Subject: Re: Bringing up a Sparc 0.00000 box on NetBSD-1.3.3 --- no tape
To: None <rdkeys@unity.ncsu.edu>
From: David Brownlee <abs@anim.dreamworks.com>
List: port-sparc
Date: 03/01/1999 13:41:03
On Mon, 1 Mar 1999 rdkeys@unity.ncsu.edu wrote:

> > 	It should be supported by NetBSD - my guess is you have a
> > 	sun4/260?
> 
> Just thinking out loud.... is the early mt02 controller compiled into
> the sparc kernel?
> 
	The mt02 enables the tape drive to 'emulate' a real SCSI tape,
	so from NetBSD's viewpoint it is just a generic SCSI tape drive.
	The quality of the emulation is probably a little poor. :/

> > 	Possibly not - most people seem to have access to a network
> > 	interface and netboot their suns. If you get anything working
> > 	then please pass it back to be added to the tree :)
> 
> It really needs to be mirrored in the say way as the sun3 suite where
> tape installation is set up.  The early (aka dinosaur) sparcs install
> that way.  (Yeah, I know some of us Luddites need to move into the
> 20th century, but what the heck, it is a nice coole dude machine and
> has easy space to work on inside, and it also keeps the basement warm
> in winter).
> 
	You should still be able to netboot it. Thats not to say that
	fixing the support for the mt02 would be a bad thing!

> My solution for testing was to use the sunos 4.1 sparc boot tape
> (mine was nuked about half way through but enough was there to force
> tape booting to miniroot kernel and a dd to swap).  I used it to
> format and setup the partitions, then dd'd an image of the NetBSD
> miniroot into the swap partition then booted off of that.
> It came up OK, and set up the drives, but it would not even begin
> to read anything from the mt02/archive 1/4 inch cartridge streamer.
> Yet, the sun3 suite did fine.  I am really expecting there may be
> no mt02 support in the sparc kernel as it is built now.  Anyone
> able to check or confirm that?
> 
	There is no specific mt02 support of which I am aware.
	What do the probe messages on NetBSD/sparc and NetBSD/sun3
	have to say about the tape?

> > 	Do you have any other external SCSI tape drives on which you
> > 	could test? It _might_ just be a problem with that type of drive.
> 
> My cobbled together controller (sun3 si controller in a sun2 frame
> so it gets both internal and external scsi bus lines) works fine in
> the sun3 suite.  It seemed to work fine in the sparc suite except
> for the tape controller.  I tried ftping stuff and manually installing
> but it did not quite work (stupidity on my part perhaps).  Close though.
> 
	What errors did you hit?

> > 	I back up my sparc via DAT, so tapes definitely work to some
> > 	extent :)
> 
> DAT... wasdat?.....(:+{{..... too new for a vme crate.....(:+{{...
> Mebbie a xylogics or tapemaster.....(:+}}....
> 
	You should be able to hook up any SCSI device to that controller,
	providing NetBSD can recognise it. That would include DAT, DLT,
	scanner, zip, jaz, cdroms, and tape changers :)

> IS ANYONE in the group actually runing sparc vme hardware on NetBSD
> (4/2xx or 4/4xx hardware?).

	I used to run it a 4/370 and 4/260, but I had to leave all of
	them behind when I moved from UK to US :/

		David/absolute

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