Subject: Re: Reading NetBSD/sparc disks on i386?
To: None <port-i386@NetBSD.org, port-sparc@NetBSD.org>
From: der Mouse <mouse@Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA>
List: port-i386
Date: 08/24/2005 22:34:50
>> I have a scsi disk here from a sun4m running NetBSD/sparc, that I
>> want to mount on a i386 machine running -current.  [FFS_EI is on and
>> working.]

> I don't know of a way to do this yet.

You don't say how recent the NetBSD/sparc OS was.  This matters because
old NetBSD/sparc used the Sun-compatible label on both read and write,
whereas new NetBSD/sparc maintains that only for ROM compatability,
using a BSD disklabel stashed elsewhere on the disk for kernel use.

However, if all your partitions are Sun-label-compatible (beginning on
what the label thinks are cylinder boundaries and having no more than 8
partitions, I think those are the really important ones), you can use
the Sun-style label and be fine either way.

As for how, you need a program that can read the label off the disk and
install it into the kernel with DIOCSDINFO or whatever they'er calling
that functionality these days.  My sunlabel (for the Sun-style label)
or bsdlabel (for the BSD label) may be usable as they are, and if not
may be able to serve as starting points.

ftp.rodents.montreal.qc.ca:/mouse/hacks/sunlabel.c and
.../hacks/bsdlabel.c are the source files.  [Yes, Perry, these are in
the queue to be listed in /mouseware/PACKAGES. :-)]

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