Some belated install doc cleanup...

2 files changed, 192 insertions, 72 deletions

diff --git a/distrib/notes/sparc/hardware b/distrib/notes/sparc/hardware
index 54df4d93708..8146c9ecd04 100644
--- a/distrib/notes/sparc/hardware
+++ b/distrib/notes/sparc/hardware
@@ -3,13 +3,18 @@ OpenBSD/sparc 2.1 runs on the following classes of machines:
 	- sun4 (e.g. the 4/100, 4/200, and 4/300.   note that support
 		for the 4/400 processor is incomplete)
 	- sun4m (e.g. sparc classic, 4, 5, 10, and 20) *** See Notes Below
+	- faithful clones of the above Sun systems (e.g. Integrix)
 
 OpenBSD/sparc 2.1 does NOT run on these machines (yet):
-	- Sun 4/400 (lacking support for the I/O cache, and has
-			ethernet problems)
-	- sun4m 4/6XX (may work, but un-tested)
-	- sun4d (e.g. SPARCcenter 2000, SPARCserver 1000)
-	- sun4u (e.g. Ultrasparcs)
+	- Sun 4/400 --  Lacking support for the I/O cache, and related
+			ethernet problems.
+	- sun4m 4/6XX (e.g Sparcserver 600MP) -- Different registers (auxio
+			vs. leds), VMEbus on sun4m arch, I/O cache???
+	- sun4d (e.g. SPARCcenter 2000, SPARCserver 1000) -- X-bus vs. M-bus
+			multi-processor issues.
+	- sun4u (e.g. Ultrasparcs) --  currently no support for 64-bit Sparc
+			architecture extensions.
+	- clones that are differnt from the Sun systems (e.g. Solbourne)
 
 The minimal configuration requires 4M of RAM and ~60M of disk space.
 To install the entire system requires much more disk space, and to run
@@ -96,10 +101,12 @@ status and check for updates.
 If you have Sparc hardware you can donate or make available at nominal
 cost, please mention this on the lists, many things aren't being tested
 or developed simply because devlopers usually have only a Sparcstation
-at hand, not an array of systems.
+at hand, not an array of systems.  Donation or mid/long term loan of
+UltraSparc (sun4u) or HyperSparc (sun4m) systems would help ensure the
+long-term viability of OpenBSD on Sparc based systems.
 
 Your support in terms of documenting previously unknown problems with
-OpenBSD/sparc, helping debug known problems, implementng missing pieces,
+OpenBSD/sparc, helping debug known problems, implementing missing pieces,
 and testing OpenBSD on various architectures is actively encouraged.
 The OpenBSD mailing lists, web-pages and sendbug utility are your best
 tools for helping make OpenBSD/sparc a better release.
diff --git a/distrib/notes/sparc/xfer b/distrib/notes/sparc/xfer
index d60062428df..a07529a7799 100644
--- a/distrib/notes/sparc/xfer
+++ b/distrib/notes/sparc/xfer
@@ -12,69 +12,181 @@ work only with the new single-floppy installation or the miniroot
 installation, not with the older multi-floppy installation.
 
