Subject: Re: [OT] Making bootable disk for diskless SPARC
To: None <port-mac68k@netbsd.org, port-sparc@netbsd.org>
From: der Mouse <mouse@Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA>
List: port-sparc
Date: 03/04/2000 19:12:40
> You are right that NetBSD/mac68k does not understand sparc disklabels
> even though some MacOS disk formatters do as you say.  NetBSD/mac68k
> doesn't even support BSD disklabels,

Whether this is true or not...

> so anything without MacOS partitions or MS-DOS mbr partitions cannot
> be mounted under NetBSD/mac68k.

...this does not follow.  See below.

>> Second step: make the filesystem and populate it.  Since mac68k is
>> the same endianness as the SPARC, this is very straightforward:
>> newfs the partition(s) and unpack the set(s).  You don't even need
>> FFS_EI in your kernel. :-)

> Hm, I must be missing something here.  How do you mount the
> partition(s) on mac68k?

With mount(8), same as you mount any partition on any NetBSD machine.
mount_ffs, if you have to bypass the disklabel checks mount(8) does.

> NetBSD/mac68k understands nothing but MacOS partition table or MS-DOS
> mbr partition table (at least on a Zip disk).  Are you saying
> sunlabel and MacOS partition can coexist on a single disk?

No, I'm not saying that.

The in-kernel NetBSD/mac68k code may not understand SunOS labels.  But
given a userland program that understands them and knows how to make a
DIOCSDINFO (not DIOCWDINFO) call, it can set the partitioning info in
the kernel without having to have anything on-disk that the kernel
understands.

sunlabel, which I think I mentioned in my "First step", knows how to do
this (among other things).  That's why I mentioned it as part of my
answer.

					der Mouse

			       mouse@rodents.montreal.qc.ca
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