NetBSD/hp300 System Requirements and Supported Devices

NetBSD/hp300 1.4.3 will run on most HP 9000/300- and 400-series machines. The smallest amount of RAM that has been tested is 4M. If you wish to run X, more RAM is recommended.

Here is a table of recommended HD partition sizes for a full install:

partition:     advise         needed
root (/)  25M       15M
user (/usr)    150M        100M
swap      (2 or 3 * RAM)  6M  (see note below)
Anything else is up to you!

Note:

The hp300 installation procedure uses a `miniroot' filesystem which is placed into the swap area of the disk. The swap partition must be large enough to hold this miniroot image.

The following HP hardware is supported:

CPUs:

• 68020-based: 318, 319, 320, 330, and 350.
• 68030-based: 340, 345, 360, 370, 375, and 400(*).
• 68040-based: 380, 425(*), and 433(*).

Disks:

• HP-IB/CS80: 7912, 7914, 7933, 7936, 7937, 7945, 7957, 7958, 7959, 2200, and 2203.
• SCSI-I(**), including magneto-optical and CD-ROM.

Tape drives:

• Low-density HP-IB/CS80 cartridge: 7914, 7946, and 9144.
• High-density HP-IB/CS80 cartridge: 9145.
• HP-IB/CS80 1/2": 7974A, 7978A/B, 7979A, 7980A, and 7980XC.
• SCSI: HP DAT, Exabyte, and SCSI QIC drives such as the Archive Viper.

RS232 interfaces:

• 98644 built-in single port (dca).
• 98642 4-port (dcm).
• 98638 8-port (dcm).

Network interfaces:

• 98643 built-in and add-on LAN cards.

Displays:

• 98544, 98545, and 98547 color and monochrome Topcat.
• 98548, 98549, and 98550 color and monochrome Catseye.
• 98700 and 98710 Gatorbox.
• 98720 and 98721 Renaissance.
• 98730 and 98731 DaVinci.
• A1096A monochrome Hyperion.

Input devices:

• General interface supporting all HIL devices: keyboard, 2 and 3 button mice(***), and ID module.

Miscellaneous:

• Battery-backed real-time clock.
• 98624 built-in HP-IB interface.
• 98625A and 98625B `fast' HP-IB interface.
• 98658A built-in and add-on SCSI interface.
• Printers and plotters on RS232 and HP-IB.
• SCSI autochanger.

(*)

400-series machines configured for Domain/OS are not fully supported, notably, the keyboard doesn't work and the ROMs must be in `HP-UX mode'.

(**)

SCSI-II drives are known to work, though this may require changing a jumper on some drives. See your disk's documentation for details.

(***)

Serial mice connected to a `HIL to quad' converter are also known to work.

Getting the NetBSD System on to Useful Media

Installation is supported from several media types, including:

• Tape
• CD-ROM
• NFS
• FTP

The steps necessary to prepare the distribution sets for installation depend on which method of installation you choose. The various methods are explained below.

To prepare for installing via a tape:

Note that not all HP BOOTROMs support booting from SCSI tapes.

Copying the miniroot to disk from tape is not currently supported. However, it is planned for a future release.

If you wish to extract binary sets onto your disk from tape, you must first place them on the tape. The easiest way to do this is with the dd(1) command. Make sure you use a `no-rewind-on-close' tape device. For example:

for file in base.tgz etc.tgz; do
     dd if=${file} of=/dev/nrst0
done

To prepare for installing via NFS:

• This filesystem must be exported with root permissions, but may be exported read-only.

• The miniroot image _must_ reside in the `root' of the mounted filesystem. For example, if the client system mounts `server:/u', then the miniroot image must reside in /u on the server. This is due to limitations in the file lookup code used in SYS_INST, and may be fixed in a future release.

• If you also wish to install the binary sets from the NFS server, place them in a properly exported filesystem on the server. Note that these files do not suffer from the same placement restrictions as the miniroot.