 
-If you have the OpenBSD CD-ROM distribution (and a CD-ROM drive)
-you can boot from it.  Otherwise, you will need to create a bootable
-disk.  This may be a floppy or a hard disk (floppy is simplest).
-
-To boot from CD-ROM:
-
-	At the PROM monitor type type the appropriate command to boot
-	from a CR-ROM.  This will be something like "boot cdrom bsd"
-	or "boot sd(0,6,0)bsd", consult your Sun PROM manual for the
-	correct version.  If the boot is successul, you will get a
-	loader version message, executable sizes and then the Kernel
-	copyright and device probe messages.  Boot failure modes are
-	typically a lot of CD-ROM drive action, but no messages or
-	complaints about magic numbers, checksums or formats.
-
-	Not all sparc systems support bootable CDROMS and the current
-	boot image is only known to work on sun4c architctures.  If it
-	does not work, you'll have to create a boot floppy or bootable
-	hard disk; follow the directions below.  (A boot floppy image
-	is included on the CD-ROM as 2.1/sparc/floppy.fs.)
-
-If you have a floppy drive on your sparc:
-
-	If you are using a UN*X-like system to write the floppy image to
-	disk, you should use the "dd" command to copy the file system image
-	(floppy.fs) directly to the raw floppy disk.  It is suggested
-	that you read the dd(1) manual page or ask your system administrator
-	to determine the correct set of arguments to use; it will be slightly
-	different from system to system, and a comprehensive list of the
-	possibilities is beyond the scope of this document.
-
-	If you are using a DOS PC to write the floppy image to disk, you
-	should use the "rawrite" utility, provided in the "i386/inst"
-	directory of the OpenBSD distribution.  It will write the file
-	system image (floppy.fs) to a disk.
-
-	Note that, when installing, the floppy can be write-protected (i.e.
-	read-only).
-
-If you don't have a floppy drive on your sparc:
-
-	If you don't have a floppy drive you can copy the floppy image
-	onto the hard disk you intend to install OpenBSD on.  Doing so
-	will overwrite the disk's old contents, however.
-
-	You must use a UN*X-like system to write the floppy image to the
-	hard disk you will be using for OpenBSD/sparc.  You should use the
-	"dd" command to copy the file system image (floppy.fs) directly
-	to the raw 'c' device (whole disk) of the target hard disk.  It
-	is suggested that you read the dd(1) manual page or ask your system
-	administrator to determine the correct set of arguments to use;
-	it will be slightly different from system to system, and a
-	comprehensive list of the possibilities is beyond the scope of
-	this document.
-
-	Please note that this will put a floppy disklabel on your
-	disk which will confuse the install script.  To fix this
-	you need to answer "n" to the first question when booting
-	your disk and do "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rsd0c count=20"
-	assuming your booted from sd0.  After doing this you
-	will not be able to boot that disk again unless you
-	complete the install.  You can now enter "install" and
-	start the actual install process.
+If you have the OpenBSD CD-ROM distribution (and a CD-ROM drive), you
+may be able boot from it.  Not all sparc systems support booting from
+CD-ROM and the current boot images is only known to work on Sun4c
+architecture workstations such as the IPC, SS1 or SS2.  If you can boot
+from the CD-ROM, you are home free and can proceed to the installation
+steps.  If not, you will need to do some setup work to prepare a bootable
+image, either floppies, a hard drive, or a compatible net boot server.
+
+In addition to the bootable image, you also need to consider how to
+access the binary distribution sets to actually install the system.  If
+you have the OpenBSD CD-ROM distribution you can either access the
+CD-ROM directly from the bootable image or remotely mounted on another
+system via NFS.
+
+Although you can access the distribution sets directly from the CD-ROM or
+from one of the FTP mirrors over the internet, you may wish to transfer
+the sets to a local FTP or NFS server, or copy them to a partition on
+the target system's disk or onto a SCSI tape.
+
+The variety of options listed may seem confusing, but situations vary
+widely in terms of what peripherals and what sort of network arragements
+a user has, the intent is to provide some way that will be practical.
+
+
+Creating a bootable floppy disk using DOS/Windows:
+
+	First you need to get access to the OpenBSD Bootable floppy
+	images.  If you can access the CD-ROM distribution under DOS
+	the bootable disks are in the 2.1/sparc directory, otherwise
+	you you will have to download them from one of the OpenBSD
+	ftp or http mirror sites, using ftp or a web-viewer.  In either
+	case, take care to do "binary" transfers, since these are
+	images files and any DOS cr/lf translations or control/z EOF
+	interpretations will result in corrupted transfers.
+	
+	You will also need to go to the "tools" directory and grab a
+	copy of the rawrite.exe utility and it's documentation.  This
+	program is needed to correctly copy the bootable filesystem
+	image to the floppy, since it's an image of a unix partition
+	containing a ffs filesystem, not a MSDOS format diskette.
+
+	Once you have installed rawrite.exe, just run it and specify the
+	name of the bootable image, such as "floppy.fs" and the name of
+	the floppy drive, such as "a:".  Be sure to use good quality HD
+	(1.44MB) floppies, formatted on the system you're using.  The
+	image copy and boot process is not especially tolerant of read
+	errors. 
+
+	Note that, when installing, the boot floppy can be write-protected
+	(i.e.  read-only).
+
+
+Creating a bootable floppy disk using SunOS or other Un*x-like system:
+
+	First, you will need obtain a local copy of the bootable filesystem
+	image as described above.  If possible use cksum or md5 to verify
+	the checksums of the images vs. the values in the CKSUM or MD5
+	files on the mirror site.
+
