Re: Linux/Sun3 Debian
> Hello,
>
> For some time now there is a Linux port for the Sun3 type machines
> (3/50, 3/60 mainly). I'm compiling a bunch of packages so I can use the
> system comfortably myself. But of course, I don't mind in sharing them.
Refresh my memory: is that the line of Sun3 with the weird Sun MMU that uses
a different page size?
> One of the things I haven't checked yet are the bootfloppies. This is
> mainly because the Sun3 doesn't support diskette drives. But the
> floppies do some initial configuration, so one of the questions is: can
> I do this myself? And what is configured by those floppies? The Sun3 can
The installer on the boot floppies 'rescue disk' will set up partitions,
mount them on /target/..., locate the distribution files, install kernel and
modules, configure networking and install the base system from a tarball.
You can do all of this manually, but refer to the boot-floppies source to
see what exactly needs to be done.
> netboot out of the box (this is the method used to bootstrap it at the
> moment), so it would be nice if the floppies, or install images, can be
> loaded via the network somehow. Maybe there is information on this?
Look at the MVME and BVME install images, the VME boxes can also netboot.
You need to find a way to transfer the ramdisk image together with the
kernel, or let your Sun NFS-mount the ramdisk image. BOOTP/RARP and NFSROOT
support is required in the kernel for this.
On a Linux system, I would
- loopback mount the uncompresed ramdisk image
(mount -o loop -t minix root.bin /sunboot/install)
- export that directory as root filesystem for the Sun (I have no idea how
to specify what root filesystem to use for netboot).
- netboot the Sun using no root= kernel argument, making it query for a NFS
server to mount its root fs from (maybe another kernel option is required
for this, ask Nick Holgate <holgate@debian.org> for details)
You will need a ramdisk image that knows it supports Sun3 first.
Michael
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