Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 12:12:46 +0100 From: nik@iii.co.uk To: Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au> Cc: nik@iii.co.uk, hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Different kernels for the bindist and boot.flp? Message-ID: <19970918121246.52480@strand.iii.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <199709181049.UAA00277@word.smith.net.au>; from Mike Smith on Thu, Sep 18, 1997 at 08:19:25PM %2B0930 References: <19970918102150.17849@strand.iii.co.uk> <199709181049.UAA00277@word.smith.net.au>
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On Thu, Sep 18, 1997 at 08:19:25PM +0930, Mike Smith wrote:
> The IDE zip works "almost" right out of the box. As has recently been
> observed, getting it "really right" would take a major restructuring of
> the way we handle ATAPI devices (see NetBSD and Jason Thorpe for more
> details if you're interested in one approach). I have one of these
> units on loan for a few days, and I will try to establish bandaid
> solutions to the current problems during that time.
Ah. Does this mean that boot.flp from a current snapshot will recognise
an IDE ZIP drive at boot time (modulo any user solvable constraints like
"There must be a disk in the drive"), and let the user use it as a UFS or
DOS disk?
If so, it sounds like the specific problem I'm thinking of is solved.
> > b) Does anyone have violent objections to doing something like this?
>
> Well, I don't think anyone _else_ is going to do it, especially as
> you're not actually solving a great problem. If someone wants a boot
> floppy with the ppa3 driver in the kernel, there are bound to be a few
> takers for providing such a thing.
But there is also the more general problem of integrating a custom built
kernel into the rest of the installation mechanism right from the start.
Including dropping the correct kernel into /kernel. Of course, this might
turn into a bit of a no-brainer as well.
> OTOH, it _is_ a great learning experience, and if nothing else you may
> well come out of it with some suggestions that'll make it easier for
> the next novice, so don't take this as any sort of discouragement.
Yep. I'll be doing the install (possibly several times) later today, and
plan to write up anything out of the ordinary I need to do. Of course, it's
entirely possible that it all just works.
In which case, this will be a nice, short project.
> > c) Does anyone have any insight on the best way to implement something
> > like this?
>
> Heh. This bit is always fun. Go read /usr/src/release/Makefile.
> I recommend something for the headache too; take it _first_, to give
> the drugs a fighting chance. 8)
I've looked through that before. I always found I needed eight printouts of
the files invoved, and eight hands so I could keep track of where particular
bits of magic were being referenced from. . .
N
--
--+==[ Nik Clayton is Just Another Perl Hacker at Interactive Investor ]==+--
'|' "Ceci n'est pas une pipe." (with apologies to Magritte) NC5-RIPE
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