+	Next, use the dd(1) utility to copy the file to the floppy drive.
+	Under SunOS, the comand would be:
+
+		dd if=floppy21.fs of=/dev/rfdc0 bs=36b
+
+	If you are using someting other than SunOS, you may have to adapt
+	this to conform to local naming conventions for the floppy and
+	options suitable for copying to a "raw" floppy image.  The key
+	issue is that the device name used for the floppy *must* be one
+	that refers to the whole 2880 block image, not a partition or
+	compatibility mode, and the copy command needs to be compatible
+	with the requirement that writes to a raw device must be in
+	multiples of 512-byte blocks.  The variations are endless and
+	beyond the scope of this document.
+
+	If you're doing this on the system you intend to be the floppy on,
+	copying the floppy back to a file and doing a compare or checksum
+	is a good way to verify that the floppy is readable and free of
+	read/write errors.
+
+
+
+Creating a bootable hard disk using SunOS or other Un*x-like system:
+
+	If you don't have a floppy drive you can copy the single floppy
+	installation image "floppy.fs" or the mini-root "miniroot.fs"
+	onto the hard disk you intend to boot on.  Traditionally, the
+	way to do this is to use dd(1) to place the bootable filesystem
+	image in the "swap" partition of the disk (while running in
+	single user mode), and then booting from that partition.
+
+	Using the "b" partition allows you to boot without overwriting
+	any useful parts of the disk, you can also use another partition,
+	but don't used the "a" or "c" partition without understanding
+	the disklabel issues described below under "uncompatible systems".
+
+	This requires that you be running SunOS, Solaris, OpenBSD or NetBSD
+	which have a compatible view of SunOS disk labels and paritions.
+
+	Use the dd(1) utility to copy the file to the floppy drive.
+	Under SunOS, the comand would be:
+
+		dd if=floppy21.fs of=/dev/rsd0b bs=36b
+				- or -
+		dd if=miniroot21.fs of=/dev/rsd0b bs=36b
+
+	The blocksize is arbitrary as long as it's a multiple of 512-bytes
+	and within the maximum supported by the driver, i.e. bs=126b may
+	not work for all cases.  Again, device/parition names may vary,
+	depending on the OS involved.
+
+	If you are preparing the hard drive on an incompatible system or
+	don't care about the hard disk contents, you can also install the
+	bootable image starting at the beginning of the disk. This lets
+	you prepare a bootable hard-drive even if don't have a working
+	operating system on your Sparc, but it important to understand
+	that the bootable image installed this way includes a "disk label"
+	which can wipe out any pre-existing disklabels or paritioning for
+	the drive.
+
+	The floppy image is used only for booting, and can be placed in
+	a partition that will be overwritten during the install process,
+	since it actaully runs of of a ram-disk image in the kernel.  In
+	contrast the miniroot is a normal unix root filesystem and you
+	must place in a parition that will not be overwritten until you've
+	completed the installation process.
+
+	To copy the floppy image to the whole disk, overwriting labels:
+
+		dd if=floppy21.fs of=/dev/rsdXc bs=36b
+
+	Two notes - X should be replaced by the unit number of the target
+	disk, which is most likely *not* the disk/paritition that's your
+	current root partition.  Again names may vary depending on the
+	OS involved.  Second, after doing this, the disklable will be one
+	that would be appropiate for a floppy, i.e. one parition of 2880
+	block, and you'll probably want to change that later on.
+
+	If you're starting with a virgin disk and trying to do this under
+	SunOS, use format(8) and newfs(8) to set up the paritions and
+	mark the intended parition as an normal partiton type.  If you're
+	using OpenBSD, perhaps on another architecture, OpenBSD will
+	create a "fictitious label" that will let you access the whole
+	disk.
+
+	To copy the flopy image to the hard disk, preserving SunOS,
+	Solaris NetBSD or OpenBSD labels:
+
+		dd if=floppy21.fs of=/dev/rsdXc bs=1b skip=1 seek=1
+
+	You need to be sure that your version of dd(1) supports the
+	skip and seek operands, otherwise you can try a technique like:
+
+		dd if=/dev/rsdXc of=/tmp/label bs=1b count=1
+		dd if=floppy21.fs of=/dev/rsdXc bs=36b
+		dd if=/tmp/label of=/dev/rsdXc bs=1b count=1
+
+	In either case, you've created a situation where the disklabel
+	and the filesystem information don't agree about the paritition
+	size and geometry, however the results will be usable.
+
+
+Creating a network bootable setup using SunOS or other Un*x-like system:
+
+	The details of setting up a network bootable environment vary
+	considerably, depending on the networks host.  Extract the
+	OpenBSD diskless(8) man page from the share.tar.gz distibution
+	set or see the copy on the OpenBSD web page.  You will also
+	need to reference the relevant man pages or adminstrators guide
+	for the host system.
+	
+	Basically, you will need to set up reverse-arp (rarpd) and boot
+	parameter (bootpd) information and make the OpenBSD bootblock,
+	kernel/miniroot partition, and a swap file available as required
+	by the netboot setup.
+
 
 The steps necessary to prepare the distribution sets for installation
 depend on which method of installation you choose.  Some methods
@@ -87,8 +199,8 @@ may save much time and frustration to use ftp get/reget to transfer the
 distribution sets to a local server or disk and perform the installation
 from there, rather than directly on the internet.
 
-To install or upgrade OpenBSD using a tape, you need to do the
-following:
+
+To install or upgrade OpenBSD using a tape, you need to do the following:
 
 	To install OpenBSD from a tape, you need to make a tape that
 	contains the distribution set files, in "tar" format.  If
@@ -121,6 +233,7 @@ following:
 	your hard disk, below.  If you're upgrading an existing
 	installation, go directly to the section on upgrading.
 
+
 To install OpenBSD using a remote partition, mounted via
 NFS, you must do the following: