Subject: Re: One-floppy installation ??
To: None <netbsd-users@netbsd.org>
From: Rob Windsor <windsor@ksu.ksu.edu>
List: netbsd-users
Date: 10/06/1994 12:34:09
>> I was wondering if someone had a one-floppy installation procedure for
>> NetBSD (i386).
[...]
>> only 1 floppy is available.  Anyone have a scheme or plans for something
>> similar for NetBSD?

Hmm.. a temp quick fix to your problem would be to install 0.9 and upgrade.
Some overseas sites can be found with 0.9 still on them.  As for -current
stuff, I believe that what you are asking for is 'under construction.'

> I think you missed the point (which was never clearly  described anyway).
> You only need 1 floppy drive. The correct process for booting NetBSD
> from floppy is:

[steps removed for brevity...]

[disclaimer: I'm speaking primarily of the i386 port, based off of the
installation sets on ftp.eecs.umich.edu - so treat context of following
letter accordingly.  :>   ]

Calvin,

You described the 0.9 installation procedures, but installing -current
is a bit different than that.

I grabbed -current install stuff off of ftp.eecs.umich.edu and went happy
this morning (and quickly afterwards - crazy).

If you grab the installation notes, you notice that the last thing you do
is copy the kernel over to the root partition.  You load all of the tar
files that you want on the same 'booting' as when you fsck'd the hard
drive for the first time.

The main drawback to that is that you can't simply remove your booting
partition, so you need to use the second floppy drive to load tar files.

If you attempt to flat follow the 0.9 installation notes, you'll get
frequent cycle-rebooting as your system panics 'cause it can't find init.

To Ken's credit, you HAVE to use the second floppy drive if you are going
to load the tar files via flop.  I had to blow the dust off of my age-old
stack of 1.2Meggers and dd my life away to 'refit' the blah.tar.gz files.
(Thank god I managed to have a DOS version of dd).

I did find what appears to be a bug in .commonutils.  Load_fd looped and
didn't wait for me to press <Enter> before it continued the 'mount flop,
cp -rp, umount flop' repeatedly.
I'm not very good with shell scripts, so I don't know how to resolve the
problem.  (Hey, that's why I'm installing NetBSD in the first place).

I've heard (on here, I believe) that the installation routine was to be
revamped to allow you to only use one flop drive for total-floppy installs,
so the above problems may have already been fixed.

My $0.02 worth.

-- Rob
----------------------------------------
Internet: windsor@ksu.ksu.edu      Life: Rob@K-State.Manhattan.Kansas.USA.Earth

"Life's a journey, not a destination."  -- Aerosmith (1993), 'Amazing'