On 8/29/07, Maxim Belooussov <belooussov@gmail.com> wrote:
> I was thinking about running dmasg, generating kernel config, and then
> adding some wireless/usb drivers to the kernel.

If you are referring to dmassage, this is a prudent & excellent
approach.  For those unfamiliar with dmassage, it is a Perl script
which can correlate what drivers have been correctly identified in
dmesg(8) with what is specified in a kernel configuration file
commenting out what is superfluous:

http://www.sentia.org/projects/dmassage/

> As I understand from the archive, there is no limit on kernel size...

This is not true.  See the following:

http://netbsd.org/ports/cobalt/faq.html#kernel

> Ideally, the restore disk might include/copy during install all
> relevant binary packages that can be used for creating an access
> point/small server (wpa_supplicant, samba, etc)...

Although this would be convenient, it duplicates the purpose of pkgsrc:

http://netbsd.org/docs/pkgsrc/index.html

http://pkgsrc.se/

The purpose of the restore CD is simply to install a base system on a
MIPS-based Qube or RaQ.  Given the limited number of PCI slots (The
RaQ has none...), & limited factory configuration (Some models only
had 16MB RAM & a 4GB hard drive...), there isn't space for a lot of
extras...), the base installation has to be spartan to work on the
greatest number of systems.

If you have questions and/or issues compiling the kernel, there are a
number of people here who are quite knowledgeable on the subject.  In
fact, discussing technical issues on MIPS-based Cobalt products on
this mailing list is its primary purpose.

Jim