SPARCStation 10 Diskless install problems.

["Chris Johnson" <johnson@amnesia.org>]

Greetings,

I'm trying to set up a SPARCStaion10 as a diskless client with the nfs/tftp/bootp/rarp server being a RedHat7.1 server.  I was able to go and tftp the tftpboot.img file, go through the install process where it figured out that I wanted to do a diskless install, it downloaded the drivers, rescue and base installed all of that into the root directory on the nfs server.  It then came time to reboot the system.  When the system rebooted it came back starting the install script from the beginning.  In reading up on the install process for a diskless client, I've read that one needs to then remove the tftpboot.img file, replace it with the linux-a.out file.  I have done this... now when the SS10 boots up, it comes up saying that it can't mount the nfs partition... I know that the partition is being exported properly... one interesting thing to point out is that the workstation (with the linux-a.out tftp'd kernel) is not setting up it's ethernet port... I see no entries from my dhcp server or rarp server for an allocation of an IP address to the workstation (other than the initial rarp entry from when it got the tftp kernel).

What am I missing that will allow the linux-a.out kernel to get the IP address it so desparately needs to be able to finally mount nfs-root?  I'm assuming that my linux-a.out is missing kernel level IP autoconfiguration via dhcp/bootp ― and that's what's causing the inability to get to the nfs server.  I'd love to go and compile another kernel for this box, but I don't have a box on which I could compile such kernel. 

I've had several people tell me that there are parameters that I should be passing to the linux-a.out kernel which should jump-start it into getting an ethernet address, however, I'm unable to find anything documented about what those may be.  I've also read where people say to use mknbi-linux.  I've installed it, and when trying to follow through the manpages for it, I keep getting that linux-a.out is not a Linux kernel image.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Chris