 32 bit extensions and a graphical shell for a 16 bit patch to an 8 bit operating system originally coded for a 4 bit microprocessor, written by a 2 bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition."