is this a case of some firmware revisions not liking very large kernels? 
i'm not sure but i remember some threadas about this in the past, you 
might want to check the port-pmax archives to see if anyone had a 
solution. i dont know offhand.. 
good luck with it though! 

On Sat, 22 Jun 2002, Peter B wrote:

> 
> I have a DECstation 3100 with graphics console,kbd,mouse and 10Base-2 ethernet.
> Trying too boot with "boot -f tftp()install.ecoff" which works so far that it
> displays a number and a few seconds later it gives a error message.
> 
> I have tried lot's of kernels. Any tip on how to get the proper "bootfile"?
> 
> BOOTP (setup with dhcpd). And TFTP (using tftpd). Works but I jsut can't find
> proper bootfile (kernel)..
> 
> Bootmachine is a SS1+ / NetBSD-1.5.2 / sparc.
> 
> _____________________________________________________________________
> KN01 V7.03
> 
> 7..6..5..4..3..2..
> ??
> 
> -471 auto: tftp()dec3100boot ...
> 
> ^C
> 
> exit(-1)
> KN01 V7.03
> 08-00-2b-14-39-76
> 0x10000000
> >> boot -f tftp()install.ecoff
> 139232?418 rd err
> ?470 bt err: tftp()install.ecoff
> >> 
> _____________________________________________________________________
> 
>          /P
> 
>