Bochs + Minix 2.0.4 Networking
Bruce Miller
now been trying to get Minix networking up, but have thusfar been
unable to get the adapter to be recognized. The steps I've followed
are thus:
1. Downloaded and installed the NET.TAZ from floppy with:
mtools copy /dev/fd0:/NET.TAZ /usr/tmp
mv /minix/2.0.4 /minix/2.0.4nonet
cd /
zcat < /usr/tmp/NET.TAZ | tar xvfp - minix/2.0.4
2. Then, overwrote inet.conf with:
echo "eth0 DP8390 0 { default; };" > /etc/inet.conf
3. Restarted, and hit <ESC> to edit the boot parameters, typing:
DPETH0=300:3
servers=inet
4. I then proceed to the bochs install directory on the host OS to run
niclist, producing the following:
1: Intel(R) PRO Adapter
Device: \Device\NPF_{FD94530F-0932-45F2-96A3-8705B4753748}
2: Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC
Device: \Device\NPF_{BBB04545-5571-46EA-8F87-39E77CE1B8ED}
Example config for bochsrc:
ne2k: ioaddr=0x300, irq=3, mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:00, ethmod=win32,
ethdev=\Device\NPF_{FD94530F-0932-45F2-96A3-8705B4753748}
5. The host computer is dual-honed, and the first adapter goes to the
internet, the second goes to the local network, so not seeing any
reason to edit the suggested bochsrc config, i just append it to the
minix.bxrc file.
6. So far so good... until I restart Minix, where i'm greeted with a
panic:
Device: [NE2K]
Message: Could not open adapter for ethernet reception
Alas, I must have done something wrong or missed an important step
somewhere. The Bochs-Minix networking information online is rather
sparse and unhelpful for troubleshooting.
Bruce Miller
I forgot to mention that I do in fact have winpcap installed and it
works fine with ethereal. Also, I neglected to add that I had made a
/etc/rc.net as well between steps 3 and 4:
# cat /etc/rc.net
ifconfig -h 192.168.0.4 -n 255.255.255.0
add_route -g 192.168.0.1 -m 25
daemonize nonamed
daemonize tcpd telnet in.telnetd
daemonize tcpd ftp in.ftpd
And lastly, I probably would want to associate the adapter with the
second NIC listed (the Realtek one), that way the Minix guest machine
will just act like another host on the LAN. However, changing that in
minix.bxrc has no effect.
awoo...@hampshire.edu
>> I have Minix 2.0.4 running quite happily under x86 Bochs 2.1.1. I've
>> now been trying to get Minix networking up, but have thusfar been
>> unable to get the adapter to be recognized. The steps I've followed
I'm sorry there isn't much trouble-shooting info in the Bochs
documentation I posted. As I said, I haven't tried this with a large
number of different types of ethernet adapters, although it worked
with those I had available. I also haven't tried this on a system with
multiple ethernet adapters. When and if you get things worked out let
me know what you did.
Are you using Windows 2K or XP as your platform? The exact form of the
string you get using winpcap and niclist varies with the OS, and, as I
indicated in my notes, as of a few months ago the latest versions (3.0
and 3.1 beta) of winpcap did not work. For Windows 2K the
configuration string that worked looked like this:
Device: \Device\Packet_{C6D40CF4-FCDD-4587-B3AC-B64E49F9E4EF}
This was with winpcap 2.3. Your strings that look like Device\NPF_{...
don't look right to me, at least for Win2K. I don't have a WinXP system
available to check things out on.
I haven't done much more with Minix on Bochs since I posted in
March. I have been living with some fear that the various
independently developed pieces (winpcap, niclist, Bochs) will have
their incompatibilities worked out in ways that will break the
usability of the system with Minix.
Did you try to get the DLX Linux demo working on the network? This is
highly recommended, among other things it might tell you whether the
problem is with Bochs or Minix. If it is a Bochs problem you'll find a
lot more people in the Bochs world who will be ready to help with
Linux than who have any experience with Minix on Bochs.
