[[e-mail]: Re: Which NetBSD on a VS3176?]

[Holm Tiffe]

Sorry, forgot that on that list the reply goes not to the list by
default...

----- Forwarded message from Holm Tiffe <***@freibergnet.de> -----

Date: Sun, 18 May 2014 20:48:35 +0200
From: Holm Tiffe <***@freibergnet.de>
To: Martin Husemann <***@duskware.de>
Subject: Re: Which NetBSD on a VS3176?
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3109016|
Here the spinner stops and nothing other happens.

This is just the INSTALL kernel (which comes with a pretty huge install
filesystem as a ramdisk) not fitting into you RAM.
Can you use another install method, like providing install.fs via NFS
and booting GENERIC (either from the OpenBSD root or via mopd)?
Martin

Hmm.
That means almost every other VS3100 M76 has more the 16MB Ram?
..or what's the cause for calling it supported w/o to mention that RAM
Problem?

Why is there an so hughe install ramdisk? Hey, we are talking about
machines from times when 16MB was a pretty good equipped machine.
VMS supports that pretty well, NetBSD ...not?

Yes. I have to boot my old workstation with an patched up mopd that
supports ELF files (standard FreeBSD does not) to boot that thing
over network. ( Maybe someone remembers my tries to port NetBSD to that
VAXELN CVAX Brick in the past)
But ... is this worth the effort? Whats the next problem?
Last time I iwhen tried this I got panics every time, disklabel doesn'ti
worked (maybei this 8 vs 16 prtitions problem) and so on... repeatedly.i
I've postet the Results here.

Guys it seems that you all live with machines installed sometimes in the
past and then patched up to the actual release. This may work ok.
But has someone tried to install a machine from a release to a blank disk
in the near past?

I have 8 pcs 4Meg RAM Simms 5019144-01 (PCB) or 54-1945-AU (sticker)
for older VaxStations but no more for the M76.

Regards,

Holm

[..]
----- End forwarded message -----

[Charles Dickman]

Post by Holm Tiffe

3109016|
Here the spinner stops and nothing other happens.

This is just the INSTALL kernel (which comes with a pretty huge install
filesystem as a ramdisk) not fitting into you RAM.

...
boot device: <unknown>
md0: internal 1664 KB image area
root on md0a dumps on md0b
root file system type: ffs
...

Install file system from netboot install is only 1664KB.

Post by Holm Tiffe
Guys it seems that you all live with machines installed sometimes in the
past and then patched up to the actual release. This may work ok.
But has someone tried to install a machine from a release to a blank disk
in the near past?

I mop booted and install NetBSD/vax 6.1.4 on a VS4000/60 recently. The
boot host was NetBSD/i386 6.1.3. No special mopd was required.

-chuck

[Holm Tiffe]

Post by Charles Dickman

Post by Holm Tiffe

3109016|
Here the spinner stops and nothing other happens.

This is just the INSTALL kernel (which comes with a pretty huge install
filesystem as a ramdisk) not fitting into you RAM.

...
boot device: <unknown>
md0: internal 1664 KB image area
root on md0a dumps on md0b
root file system type: ffs
...
Install file system from netboot install is only 1664KB.

Post by Holm Tiffe
Guys it seems that you all live with machines installed sometimes in the
past and then patched up to the actual release. This may work ok.
But has someone tried to install a machine from a release to a blank disk
in the near past?

I mop booted and install NetBSD/vax 6.1.4 on a VS4000/60 recently. The
boot host was NetBSD/i386 6.1.3. No special mopd was required.
-chuck

Yes, but I have no other running NetBSD machine this time and I know that
FreeBSDs mopd isn't able to boot ELF files out of the box.
Someone ported an very old version to FreeBSD, I had to patch it for my
netboot experiments with that rtVAX. Besides of that we had diskussions
here about broken netbooting with mopd on NetBSD too (Matthew Whitehead,
Fri, 3 Jan 2014, Netboot on Vax).
This list was full of reports from my person whats going wrong with
installing VS4000/90, and the M38 + M76 in march, april last year.

Now I have decided to try again but not that much ha changed.
Eighter you guys have to change the website to state that those VaxStations
aren't supported anymore (ok, running NetBSD may be but installing isn't
supported) or you really have something todo.


The M38 has 24MB memory, should I try to install there? I'm pretty sure
it is bailing out on that machine too.

I trust you all that running NetBSD on that machines isn't the problem,
but someone really has to try to install a supported "Install media" before
one can call an OS supported on a machine I think.


Martin wrote last year:

"Heh, I'm still hoping other VS3100 owners around here would raise their
voice and report from their own testing.

Martin"

Sorry, that seems not to happen at all.

Regards,

Holm