I got a few "new" VAXstations yesterday.

One is a (currently still diskless) 3100/M38 (but I have a spare 2G disk
for it). I was wondering how to install NetBSD on it. I considered
making a boot tape, since I have 2 TK-50Zs. But then I noticed the
external SCSI connector seems to be a WIDE SCSI connector. Can that be
true?  There are 2 normal NCR 5380s inside, and they are narrow, right?
In any case, it means my SCSI cable won't fit (it has the old
centrics-like plugs on both sides).

Or I could netboot it from Ultrix (which runs on my MicroVAX 3100/10).
That should do MOP fine of course, and the manual pages suggest rarp
and bootparam should also work. 

I could also perhaps put the disk in the Ultrix machine first and write
some stuff to it, but it's not clear to me yet what exactly and how.
Perhaps booting from tape (that plug should work) and doing a minimal
install is easiest. Addendum: I'm trying this now, and a) the INSTALL
document seems to be aout of date, since no miniroot.gz file is to be
found where it claims, and b) when using boot.fs.gz, the tape whirrs for
a long time and then I get 

>>> B mkb500

-MKB500
>> NetBSD/vax boot [Aug 13 1999 20:18:28] <<
>> Press any key to abort autoboot 0
> boot netbsd
boot failed: Unknown error: code 32768037
> boot netbsd.gz
boot failed: Unknown error: code 32768037
> boot netbsd.old
boot failed: Unknown error: code 32768037
> boot getnetbsd
boot failed: Unknown error: code 32768037
>

Perhaps the INSTALL forgot to mention I had to copy something else
(besides boot.fs) to the tape too? --end Addendum.


Can I swap the memory module between the MicroVAX 3100/10 and the
VAXstation 3100 M38? The former has 32M and the latter only 16, and I
may want to swap that.

On to the VAXstation 2000. I also wanted to check this one headless, so
I plugged in the 3-MMJ port cigarette box thingy, yet nothing
intelligible appeared on port #1. I got some line noise-like stuff, as
if the baud rate was wrong (but I tried various rates). Do I need to do
something else to make this work (I'm sure it is a FAQ but I can't seem
to find an answer starting from www.netbsd.org).

TIA,
-Olaf.
--
___ Olaf 'Rhialto' Seibert - rhialto@polder.ubc.     -- If one tells the truth,
\X/ .kun.nl     -- one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out. (Oscar Wilde)