BTW, you are not getting far enough to see the Bochs "Device [NE2K] CR
write - tx start, dev in reset" PANIC message that I noticed, which
can be overcome by clicking "Continue and don't ask again." If you
succeed in getting that far, a patch for a long-unnoticed error in the
Minix NE2000 support code is at
http://minix1.bio.umass.edu/pub/minix.2.0/2.0.4/fixes/dp8390fx.tar.Z
which fixes this. I call it an error, not a bug -- apparently the
NE2000 specifications call for a bit to be not set during
intialization of the ethernet card, but with real ethernet cards
leaving this out of the Minix driver never caused a problem. However,
with the Bochs emulation of an NE2000 the failure to initialize
properly causes the error message mentioned above. It seems that the
emulation is truer to the specs than the hardware.
- Al
--
+----------------------------------+
| Albert S. Woodhull |
| Hampshire College, Amherst, MA |
| awoo...@hampshire.edu |
| http://minix1.hampshire.edu/asw/ |
+----------------------------------+
What didn't you know and when didn't you know it?
Bruce Miller
> Bruce Miller <bm3...@ark.ship.edu> wrote:
>
> >> I have Minix 2.0.4 running quite happily under x86 Bochs 2.1.1. I've
> >> now been trying to get Minix networking up, but have thusfar been
> >> unable to get the adapter to be recognized. The steps I've followed
>
> I'm sorry there isn't much trouble-shooting info in the Bochs
> documentation I posted. As I said, I haven't tried this with a large
> number of different types of ethernet adapters, although it worked
> with those I had available. I also haven't tried this on a system with
> multiple ethernet adapters. When and if you get things worked out let
> me know what you did.
>
> Are you using Windows 2K or XP as your platform?
The system I was trying to get it running on in my post was Win2k.
Since then, I have tried it on a WinXP system as well (with a
completely different NIC type, same versions of Bochs and winpcap) and
had the same results. A friend of mine has gone through the exact same
steps as I on his Win98SE machine and the same versions of everything,
and networking works fine for him.
> The exact form of the
> string you get using winpcap and niclist varies with the OS, and, as I
> indicated in my notes, as of a few months ago the latest versions (3.0
> and 3.1 beta) of winpcap did not work.
Perhaps that is the problem. I am using 3.01a (I also tried 3.1b3).
> For Windows 2K the
> configuration string that worked looked like this:
>
> Device: \Device\Packet_{C6D40CF4-FCDD-4587-B3AC-B64E49F9E4EF}
>
> This was with winpcap 2.3. Your strings that look like Device\NPF_{...
> don't look right to me, at least for Win2K. I don't have a WinXP system
> available to check things out on.
Oddly enough, my WinXP system gives me the same Packet_{...
identifiers as your Win2k example, though I get the NPF_{... on my
Win2k system. On Win98SE, the NIC device names are much shorter.
> I haven't done much more with Minix on Bochs since I posted in
> March. I have been living with some fear that the various
> independently developed pieces (winpcap, niclist, Bochs) will have
> their incompatibilities worked out in ways that will break the
> usability of the system with Minix.
I think you're right about that. :)
> Did you try to get the DLX Linux demo working on the network? This is
> highly recommended, among other things it might tell you whether the
> problem is with Bochs or Minix. If it is a Bochs problem you'll find a
> lot more people in the Bochs world who will be ready to help with
> Linux than who have any experience with Minix on Bochs.
It's definitely not a Minix problem, but a Bochs one. I posted the
Minix-related steps followed just for completeness. I came here first,
assuming plenty of people out there were probably using Minix+Bochs. I
guess they aren't. :)
> BTW, you are not getting far enough to see the Bochs "Device [NE2K] CR
> write - tx start, dev in reset" PANIC message that I noticed, which
> can be overcome by clicking "Continue and don't ask again." If you
> succeed in getting that far, a patch for a long-unnoticed error in the
> Minix NE2000 support code is at
> http://minix1.bio.umass.edu/pub/minix.2.0/2.0.4/fixes/dp8390fx.tar.Z
> which fixes this. I call it an error, not a bug -- apparently the
> NE2000 specifications call for a bit to be not set during
> intialization of the ethernet card, but with real ethernet cards
> leaving this out of the Minix driver never caused a problem. However,
> with the Bochs emulation of an NE2000 the failure to initialize
> properly causes the error message mentioned above. It seems that the
> emulation is truer to the specs than the hardware.
