So, the impression I get at this point is that the best option is
for the boot loader to load itself below 4 MB, relocate itself to
some higher chunk of RAM, if one is available, and then load the
kernel and go. Is that correct?

Is someone going to take this on? If so, I can provide a net-connected
system with a serial console to test this on. (An IPX with 4 SIMM
sockets loaded with 1-4 4MB SIMMs.)

der Mouse's question of whether a kernel > 4 MB can actually be
loaded on a system without more than 4 MB of memory contiguous in
any one area still hasn't been addressed.

If nobody's going to get to this soon, I'll file a PR and start
investigating just how broken the install kernel is on such a
system.

On a related note, I booted a GENERIC kernel on a system with only
4 MB of memory, and it wedged during the /etc/rc process.  (Yes,
it had plenty of swap.) It works fine with 8 MB.

cjs
-- 
Curt Sampson  <cjs@cynic.net>   917 532 4208   De gustibus, aut bene aut nihil.
The most widely ported operating system in the world: http://www.netbsd.org