>  > Is there any status on the SCSI SYS_INST?

[ ... ]

> There is no updated status.  I sense you're upset because I posted about
> some interrupt related changes, but haven't yet addressed "the SYS_INST
> bug".  Rest assured that I'll post when I've had time to address it (see
> below).

Nope; I'm not upset; just curious.  It was more in the nature of a "ping",
since I wasn't sure if someone else's success had clouded the fact that
there is still a real problem that exists.  Silence == Assent, and all
that...



> <gripe>
> I'm getting a little frustrated, here.  While I understand that you
> want to be able to install onto your SCSI disk, I feel compelled to
> point out that I am a _volunteer_, and I work on what I can, when I have
> time to do so.

I understand; understand that I want to help too, but can't until I can
install.  8-).

Don't take this as a demand that you "drop everything and get on it!"...
I'm not upset (like I said above), and I'm content to wait however
long it takes, anyway.  I'm not in a rush, since the only media I can
reasonably use is SCSI tape (I'm not in good enough physical shape to
move my HP across the room to get it net connected at this point in
time because of a relatively recent, serious back injury; I can move the
tape shoebox with little trouble, however...).


> Rest assured that when I have time to pull my HP disk enclosure apart,
> somehow mount the 3.5'' disk in the 5.25'' bracket, put the enclosure
> back together, and get my spare hp340 working again, I'll work on the
> SYS_INST bug; I had hoped to do that this weekend, but I simply didn't
> have time to do so.
> </gripe>

Heh.  Mine's exploded on the floor right now because I don't have a
second mounting bracket.  If you *do* find a way of mounting the drives,
let me know.  No rush on that, either. 8-) 8-).


> Ok, now that I've got that off my chest...
> 
> You've been suggesting a method for dumping a "disk image" onto the disk.
> While that's a fine idea, I don't particularly want the "disk image
> including disklabel and boot block" method to be Offically Supported
> by NetBSD, mainly because it locks you in to the disklabel that was
> used by whomever created the image.  I consider that a non-solution.
> 
> Here's what I want to have...
> 
> A program that prompts the user for disklabel parameters (sort of like
> SYS_INST does, but since this program will be in a hosted environment,
> feel free to make it nicer), writes the disklabel to disk (be careful
> about byte order and structure packing!), writes the boot block to disk
> (be careful; the hp300 boot block is a bit tricky!), and then writes
> the standard miniroot image to the `b' partition.
> 
> That's what I'd like to have.  It's really just a SMOP.  And, it can be
> done on any system, at any time (including a FreeBSD i386 system, Terry :-).
> However, I simply don't have the time to do it right now, and I'm counting
> on contributors for this one.

I'd be happy to work on it.  Realize that the HP system is at home and the
FreeBSD system is at work, and I'm not going to be carrying them soon...
if you want me to work on it, I have to get installed first; otherwise,
I'll just wait, and ping occasionally.


					Regards,
					Terry Lambert
					terry@lambert.org
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.