> > > We still need a sparc tapeboot of some kind.
> 
> I have a QIC60 on a Sun4 and it may be in working condition. I may
> even find a QIC150. But, I looked at the Sun3 script and I must admit
> that I don't quite get the pieces together (in my mind):

Mine is also QIC60.  I will be happy to wring it out, now that I
got a stable sparc install on it last night.

> molle# head -10 /usr/src/distrib/sun3/MakeBootTape 
> #!/bin/sh
> #
> # Here is a generic script that makes a Sun3 boot tape using
> # the files in this directory.  The tape layout is:
> #
> #   segment 0:  tapeboot
> #   segment 1:  netbsd.sun3  (RAMDISK3)
> #   segment 2:  netbsd.sun3x (RAMDISK3X)
> #   segment 3:  miniroot image

The boot process on the tape is 1) boot up the tapeboot as the first
file on the tape, 2) tapeboot calls up the boot kernel, and 3) the
boot kernel loads a miniroot image into ram to work from, and then
from that, one can manually dd an image onto the swap partition,
or do it by script (if I am understanding it correctly).

To make the tape boot, 1) dd if=tapeboot of=/dev/nrst0 conv=sync
                       2) dd if=netbsd.sparc of=/dev/nrst0 conv=sync
                       3) dd if=miniroot of=/dev/nrst0 conv=sync

Sometimes block sizes are specified, but I don't think they are required.

The MakeTape scripts from the sun3 port should do the main part of building
a tape, automatically.  It should work fine for a sparc build with a bit
of fiddling.

> I have not found any evidence how to build the tapeboot.  How many
> segments should follow? Is one enough (as we need only one type of
> kernel) or is there some fixed number expected (one for sun4, sun4c,
> sun4m)? 

Only 3 segments are required on a boot tape.  A second tape can have the
swap file system, or that can be put on the first tape.  One more tape
will have the system related tarballs.  Actually, is there any reason,
standard dumps could not be used?  Yeah, I know, that is not trendy
thinking, perhaps, but it works, and is standard, and does not require
a whole passle of tarballs.  Only two or three images are required for
the root, usr and var filesystem dumps.

> What is a good kernel config for this? Enable SUN4 in
> /usr/src/sys/arch/sparc/conf/INSTALL.

Yes.

> # Options for variants of the Sun SPARC architecure.
> # We currently support three architecture types; at least one is required.
> options         SUN4            # sun4/100, sun4/200, sun4/300
> options         SUN4C           # sun4c - SS1, 1+, 2, ELC, SLC, IPC, IPX, etc.
> options         SUN4M           # sun4m - SS10, SS20, Classic, etc.
> 
> What more have I forgotten? :-)

Would it require 3 separate ramdisk kernels, or can they be all set up
into one generic kernel?  If a generic kernel will work that has all
enabled, that might be the best commonality to insure a tape boot
would work on almost anything, (the openbsd folks said their suite
would, but it would not run on my sparc vme crate when I tried it
last night.... does that mean we need separate kernels for each
architecture)?

> Harald.

I am game to try it, if the machine will be stable enough.

What url do I need to whatever will be the best source tree tarball
to work from?  I have the 1.3.3 running, but if there is a tarball
of the source tree that is later or that I should use for this, point
me there.  I will roll a source tape and carry it home for tonight's
play.

Thanks

Bob Keys