On Sun 2001-08-05 (01:24), Bill Dorsey wrote:
> OK, so the install FAQ doesn't say much about how to do this other than
> by netbooting.  I don't have enough bandwidth between me and the machine
> to make this practical.  Can I do this:
> 
> (1)  FTP the Sparc binary sets to the existing Solaris filesystem.
> (2)  Turn off swapping on the existing swap space (only about 100MB).
> (3)  Install bootblocks for NetBSD on the swap partition, along with a
>      generic kernel and just the core stuff I'll need for installation.
>      (how would I do this?)

miniroot.fs.gz is a ready-made filesystem for doing just that.  It's
in the /pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-1.5.1/sparc/installation/miniroot/
directory on the ftp site, and there are instructions in the
install docs under the heading "Installing NetBSD by placing a
bootable filesystem on a partitioned hard drive."

> (4)  Halt Solaris.
> (5)  From the PROM monitor, boot the swap partition.
> (6)  Blow away everything in the Solaris filesystem except the Sparc
>      binary sets.
> (7)  Untar the Sparc binary sets into the correct places.
> (8)  Install boot blocks on the root filesystem.

6, 7 and 8 are all done by the installation script.

You might find it easier to let the installation script fetch the ftp
the binary sets itself, rather than copying them onto the machine
first.

> (9)  Reboot and enjoy a faster, more secure, more reliable machine...


-- 
David Siebörger
drs@rucus.ru.ac.za