> Or it wasn't written to the same place that the mbr code is reading
> from. Noting that the start of the NetBSD mbr partition is actually
> the swap partition, "wd0b", not the root partition, "wd0a", two
> options present themselves:

Yes - installboot writes it into the space at the start of the
filesystem (not the raw device).  It also copies files into that
same filesystem.
> 
> a) Use "installboot -f" to write the second stage to "/dev/rwd0c" ==
> "/etc/rwd0b". [But does the swap header leave room for bootblocks?]

Does it even leave enough space for the volume label?
> 
> b) Fudge the NetBSD mbr partition to point to "wd0a". If third-party
> partitioning tools complain about gaps, put an entry for the swap in
> mbr partition "4"; certainly nothing in NetBSD would care about that.

Just making the mbr partition point at wd0a should do.
Just remember that netbsd uses space outside its partition.
You could allocate for the 4th partition for safety.

Actually you need the mbr partition to reference the filesystem
that contains the boot program (ie the one that installboot
acted on).
IIRC the disklabel is only looked for after the rest of the boot
program has been loaded from its filestore blocks.


	David

-- 
David Laight: david@l8s.co.uk