New Qube2 owner with questions.

[Mark Smith <strandedinnz%yahoo.com.au@localhost>]

Hi there,

I've managed to bag myself a very nice condition Qube2, I came across 
mention of them from an SGI user group and decided it was just what I 
need for a small and discreet home NAS.  So I did a search and found 
myself one .. just it had no power supply :-(  Still easily fixed with a 
cheap 12V 5Amp PSU and a paper clip broken in half to be the "connector" 
;-) .. getting some of those KPPX-3P connectors from the US shortly.

Anyhow the Qube2 has now been upgraded to 256Mb of RAM (must be fate to 
have a bag of the correct 128MB 72 pin EDO 3.3V SIMMs in the cupboard 
:-) and shall soon be getting a 750GB drive.

I've done a test install of NetBSD 4.0 from a RestoreCD kindly created 
up uploaded by Sevan / Venture37 ... thanks! :-)  And that was 
remarkably painless.  (well I did have to create a virtual machine in 
Parallels, boot the CD in the guest and have my internet router 
disconnected so it's DHCP server didn't clash :-)

The questions I have are both techie related to the Qube2 and to NetBSD:

1)  Can I boot from a IDE Cardflash adapter (jumpered as Master) and 
have a 750GB drive as the slave on the built in IDE ?  Master/Slave 
works OK with the built in IDE ?  I'll move swap to the 750GB drive once 
it's installed.  I'm pretty sure I can secure the compact flash card 
somewhere safe inside the Qube.

2)  What PCI devices are supported by the Cobalt port of NetBSD ?  I'd 
like to put in a something like a Firewire/USB combo or eSATA/USB combo 
(like the Adaptec Duo connect) so if I want to put in more storage later 
I can hook it up externally .. eSATA or Firewire would be nicer than 
USB, but USB is still a "must have" option :-)

3)  What filesystems are supported by NetBSD ?  I'd quite like to format 
with a journaled filesystem as the power in my area is a little flakey 
so I need something robust.  Can an existing filesystem created by the 
RestoreCD be converted online ?  Or the RestoreCD amended to use a 
different filesystem ?

4)  How do I install packages for the Cobalt port using "pkgsrc" ?  It 
wants to be pointed at a repository but I don't know where to look for 
them yet :-(

5)  How do I do an upgrade of NetBSD ?  Is it a re-install thing ?

6)  Does the Cobalt port (from that RestoreCD) have all the tools 
required to make a new RestoreCD ?  And build new kernels etc ?

7)  Can the two network interfaces be bound into one logical interface 
with a single IP ?


Thanks!

Mark
PS. Apologies if this double posts .. wrestling with Seamonkey.