Many people have asked how to get updated firmware for Digital "Shark"
systems.  Previously, the best answer has been, "Talk to the people
who got you the machines."  Unfortunately, the folks at
Digital^WCompaq who would handle these requests are incredibly busy
right now and limited in their ability to handle the requests.  In
order to make The Right Thing(TM) happen, I've volunteered (it's its
own punishment^Wreward!) to help out with firmware image distribution,
and they accepted my offer.


The upshot of this:

If you're looking for an update for Shark firmware, send me e-mail
with the subject "SHARK FIRMWARE REQUEST".  I'll make you jump through
a few hoops and then point you at the bits.  (FAQ folks, feel free to
note this.)


People should know that there are a few 'interesting' versions of
firmware that they might want:

	* the 980225 image which is the minimum necessary to Shark
	  support integrated into the master NetBSD sources.  (The
	  1.3-based distribution from Digital could tolerate earlier
	  versions, but the integrated bits won't.)

	* a version of the 980225 image hacked to use all (2KB,
	  rather than 512B, if I recall correctly) of the environment
	  SEEPROM for OFW nvram storage.  (This is useful if you want
	  a large nvramrc, for instance.)

	* an image dated 980908, which (as far as I'm aware) is
	  similar to the 980225 but which adds additional keymaps
	  and changes the video chip bootstrap initialization.  (I'm
	  doing what I can to get more information on the changes in
	  this firmware.)


chris
-- 
Chris Demetriou - cgd@netbsd.org - http://www.netbsd.org/People/Pages/cgd.html
Disclaimer: Not speaking for NetBSD, just expressing my own opinion.