Hi.

	[ 32M-diskimage was dd'ed to /dev/sd1a with NetBSD/i386 ]
	
Paul Bickford wrote;

>>* Boot it from prom typing
>>  boot -f rz(0,X,0)netbsd
>>  where X is the SCSI ID of your disk.
>
> boot -f rz(0,0,0)netbsd
>
> which returns the error:
> ?417 btblk fmt
> ?470 bt err: rz(0,0,0)netbsd
>
> What now?

You failed to create correct NetBSD/pmax diskimage because you used
/dev/sd1a.  As Bill Studenmund pointed out, use 'd' instead. 

NetBSD/i386 uses partition 'd' to refer to entire disk.  Not 'c', nor
'a' no matter how you adjust the BSD disklabel parameter.

Here goes the reason; NetBSD/i386 uses PC-native (em-es-doo-se) disk
partitioning scheme.  Each disk can hold upto 4 'primary partion', and
NetBSD occupies one of them.  In this way, different OSes can co-exist
in single disk storage.

The occupied area by NetBSD looks just like whole disk storage space
as other implementations of NetBSD port.  Partition 'c' refers to THIS
occupied area, while 'd' refers to true entire disk storage including
all PC 'primary partition's.

So, by using /dev/sd1a it's supposed you failed to create NetBSD/pmax
disklabel/bootblock at the verying beginning of the Seagate disk. 

Personally, I don't recommend "dd'ing disk image" using PC as "helper
machine" although it's definitely the most obtainable machine around
us because it tends to bring difficulities instead of helps. :-<

Tohru Nishimura
Nara Institute of Science and Technology