Subject: Install NetBSD 1.5.2 on 486 with Phoenix BIOS?
To: None <port-i386@netbsd.org>
From: Thomas Mueller <tmueller@bluegrass.net>
List: port-i386
Date: 03/21/2002 01:38:28
I sent inquiries for help on installing NetBSD to my old computer, Cx486DX2-S
at 66 MHz; all the kernels failed to make it through the boot.  More recently,
I saw a message relating to Phoenix BIOS problems.  Is there any possibility of
tweaking the NetBSD kernel to make it bootable?

BIOS is old, and whenever the year >= 2000, next boot is into year 2094, while
day, month and time of day are not altered.  With DOS, the last line of my
AUTOEXEC.BAT is
DATE
so I am always reminded to correct the date.

CD-ROM is Texel internal, 2x, with Trantor T130B SCSI, not bootable, meaning I
need a kernel with support for this SCSI (NCR5380 chip?).  Hard disk size is
1271 MB (IDE), where 1 MB = (10 ** 6) bytes, or 1212 MB, where 1 MB =
(2 ** 20) bytes.  Alternative to NetBSD is Linux, which would also require a
tweaked kernel to be able to mount the CD-ROM.  I already have DR-DOS 7.03 on
one partition of the hard disk, and don't think the hard disk is big enough to
install both NetBSD and Linux.  I would settle for the one I can first get to
read the CD-ROM, or neither NetBSD nor Linux if I can't get either of these to
read the CD-ROM.  FreeDOS, maybe?