On 18-Aug-06, at 4:25 AM, tekemperor@gmail.com wrote:
> The BIOS boot program gets to the point where it counts down but  
> when it reaches the end of the count down, and starts trying to  
> load the kernel, something always goes wrong.
> In NetBSD 3.0.1, exit was cycled down the screen in a never ending  
> loop.
> In NetBSD 2.0.2, it just rebooted when it tried to load the kernel.
> In NetBSD 1.5.3, it would display two sets of numbers and the  
> rotating cursor stopped rotating (locked up).
> In NetBSD 1.4.2, the computer displayed a message about a bad drive  
> number.  That last message started a cycle like the exit one, but  
> there was more text and it always ended in "bad drive number".
>
> I do not have a floppy drive, so I was unable to test different  
> kernel images.

I just spoke with the new owner of my old Thinkpad 600E; we had  
similar problems getting him setup with NetBSD. He refreshed my  
memory on how we solved the problem.

Are you booting using burnt DVDs? If so, can you try a CD-R? That  
resolved the issue for us; the drive was having trouble reading DVDs  
at boot time.

Cheers,
Jared