Wow, I can actually contribute on the help side, instead of just asking 
questions.  An IBM 315x type terminal can emulate other terminals, like 
a VT100 and VT220.  There should be a way to get into setup menu and 
change your terminal config, at least during the installation.  Sorry, 
can't remember what it was, it's been 8 years since I worked with IBM 
315x series terminals (or any other dumb terminals, for that matter :-)  
Google for help

timbo

Keith Bennett wrote:

>whoops, sent my reply dirctly to mr. kunz...
>*smacks gmail*
>
>On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 16:20:43 +0100, Jochen Kunz
><jkunz@unixag-kl.fh-kl.de> wrote:
>  
>
>>On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 07:18:40 -0600
>>Keith Bennett <kanezor@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>    
>>
>>>What's even worse is that once the terminal seems to get into such a
>>>state, whereas the cursor is in the top-left and only the bottom-right
>>>gets updated, it stays that way even after a reboot
>>>      
>>>
>>You may try reset(1) to reinitialize the terminal (window).
>>    
>>
>It said "reset: not found" ... I don't think reset is included on the
>installation diskette... ;)
>
>
>  
>
>>>which leads me to think that maybe it's a terminal problem?
>>>      
>>>
>>Yes, this looks like a non working terminal emulation. Usually I use
>>cu(1) inside a xterm(1). minicom(1) may work also.
>>    
>>
>It seems it didn't recognize cu or minicom as a terminal, but xterm
>worked. The xterm terminal type got rid of the second problem of the
>junk text after asking wheter to install or go to shell or whatnot.
>But, it did not fix the problem of corrupting the terminal (is that
>the right wording?) when running sysinst.
>
>I did a little looking on the net, and found another terminal type,
>vt52. I tried that, and that not only fixed the junk text, but also
>fixed the terminal corruption when running sysinst.
>
>That'll be something to look into, I think. My terminal is an IBM
>InfoWindow II 3153 if anyone is interested.
>
>As for the installation... like I said earlier, I'm new to *BSD (new
>to any *nix for that matter). I loaded up the sysinst program, and
>tried installing... selected Full installation, when it asked if I
>wanted to edit the MBR or use entire disk, I selected the entire disk,
>it then asked "Yes or no?" with no information regarding it... wtf,
>eh?
>I selected no, and it brought me to the question of set sizes of
>NetBSD partitions or use existing partition sizes... I selected use
>existing partition sizes, it then brought me to a diagram of the
>partitions, I selected partition sizes OK, and it then said "You can
>either edit the partition table by hand, or give up and rturn to the
>main menu." ... "Edit the partition table again?", and it presents me
>with Yes, which brings me back to that diagram, or no which brings me
>back to the main menu.
>
>Any help?
>
>  
>
>>>If that's the case, then will my ATI Rage 128 card work to get a VGA
>>>card into it?
>>>      
>>>
>>You can try. But most likely the firmware doesn't know how to handle a
>>"non-IBM" card. I tried several old S3 and Matrox cards in a -140 and
>>got nothing usefull on the screen.
>>    
>>
>Just as long it's not going to fry anything...  ;)
>
>  
>