David Laight wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 29, 2005 at 07:51:03AM -0500, Gan Uesli Starling wrote:
> 
>>Thought I'd finally get around to upgrading to NetBSD 2.0. I waited until
>>obtaining the CDs from BSD Mall to do it. Also, as a precaution, I thought
>>I'd start from scratch on a quarantine platform, my IBM 380Z laptop.
>>
>>So I put in BSD Mall's NetBSD 2.0 disk number 1 to boot. I get a whole
>>screen full of this...
>>
>>exit
>>exit
>>exit
>>...
>>exit
>>exitprot_to_real can't return to D50C02C8 I9990305
>>
>>What does that mean?
> 
> 
> Well that message is supposed to be output if the boot code detects that
> the return address for routine that changes from 32bit mode to 16bit mode
> is too large a value (ie >64k from the base of the code).
> However the 'exit' text comes from somewhere else, and there should only
> be one number.
> In any case this would (usually) be caused by an error when linking the
> bott code and would be platform independant.
> 
> 
>>Are these CDs no good? Or am I missing something?
> 
> 
> I'd actually suspect that the BIOS isn't behaiving the way the boot
> code expects.  Testing this code for a specific bios is hard enough,
> BIOS vaguaries just compond things.
> 
> I'd see if another system will boot the CD - it won't overwrite the
> hard disk until well into the initialisation sequence.
> 
> 	David

Thank you for the explanation.

You are correct. As happens I have two spare PCs, laptops both. So I tried
the CD again on my Gateway 5250S, the only very slightly newer laptop. The
upgrade from NetBSD 1.6.0 to 2.0 seems to have taken well there. I have just
downloaded pkgsrc.tar.gz and am presently trying a 'make update' to mysql4-server
fro version 3.X.

The IBM 380Z on which the CD failed currently runs NetBSD NetBSD 1.6.0. Perhaps
I will just leave it there as it is just my laptop of last resort, taken on
motorcycle rides cross-country, etc. Good excuse, perhaps, to shop around for
a 3rd laptop? Any recomendations there?

Thanks,

Gan

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