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Diffstat (limited to 'sys/arch/alpha/README')
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diff --git a/sys/arch/alpha/README b/sys/arch/alpha/README index 0ee83f2b924..52ed304ea99 100644 --- a/sys/arch/alpha/README +++ b/sys/arch/alpha/README @@ -1,79 +1,75 @@ -$NetBSD: README,v 1.7 1995/11/23 02:33:17 cgd Exp $ +$NetBSD: README,v 1.8.4.1 1996/06/13 20:49:01 cgd Exp $ Obtaining NetBSD/Alpha sources and binaries: - NetBSD/Alpha sources and binaries are available from: + NetBSD/Alpha's sources, with the exceptions of the GNU + toolchain and X11 code, are integrated into NetBSD-current, + and are available from: + ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-current/ + + The latest NetBSD/Alpha binary snapshot, and source snapshots + for the toolchain and X11 code, can be found at: ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/arch/alpha - See the README.files file there to figure out which of - the following items corresponds to what file(s) in the FTP - archive. - There are two sets of system binaries available: + Binary snapshots include two different set of system binaries: (1) an rz25 disk image, for first-time installation - (see below), and - (2) two tar files of the binaries, for updates. + (see below for instructions), and + (2) three tar files of the binaries, for updates. (one of the tar files is the contents of /etc, - one is everything else, except a kernel. + one contains X11 binaries, and the last is everything + else, except the kernel and the installed boot block.) There are no instructions on how to use these. Good luck! 8-) - There are also two precompiled kernels available: one generic - kernel which will prompt for a root device, and one which tries - to boot diskless. The generic kernel is included in the rz25 - disk image. - - X11 client binaries are packaged seperately. (There is no - server at this time.) + Binary snapshots include a kernel image which is the same + as the one on the rz25 disk image. - There are several sets of sources available: - (1) kernel source snapshot (complete kernel sources), - (2) compiler toolchain source snapshot (complete - toolchain sources), - (3) diffs to the NetBSD-current sources as of the date - of the release to make them match what's used on - the alpha port. (You should be able to get the - NetBSD-current sources, replace the kernel sources - with the ones i'm distributing, add in these - diffs and the toolchain sources, and compile up a - complete system.) - (4) diffs to the XFree86 3.1.2 sources to make them - work with NetBSD/Alpha. (If you add these to - the XFree86 3.1.2 sources, you should be able to - compile up the X clients.) + The sources provided seperately from the normal NetBSD-current + distribution are: + (1) complete compiler toolchain sources + (2) diffs against the XFree86 3.1.2 distribution to + make X work with NetBSD/Alpha. (Note that + at this time, the diffs are against 3.1.2, + i.e. not against 3.1.2D, etc.) - If you are interested in the NetBSD/Alpha port, I suggest that you - subscribe to the NetBSD "port-alpha" mailing list by sending an - email message to majordomo@netbsd.org with no subject and with a - body of "subscribe port-alpha" (without the quotes). For help on - using majordomo, send it mail with an empty subject and body. + If you are using or are interested in the NetBSD/Alpha port, I + suggest that you subscribe to the NetBSD "port-alpha" mailing list + by sending an email message to majordomo@netbsd.org with no + subject and with a body of "subscribe port-alpha" (without the + quotes). For help on using majordomo, send it mail with an empty + subject and body. In general, questions about NetBSD/Alpha + are best asked on that mailing list (rather than by sending me + mail directly). Installing the NetBSD/Alpha distribution: [ Note that these instructions are minimal; it's assumed that if you're going to be installing this, you're knowledgeable about - booting Alphas and doing other sysadmin-ish stuff, are willing - to look in your Alpha documentation, or are brave. If they're - really not good enough to get you running, get in touch with me - and I'll try to help you. ] + booting Alphas and doing sysadmin-ish stuff, are willing to look + in your Alpha documentation, or are brave. If they're really not + good enough to get you running, get in touch with me and I'll try + to help you. ] To install the NetBSD/Alpha distribution, you'll need a disk at least the size of an RZ25 -- about 406Mb. Once you've gotten the - binary distribution from me, gunzip it and dd it to the raw disk. - The binary distribution includes a disklabel and boot block, so you - don't need to do anything special to make it bootable. I created - the binary distribution's file systems with an older version (4.3 - Reno) of the Berkeley Fast File System format, so that you can - mount, read, and write them under OSF/1. - - Once you've dd'd the image to the disk, set your system to use a - serial console. Boot the Alpha with the NetBSD disk, supplying the - boot flag "-s". It should print something about "NetBSD/Alpha Boot - program", load the kernel, print a copyright, and print various - startup messages. Included among those startup messages will be - SCSI bus/id to device name mappings for all of the SCSI devices - that NetBSD recognizes. Eventually, it'll ask you for the name of - the root device. It expects something like "sd0", "sd1", etc., and - you should pick the name that corresponds to the NetBSD disk. + binary distribution, gunzip it and dd it to the raw disk. The binary + distribution includes a disklabel and boot block, so you don't need + to do anything special to make it bootable. The binary distribution's + file systems are created with an older version ("Level 1") of the + Berkeley Fast File System format, so that you can mount, read, and + write them under Digital UNIX. + + If your are using one of the supported systems that includes a + PCI bus, and have either a PCI VGA frame buffer of any type or + a ZLXp-E1 frame buffer, you may use it as console. (If you + are using your frame buffer as the console, you should use the + terminal type 'sun'.) Otherwise (if you are using a TurboChannel + Alpha or have a different kind of frame buffer, you have to use + a serial console.) + + Boot the Alpha with the NetBSD disk, supplying the boot flag "-s". + It should print something like "NetBSD/Alpha Boot program", load + the kernel, print a copyright, and print various startup messages. After a short while, you should be asked for the name of a shell to use; just hit return. You're advised to fsck the disk at this @@ -81,54 +77,42 @@ Installing the NetBSD/Alpha distribution: is partition 'd'), remount the root partition read-write (use mount -u root-dev /), and create some necessary system information files: /etc/hosts - /etc/resolv.conf (if you want to use DNS) - /etc/myname (the hostname of the machine) - /etc/mygate (the LAN's gateway's IP address, if your network - setup requires that it be named explicitly) - /etc/hostname.le0 (on TurboChannel machines, to describe - the enet addr, etc., for the Alpha's ethernet. The - format can be discerned by looking in /etc/netstart. - As an example, for my development machine, it's: - inet macallan.dssc.cs.cmu.edu 0xffff0000 128.2.255.255 - ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^hostname ^^^netmask ^^^broadcast) - /etc/hostname.de0 (on PCI machines; same format as - hostname.le0 would have.) - /etc/fstab (a prototype is in /etc/fstab.sd) + /etc/resolv.conf + DNS resolver configuration information, if you + want to use DNS. + /etc/myname + The hostname of the machine. + /etc/mygate + The LAN's gateway's IP address, if your network + setup requires that a static route to the + gateway be created. + /etc/hostname.xxy + (where "xxy" is your machine's ethernet + interface name, e.g. "le0" for TurboChannel + machines or "de0" for PCI machines.) + The IP address, etc., for the named network + interface. (You can have multiple of these + files, for example, if the machine is + multi-homed.) The format can be discerned by + looking in /etc/netstart, and is typically + something like: + inet hostname.in.etc.hosts net.mask broadcast.addr + where the netmask is formatted as a hex number + (e.g. 0xffffff00), and the broadcast address + is formatted as an IP address (e.g. 128.2.255.255) + /etc/fstab + The file system information table for the system. + A prototype is in /etc/fstab.sd. (You can also create the files mentioned above by mounting the - disk's file systems under OSF/1 and filling in the appropriate - information.) + disk's file systems under Digital UNIX.) Once those files are created, you should be able to boot the system multi-user. To do so, halt the system and boot again from the - NetBSD disk, this time supplying the boot flags "-a". - - Once the system has booted, you should be able to log in over the - network. (Log in as root, at first, then use vipw to create user - account(s) and re-log in as the appropriate user.) If you used a - disk other than an RZ25, you may also want to edit the disk's - disklabel, and create one or more partitions to use the extra space. - -Using NetBSD/Alpha: - You'll probably want to NFS mount the sources from another machine; - that's what I do, and it works just fine. If you'd like tips on - good ways to keep the NetBSD sources under source control, just ask. - - A fair number of binaries don't work properly. For example, GDB - won't properly run programs or debug core files; someone needs - to write support for NetBSD/Alpha. - - As noted above, the SCSI code on TurboChannel machines is reliable - only when being used with one SCSI bus at a time; this is obviously - a bug. Additionally, the SCSI driver seems unhappy about dealing - with certain types of disk drives (e.g. the IBM Lightning). - - Because I've been working on getting the system up and running, then - out the door, I've not had much time to do performance analysis on - the kernel, nor tried to improve performance in any way. Some of - the code is awfully rough. That being said, on a lot of operations - I'm seeing performance comparable to that of OSF/1 on the same - hardware, so I've not gone too far wrong anywhere. + NetBSD disk, this time supplying the boot flag "-a". + If you used a disk other than an RZ25, you may want to edit the + disk's disklabel, and create one or more partitions after the + existing partitions to use the extra space. Chris Demetriou |