>
> - Al
If I somehow get it working, I'll post the info. Seems pretty hopeless
right now though. Even without it being online, it's still fun to use,
and I can still transfer stuff over via floppy. I'm not out of options
yet, since I could try out the OpenBSD port of Bochs, and I also have
plenty of old 486s lying around to run it natively as a last resort
(installing Win9x is not an option).
Luis Guzman
> The system I was trying to get it running on in my post was Win2k.
> Since then, I have tried it on a WinXP system as well (with a
> completely different NIC type, same versions of Bochs and winpcap) and
> had the same results. A friend of mine has gone through the exact same
> steps as I on his Win98SE machine and the same versions of everything,
> and networking works fine for him.
I am interested in how your friend got Win98SE to work following the same
steps as you did. I thought Windows 98 could not access the floppy (real
hardware) to even copy NET.TAZ. Read the following this is from the Mixix
FAQ at http://minix1.hampshire.edu/faq/bxmxhowto.html:
**************************************************
Adding external floppy disk access
There is an update available for Minix 2.0.4 that was not ready when the
DOSMINIX.ZIP file for Minix 2.0.4 was prepared. To install it you will need
some way to get some more files onto your Minix system. Even if you don't
need to add an update, some way of importing and exporting data from Minix
on Bochs will be necessary for most uses. Later we'll consider networking,
but first we'll consider how to configure Minix running on Bochs to access
floppy disks. Accessing CD-ROMs is similar, and is discussed in the next
section.
Note that this section applies only to Bochs on Windows 2000, on Windows 98
access to the real (hardware) floppy drive is not supported. On Windows 98
access to floppy disks simulated by files is the only method supported.
**************************************************
I have WIN98SE and I was not able to access the floppy to copy NET.TAZ. If
someone was able to get Minix 2.0.4 networking to work on Bochs 2.1.1 by
accessing real hardware I will love to know because I am trying to do just
that.
Good luck with getting the networking on WinXP let us know how things go.
Thanks!
~Luis
>Bruce Miller <bm3...@ark.ship.edu> wrote:
> The system I was trying to get it running on in my post was Win2k.
> Since then, I have tried it on a WinXP system as well (with a
> completely different NIC type, same versions of Bochs and winpcap) and
> had the same results. A friend of mine has gone through the exact same
> steps as I on his Win98SE machine and the same versions of everything,
> and networking works fine for him.
I am interested in how your friend got Win98SE to work following the same
steps as you did. I thought Windows 98 could not access the floppy (real
hardware) to even copy NET.TAZ. Read the following this is from the Mixix
FAQ at http://minix1.hampshire.edu/faq/bxmxhowto.html:
**************************************************
Adding external floppy disk access
There is an update available for Minix 2.0.4 that was not ready when the
DOSMINIX.ZIP file for Minix 2.0.4 was prepared. To install it you will need
some way to get some more files onto your Minix system. Even if you don't
need to add an update, some way of importing and exporting data from Minix
on Bochs will be necessary for most uses. Later we'll consider networking,
but first we'll consider how to configure Minix running on Bochs to access
floppy disks. Accessing CD-ROMs is similar, and is discussed in the next
section.
Note that this section applies only to Bochs on Windows 2000, on Windows 98
access to the real (hardware) floppy drive is not supported. On Windows 98
access to floppy disks simulated by files is the only method supported.
**************************************************
I have WIN98SE and I was not able to access the floppy to copy NET.TAZ. If
someone was able to get Minix 2.0.4 networking to work on Bochs 2.1.1 by
accessing real hardware I will love to know because I am trying to do just
that.
Good luck with getting the networking on WinXP let us know how things go.
Thanks!
~Luis
Bruce Miller
He used the virtual floppy method that Mr. Woodhull describes later on
in that same HOWTO. Here's a link that will take you to the section:
http://minix1.hampshire.edu/faq/bxmxhowto.html#virflop
Apart from that, a different output from niclist, and the fact that he
changed his emulated NIC IRQ to 5 in the bootmanager and the .bxrc
(though I'm pretty sure that does nothing) the steps he followed were
identical to mine (which in turn are practically identical to those in
the HOWTO).
-Bruce Miller