No, it seems to detect wdc0 just fine and all that.  Fortunately a
re-install fixed it and now it works dandy!  I just wish I knew why
it was sick to begin with - oh, well . . .

Thanks for the comments!

Rick Byers wrote:
> 
> Hi Thayne,
> 
> AFAIK, It uses the bios for disk access right up to "changing root
> device...", so that would explain why it can get /netbsd.  Do your boot
> messages show that wd0a was detected no problem (and does the geometry
> look right)?  I know this is a stupid question, but you do have /dev/wd*
> right (yes, I forgot this once...)? If you boot from floppy, can you mout
> wd0a allright?
> 
> Maybe there is a geometry mismatch.  Does your BIOS agree with the
> partition table, and more importantly the disklabel?
> 
> Hope this helps,
>         Rick
> 
> On Wed, 30 Apr 1997, Thayne Harbaugh wrote:
> 
> > I have a machine running 1.1 (or it would be running 1.1 if
> > init could figure things out).  It boots up just dandy and
> > then:
> >
> > .
> > .
> > .
> > changing root device to wd0a
> > de0: enabling 10baseT/UTP port
> > sh: /etc/rc: not a directory or special device
> > sh: /autoboot: not currently mounted
> > Enter pathname of shell or RETURN for sh:
> >
> > it then fails to find /bin/sh when I press enter.  It looks
> > like init is working just fine but /dev/wd0a isn't being
> > mounted on / and then it can't find anything: no sh, no
> > /etc/rc, nothing.
> >
> > So, my question is this:  What is responsible for initially
> > mounting / ?  Whats the missing piece between changing the
> > root device to wd0a and reading /etc/rc ?  Do I possibly
> > have a bad disklabel or bad boot program?