Netbooting DEC 3000/300X to install NetBSD 1.4.1
Wes Kurdziolek
I recently purchased a DEC 3000/300X to spend some time on, but
I'm having problems netbooting the machine to install NetBSD 1.4.1 on its
hard drive. Here's the deal:
* I can control the DEC via the serial terminal
* It boots into the firmware fine, and the internal tests show the RAM,
hard drive, and ethernet card work
* I'm running bootp, tftp, and ftp servers off of a Windows 98 (horrid,
right? Unfortunately, I can't install Linux or any flavor of BSD on this
box b/c it's my parents and I'm home from school for winter break).
* Here's what I do to attempt to netboot the box (the bootp and tftp
servers are running on my Windows 98 box)
>>> boot esa0
INIT-S-CPU...
INIT-S-ASIC...
INIT-S-MEM...
INIT-S-NVR...
INIT-S-CXT...
INIT-S-SCC...
INIT-S-NI...
INIT-S-SCSI...
INIT-S-ISDN...
AUDIT_BOOT_STARTS ...
AUDIT_BOOT_REQ
AUDIT_BOOT_RETRY
From there, it keeps retrying. I have a feeling it has to do w/ the
rfc1024 issue, but I can't seem to configure the bootp server to use that.
Has anyone had any success netbooting a DEC 3000/300X or similar using
Win32 to install NetBSD? I could possibly download ZipSlack and use that
since its installation doesn't involve partitioning or any other
potentialy dangerous operations, but has anyone had any success w/ that?
I'm a novice, if you couldn't tell, so any help is appreciated. :)
Thanks!!
Wes Kurdziolek
xu...@vt.edu at VA Tech (http://www.vt.edu)
w...@mike.emerge.wm.edu at home
"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and
clothes." -Erasmus
Jon Lindgren
> * I can control the DEC via the serial terminal
Try setting jumper W2 to 2-3, as this should force the serial
console. The default position of 1-2 tries to automatically detect...
Note that if you're using the video/keyboard, setting W2 to 2-3 will
_disable_ the video/keyboard of the 300.
> * It boots into the firmware fine, and the internal tests show the RAM,
> hard drive, and ethernet card work
:-)
> * I'm running bootp, tftp, and ftp servers off of a Windows 98 (horrid,
> right? Unfortunately, I can't install Linux or any flavor of BSD on this
> box b/c it's my parents and I'm home from school for winter break).
As long as the bootp and tftp can support the rfc1048 option, we're
okay...
> * Here's what I do to attempt to netboot the box (the bootp and tftp
> servers are running on my Windows 98 box)
>
> >>> boot esa0
Aha! That's trying to boot via mop. An excerpt from the Alpha Install
Notes:
---------begin plagarism---------
The 3000 series of Turbochannel systems and certain other models use old
SRM, do not have a -proto option and use different device names. They also
tend to not netboot very well so you probably don't need to worry about
this section. However, if you want to give it a try, note the following
differences:
There is no -proto argument, or ewa0_protocols variable. Old SRM uses
bootp if the device name is given as ez0.
The use of the setnetbootinfo(8) program will probably also be necessary,
as it is unlikely that an SRM from that era will properly communicate the
ethernet HW address to the boot program.
Example:
>>> boot ez0
---------end plagarism---------
In short, try "boot ez0" as opposed to "boot esa0"
Hope that helps some...
-Jon Lindgren
"Xyzzy! You're a duck!"
jlin...@espus.com, yub...@yubyub.net
Ross Harvey
Ok, follow Jon Lindgren's advice and you will get closer.
One of the NetBSD CD's might also solve your problem. I'm not sure if I've
tried a CD boot on a TC alpha recently, so no promises, but I'm pretty
I sure I tested this a while back. They are all bootable on alpha.
The old CD reader won't read my CD-RW test masters. I don't mind the $1
CD-R cost, but there is a Murphy's law problem with burning CD-R test
masters. If you burn a CD-RW, your CD release will be perfect and you will
have to reburn the exact same thing on CD-R to mail off to the pressing
plant. But.. if I burn a CD-R first, by Murphy's law it won't work and
I will have to fix something. At that point, if I do a CD-RW...
This is probably related to the Murphy's law application where, if you test
your newly assembled system before screwing the case on, it will work,
otherwise, it has no chance.
I can try a CD on a 3000 on Monday or Tuesday when I return from a short
Y2K vacation. (Mmm, Mammoth Lakes, California .. no, I'm not really heading
for the hills to flee the collapse of urban civilization ... that's just
a coincidence, really ... :-)
ross