Re: NetBSD 9.3 Alpha Boot stops

[Istvan Gyenes <igyenes%gmail.com@localhost>]

Hello David,

Try to boot with "boot -fl a dka0" (replace dka0 with your boot device name)

There is a boot_osflags env var that drives the firmware to  boot into multi/single user.

You can check it with "show boot_osflags" in SRM.

You can set the env var with "set boot_osflags A" to boot to defult multi-user if I remember correctly.

Br,

--

istvan

On Mon, Sep 15, 2025 at 9:27 PM dnovak1 <dnovak1%gmail.com@localhost> wrote:

Hi all,

  I've got an old DS10 booting to NetBSD9.3, and it seems happy enough
to run, but I'm having trouble with it at boot time.

  When it boots, at the same point every time, it stops and asks what
terminal to use, VT100 is the default, and it waits there until I hit
enter.  This is where it drops me into a root shell.  Once I exit it,
it continues to boot, and run, just fine.

In rc.conf, I have "rc_configured=YES".

This is where it fails:
Sep 15 14:04:51 acs192 /netbsd: [   7.5319564] stray isa irq 14
Sep 15 14:04:51 acs192 /netbsd: [   7.6071528] WARNING: 3 errors while
detecting hardware; check system log.
Sep 15 14:04:51 acs192 /netbsd: [   7.6091086] root on wd0a dumps on wd0b
Sep 15 14:04:51 acs192 /netbsd: [   7.6227790] root file system type: ffs
Sep 15 14:04:51 acs192 /netbsd: [   7.6237977]
kern.module.path=/stand/alpha/9.3/modules
<This is where it drops to a root shell>
Sep 15 14:04:53 acs192 savecore: no core dump
Sep 15 14:05:03 acs192 /netbsd: [  59.6052555] pm3fb0: pm3 using 1280
x 1024 in 8 bit, stride 1280


The 3 errors are from a very old video card the X doesn't quite
understand.  I don't think that should bother the boot process though.
But I've been wrong before...

Looking for any ideas why the boot sequence would be interrupted like
this, and how one might fix it.

Thanks!
David