The VAX-specific ISO images I download from
ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/iso/ do not appear to be bootable, even
though the readme states:

>The following architectures will boot directly from CD-ROM:

Vax is included in this list. I also tried the i-386 ISO just to check and
it also has no kernel image in its root directory. I tried both the 2.1, the
2.02 and the 1.62ISOS. Vaxes in my house which boot the VMS CD fine won't
boot any ISO I build from the official NetBsd site. I've tried several
Vaxstations, 3100s and 4000s. All have working SCSI CD-ROM drives.

I do know that I have to be able to write 512K sectors (blocks), and am not
absolutely sure my CD writers are doing that. But I'd think that the root
directory of a bootable CD for any platform would contain some kernel image
or bootstrap binary; these root directories contain only documentation.

I am new to NetBSD and new to VAX, but my husband is a Dec collector so I
have lots of hardware at my disposal. It seems like all these old computers
that he restores should be doing something useful. I have Linux experience,
but my Linux system is currently kaput.

So, Unfortunately, I don't have a working UNIX system; I can't follow the
directions for making my own bootable CD from the boot images. I have VMS
and Windows, but all instructions I find seem to be for people who have an
available UNIX system to build their own boot CDS with.

Lots of vendors sell NetBSDCDS cheaply, but if they're just copying the
official distribution, I can't believe any of these CDS would boot either.

Is the readme file wrong? And if so, where can I get an ISO that will boot?

--Debee
(Deborah Norling,
Milpitas, CA)