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Problem:

I have A MicroVAX-II, 16MEG RAM and a brand new CMD SCSI-II card with
two HP 1.2GIG hard disks.  Right now it is running VMS 5-3 just fine
and the HP disks are treated as RA90's by the CMD controller.  I'm also
told that the CMD is COMPLETELY compatiable with DEC's products.

I've downloaded the TK50 files "TK50-FILE1-10a" and "TK50-FILE2-10a"
from "/pub/NetBSD/arch/vax/tk50" at "ftp.netbsd.org" and I also grabbed
everything in the "binaries" directory there too.  I've generated the
boot tape and have that part going just fine.

Now for the questions and problems.....

Since my SCSI-II controller is MSCP compatiable and my two HP SCSI hard
disks are RA90 compatiable, when I used "edlabel" I used the RA90
data in the "disktab" file to set everything up.  So my disk label
information looks like the following:

	disk type 2 (MSCP)   ra90:
	interleave 0, rpm 0, trackskew 0, cylinderskew 0
	headswitch 0, track-to-track 0, drivedata: 0 0 0 0 0

	bytes/sector: 0
	sectors/track: 69
	tracks/cylinder: 13
	sectors/cylinder: 34437
	cylinders: 2649

	8 partitions:
	     size   offset
	a:   15884,    0
	b:   66880,    16146
	c:   2376153,    0
	d:   15884,    374946
	e:   307200,    391092
	f:   1677390     698763
	g:   2001207     374946
	h:   291346     83421

Now, that SEEMED to write to the disk O.K. so I now reboot and start "copy"
and do the following:

	copy: 
	This program will read miniroot from tape/floppy/disk 
	and install this miniroot onto disk.

	Specify the device to read from as xx(N,0), where
	xx is the device-name and N is the unit-number, e.g.
	"tms(0,0)" for the first TMSCP-tape (TK50),
	"ra(2,0)" for the third MSCP-disk/floppy (RX33/RX50)

	device to read from ? tms(0,1)
                              --------

	Specify number of blocks to transfer. Usually this is
	sizeof(miniroot) / 512.
	It's safe to transfer more blocks than just the miniroot.
	The transfer-size must be smaller than memory-size minus 1MB.

	number of blocks ? 4096
                   	   ----

	If your miniroot is split into volumes, then you must
	specify the number of blocks per volume.
	(e.g. 800 blocks per RX50, 2400 blocks per RX33)

	number of blocks per volume ? [4096] <ENTER>
					     -------

	Make sure unit tms(0,1) is online and holds the proper volume.
	Then type 'g' to Go or 'a' to Abort.

	OK to go on ? [g/a] g
                            -

	Reading ... Reading of miniroot done. (4096 blocks read)

Now, this is where things get interesting.  If I follow the instructions
in the "readme.copy" file, I should do the following...

	Now specify the device to write miniroot to as xx(N,1)
	where xx is the drive type and N is the drive number.
	For example: ra(0,1) refers to MSCP drive #0, b partition

	Root disk ? : ra(1,0,1) 
              	      ---------

What happens next is that it goes back to the beginning of the program
and asks for a device to read from and starts the whole thing over again.
So I reboot and start over.  When it asks for "Root disk ?:" again I
then try what the program suggests and I get the following:

	Now specify the device to write miniroot to as xx(N,1)
	where xx is the drive type and N is the drive number.
	For example: ra(0,1) refers to MSCP drive #0, b partition

	Root disk ? : ra(0,1) 
              	      -------

	Initializing 'a'-partition ... done.
                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^---------------< Please Note
	(4096 blocks written.)

	Halt the machine and reboot from distribution media,
	giving second partition as part to mount as root. Ex:
	: ra(0,1) for ra disk 0, hp(2,1) for massbuss disk 2

	Halt/Reboot the machine NOW.

Now as you can see, it initializes a partition, the 'a' partition
(I know it is doing SOMETHING because I can see disk access on my drive)
and not the 'b' partition like the instructions states.  So just to
see what will happen I continue on with the installation like it
installed it on the 'b' partition (just curious).

So if I continue on, and reboot the machine and get "Nboot" backup,
according to the instuctions, I'm supposed to do the following:


	Booting up miniroot.
	When copying is ready, bring the boot program up a third
	time, and this time bring up a real system by telling
	boot where you put your miniroot _and_ also the generic
	kernel name. Example: ra(0,1)gennetbsd,  boots gennetbsd
	from swap partition on ra0.


So I do like the instructions state and type in the following at the
"Nboot" prompt....

	: ra(0,1)gennetbsd

And I get the following....

	No such file or directory.

So, to be "safe", I once again reboot and try what the end of the
"copy" program states.  So at the "Nboot" prompt I type:

	: ra(0,1)

And I get...

	Bad format

So I'm now stuck and don't know what to do.

Some questions I have is one, since I have a SCSI-II controller, should
I use SCSI in then "edlabel" program and just use the RA90 parameters?
There is little explanation on exactally what partitions you need to
create and I'm creating 8, can I get along with less and if so, what
do I need to enter to use the most of my 1.2 GIG hard disks?

I'm kinda familar with Unix, it's been quite some time since I've worked 
on a Unix box and I've never installed a Unix system.

Any help would be appreciated as I'm now stuck.


                        Robert Alan Byer, Vice-President
                        A-Com Computing, Inc.
                        115 W. Washington St., Suite 1165
                        Indianapolis, IN 46204
                         Phone: (317)673-4204
                        E-Mail: byer@carl.a-com.com
                        Send An E-Mail Request For My PGP Key

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