At 10:54 AM -0800 1/23/0, Bill Studenmund wrote:
>On Sun, 23 Jan 2000, Merideth Johnston wrote:
>
>> .  I did find out that
>> the way to get it back on is to simply errase the disk using the zip tool
>> meant for the job.  Unfortunately, that utility also wipes out the desired
>> partitioning.  (It will let you initiallize it as DOS, but apparently
>> doesn't consider that anybody would want to initialize it to another
>> alternative)  I found the only way to partition the zip disk at all was to
>> initialize it with Apple's HDSC setup (modified for any disk).  Then I
>> could custom partition it.  That means, though, that if the zip disk is in
>> the drive when the Mac is booted, that disk will be regarded by the system
>> as permanent.  which causes the zip extention to blow its mind when I
>> reboot NetBSD to get back to the Mac OS.  I can live with it that way, but
>
>Try formatting it as a MacOS zip disk in the zip tools. Then use HDSC to
>delete the MacOS parttion on there, and then add your own.

Which is _exactly_ what I was attempting to do, with no success.....  I
tried a LOT, everything I could think of, but just couldn't get it done.
With that zip partition in there, the Apple couldn't figure out what to do
with the partitioned disk, as the little Apple partition wasn't
initialized.  It wouldn't/couldn't deal with the idea.  _something_ had to
initialize that baby Mac.  The zip tools wouldn't - it doesn't recognize
the partition when it goes to initialize the disk, and it doesn't recognize
the little mac partition, except to note it's size, which it promptly wipes
out in initializing the disk.  I swear, I tried every scheme I could think
of to get both.  I fussed over this for HOURS.  The only method that worked
at all, was the one I hit on the first time - use HDSC setup to zap the
disk, and initialize the whole thing as if it were a permanent disk, then
partition it.  That way, it will come up and ask you to name the little guy
and initialize it.  As long as that zip info is in there, though, you can
partition the heck out of it, and no matter what, it will come back and
tell you it can't read the disk, and will actually abend (blow its little
mind).

In short, I think I spent enough time on that, and somebody smarter than me
can try to figure it out, if interested.  Me, I'm going to re-install
NetBSD on my freaky disk, and live with the little complication, at least
for now.  (ie, my patience has run out on it  8-)

>
>In addition to the MacOs partition, the formatter will often add its own
>driver on the disk. I bet that your removal problems are either that
>you're using the HDSC one (if it installed one) or the default one, and it
>isn't letting you eject. The routine above will ensure that there's a zip
>driver on the disk.

Oh, I can eject....  I've got that routine down just fine.  I can even work
with the disk while it doesn't have anything on it that will show up on the
desktop - no mean skill.  No, I think the problem lies in mutual
exclusivity (_again_)....  The zip tool doesn't recognize that anybody
would want to partition a drive, or format it to anything but Mac or DOS.
The Apple HDSC doesn't recognize the zip info partition when the disk needs
to have a Mac partition initialized.  It _HAS_ to initialize the whole
disk, wiping out the zip partition, or it just can't understand what's
going on.  You folk must be using something else to do zip drives with, if
you've done it successfully.

>Note that NetBSD/MacOS partitioning mounts things in a different order
>than they are listed in the partition table. We scan the table for
>partitions. The first one we find with the correct flags is made into the
>"a" partition. It doesn't need to be in a particular place in the MacOS
>disklabel.

ok, I can see that happen.  What I don't understand, then, is why I cannot
put the NetBSD root on my regular hard drive.  I mean, it won't do it.  Not
as a root partition, and not as a Root/Usr partition.  The installer says
it can't mount the root and abends if there is any partition with root in
it on my large hard drive.  Period.  I have got a second Mac partition on
there - I wanted it for testing purposes.  It is a pristine system, with no
added extentions or scripting additions, or anything at all that didn't get
installed by the OS installers.  (OS 7.5.5)  right out of the box, as it
were.  I'm not actually using it atm, and I don't anticipate needing it
right away, but I can't see how that would be causing the installer to not
be able to mount the root in any root partition that was also on that
disk....  I suppose I could take it off, and see if the installer likes my
hd better without it, if you think it might, but I suspect it is something
else, and I just don't know enough to figure that out.  It installs easily
enough as long as it's on the zip, so I'm pretty well boxed in the way I've
got it, unless you can tell me what I've got wrong.

I would like to know how to install things on the usr partition I've got on
my large drive, though.  There simply isn't enough space on the zip drive
to include the compilers, and I would really like to be able to use them.
I thought to reserve the zip for system stuff, and put my own home on one
partition on the hd, and the compilers and whatever software I eventually
install in another partition on the hd.  (I've got another partition for
backup archives too, but that can wait, and I think I have a line on doing
that here that isn't too hard to follow).  I just haven't stumbled on
anything yet that actually tells me how to install comp.tgz where I want it
to go....

>
>> Oh, another question I want to ask before it slips my mind - is it possible
>> to pass info between the Mac partition and NetBSD partition on the same
>> machine, and if so (I would think so...) how?  Is that where local talk
>> comes in?  I've never used that.  Would it be like setting up a local
>> network between the two, as if they were different machines, except I
>> wouldn't need to connect them with any cables?
>
>Localtalk is for linking seperate computers. hfsutils, in the package
>system, will let NetBSD access HFS partitions. The installer will be able
>to access old-style NetBSD partitions from MacOS (note the ones made with
>newfs without the -C option won't work).
>

Thanks Bill, and Dave, for your ideas and info.  I mainly just wanted to
pass text between them, such as system logs (what did I _do_), questions
and problems, answers and relevant info such as gleaned from this list or
on the 'net.  I only go there with the Mac, so actually it is reasuring to
know its not that easy to access the "other half" here from the Mac, which
was part of my initial considerations in putting NetBSD on the zip disk in
the first place (if it ain't on the machine, nobody _can_ mess with it, no
matter how good a hacker they are, eh?)  I can print things off for now, I
suppose.  8-)  Once I'm running good enough to actually go anywhere with
NetBSD, I can email myself, me to me, via the moon.  8-)


Merideth
merideth@sky.net     ;)-{8-->=     li'l wimyn      @-{--E=

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