Need help with a port-prep FAQ

I'd like to get the webpage into a little better shape, and
to do that, I could
really use some help.  One of the big things the prep
webpage is missing is a
FAQ list.

What I could really use.. are either questions, or answers,
that people think
would be nice to have in the FAQ.  If you don't know the
answer, thats just
fine, post the question, and I'll try to figure it out and
add an answer to the
FAQ.  If you know the answer, it would help alot to have
that to.

Any help that you can provide for the webpage stuff would be
greatly
appreciated, as it gives me more time to hack on the port
itself.  Right now
I'm trying to make sysinst sane to get rid of the arcane
procedure currently
required to install prep.

Just as an FYI, here is my current TODO list:

Get sysinst working.
Clean up old cruft in the bootloader to try and make it
smaller.
Cut down the size of the INSTALL kernel so it fits on one
floppy again.
Test installation out, make sure it all works nicely.
Fix problems booting on the PowerStack E1
Fix root device recognition when booting from an ISA we
network card
Port prep to the mcp750
Port prep to the mvmeppc machines
Fix audio attachments.

If you have something to add to that.. speak up.  Or speak
up if you have any
questions about any of it.  My goal is to make sure at least
the first 4 there
get in NetBSD 4.0.

---
Tim Rightnour <rootgarbled.net>
NetBSD: Free multi-architecture OS http://www.netbsd.org/
Genecys: Open Source 3D MMORPG: http://www.genecys.org/

In article <XFMail.20060325084545.rootgarbled.net>
rootgarbled.net wrote:

> Just as an FYI, here is my current TODO list:
 :
> Get sysinst working.

Maybe we have to add some MD stuff to create fdisk partition
of the native OS which firmware can recognize, but I wonder
how it can be implemented.
(FYI ARCBIOS on arc machines require FAT partition to load
bootloader)

> Clean up old cruft in the bootloader to try and make it
smaller.

VGA stuff in bootloader contains many unneeded and ugly
stuff
and need to be cleaned up.
(sys/dev/ic/vga_subr.c:vga_reset() could help?)

> Cut down the size of the INSTALL kernel so it fits on
one floppy again.

It's better to pull standalone wdc(4) driver from cobalt
port?
(BTW, anyone has standalone siop(4) driver?)

> Test installation out, make sure it all works nicely.

Hmm, if no one has tested 7248, I'll dig up mine from my
closet.
---
Izumi Tsutsui

On 25-Mar-2006 Izumi Tsutsui wrote:
>> Get sysinst working.
> 
> Maybe we have to add some MD stuff to create fdisk
partition
> of the native OS which firmware can recognize, but I
wonder
> how it can be implemented.
> (FYI ARCBIOS on arc machines require FAT partition to
load bootloader)

Thats my plan.  I haven't really dug into it yet, so this
is a bit high level,
but my general thought is that when you say "use the
whole disk for netbsd" it
will create a 5MB prep partition and use the rest for a
NetBSD partition. 
Dealing with existing setups is the bigger mess.  I assume
you are in the same
boat I am here, so I'll let you know how/if I solve it.

>> Clean up old cruft in the bootloader to try and
make it smaller.
> 
> VGA stuff in bootloader contains many unneeded and ugly
stuff
> and need to be cleaned up.
> (sys/dev/ic/vga_subr.c:vga_reset() could help?)

Yeah.. I may look at that.. thanks for the pointer.  Right
now its just a
jumble.. I think I can cut out about 1/4 of the code that
just isn't needed.
(like all the framebuffer device foo)

>> Cut down the size of the INSTALL kernel so it fits
on one floppy again.
> 
> It's better to pull standalone wdc(4) driver from
cobalt port?
> (BTW, anyone has standalone siop(4) driver?)

The bootloader situation is a hideous mess.  The bootloader
has a standalone
fdc driver, but I question if it works or not, given that I
still can't figure
out how to get the fdc working under NetBSD at all, and I
think the prep
bootloader one was lifted from bebox.

The whole "lets write a bunch of standalone drivers in
the bootloader" thing
smells of a real fiasco to me.  For prep, we would need
siop, wdc, pcn, tlp, we,
fdc, and possibly a few more.  Even worse, we would need to
start parsing the
residual data, which means we would need a cut down pnpbus,
and so on, and so
on, until we half half a kernel in there.  It's a noble
idea, but I just do not
want to deal with it now.  The only scenario that seems sane
to me is using
kloader to double-jump the kernel.

As for cutting down INSTALL.. my primary thought is that I
can cut a few
options that aren't needed, cut the bootloader down just a
bit, and rename it
to INSTALL_FLOPPY.  Then build the floppy images with that,
and provide a
more-full-featured INSTALL kernel for use on the CD and
netboot images.  There
should be plenty of room there. As for the current floppy
images, we are only
over by about 20-30k, which I think is fixable.

The reality is that these machines are so easy to netboot,
that floppy installs
are only a minor concern to me.   I think the big problem
would be the prep
laptop which supposedly cannot be netbooted, but I think
might have a CDROM, so
it should be ok there.  That being said.. I'm fairly
confident I can get 4.0 to
fit on the floppy.

>> Test installation out, make sure it all works
nicely.
> 
> Hmm, if no one has tested 7248, I'll dig up mine from
my closet.

I have a 7248, a 7024 and a 7043-140.  Independant
verification is allways good
though.  But I need another week or so to get my head
wrapped around sysinst
again and hopefully get something working.

---
Tim Rightnour <rootgarbled.net>
NetBSD: Free multi-architecture OS http://www.netbsd.org/
Genecys: Open Source 3D MMORPG: http://www.genecys.org/