To prepare for installing via FTP:

All that is required in this case is that you have network access to an FTP server. This may be your account on another system, or may even be ftp.NetBSD.ORG itself. If you wish to use ftp.NetBSD.ORG as your FTP file server, you may want to keep the following information handy:

IP Address: ftp.NetBSD.ORG
Login: anonymous
Password: <your e-mail address>
Server path: /pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-_VER/hp300/binary/sets

Preparing your System for NetBSD Installation

Currently, only installing the miniroot from the network is supported. This may change in a future release.

You will need information about your disk's geometry, based on 512-byte sectors. You must have this information before proceeding. The file `.../installation/misc/HP-IB.geometry' has geometry inforomation for several HP-IB disks, but may be incomplete. Geometry may be calculated from an HP-UX `/etc/disktab' entry, but note that HP-UX geometry is based on 1024 byte sectors, while NetBSD's is based on 512 byte sectors.

A quick note about partitions: Since the target disk will become the boot disk for your new NetBSD/hp300 installation, you will need to treat the `a' and `c' partitions in a special manner. Due to the size of the NetBSD/hp300 boot program (it spills into the area after the disklabel), it is necessary to offset the `a' partition one cylinder from the beginning of the disk. Later, the `c' partition will be marked with the type `FS_BOOT' and may not be used for a filesystem. (For those unfamiliar with historic BSD partition conventions, the `c' partition is defined as `the entire disk', or the `raw partition'.)

A quick note about disk numbers: While in the SYS_INST program, you may use different unit numbers for the disks than when the NetBSD kernel is running. The unit number for a disk while in SYS_INST is calculated with the following formula:
       unit = (controller * 8) + slave
Controllers are numbered 0, 1, ... starting with the lowest select code. SCSI controllers and HP-IB controllers are counted separately. Therefore, if you had a system with an internal HP-IB interface at select code 7, a fast HP-IB interface at select code 14, and a SCSI interface at select code 16, unit numers might be something like the following:

Miniroot installation via network

Note:

Booting sys_inst via the network on early hp300 models is only possible if your bootrom is rev. c or later. When checking the revision of your BOOTROM, use what it printed on the console during the self-test, not what may be printed on a sticker on the chip itself.

In order to complete this process, you will need the following from the .../installation/misc directory of the distribution:

SYS_INST.gz

The standalone disklabel and miniroot installation tool. This file must be un-gzipped before using.

And you will need the following from the .../installation/miniroot directory of of the distribution:

miniroot.fs.gz

A miniroot filesystem image.

To boot SYS_INST via the network, you will need a system capable of handling boot requests for an HP workstation. If you will use this method, see the special note below.

To boot SYS_INST from tape, you need only place SYS_INST on the tape as the first file.

Loading SYS_INST via the network xxxxxxx

If you wish to load the SYS_INST program via the network, you may need the following from the `.../installation/misc' directory in addition to the items listed above:

rbootd.tgz

Source code for the rbootd program included with NetBSD. It requires that the server has a Berkeley Packet Filter (bpf). You will need to compile this version of rbootd if your server system does not have this utility already.

First of all, configure your rbootd to handle boot requests from the client. NOTE: NetBSD's `rbootd' is slightly different from HP-UX's. To configure NetBSD's `rbootd', create a file called `/etc/rbootd.conf' and place in it an entry like the following:
       08:00:09:04:AA:33 SYS_INST # thunder-egg
The first column is the ethernet address of the client's network interface. The second column is the program to send to the client, and anything after the `#' is a comment. Once you have rbootd running, copy the SYS_INST program to the /usr/mdec/rbootd directory on your server. If this directory doesn't exist already, you will need to create it.

For information on configuring rbootd under HP-UX, see the rbootd(1M) manual page on your server system.

Once `rbootd' is configured and running, you will be ready to continue.

Make sure that the miniroot filesystem image has been un-gzipped, and that it resides in a filesystem what is exported to the client. See the manual pages on your server system if you need more information about exporting filesystems.

You are now ready to SYS_INST. During the client's self-test cycle, press the space bar a few times. Shortly, you should see a menu of possible boot options appear. Select the option corresponding to SYS_INST. SYS_INST will load and prompt you for a command.

If this is a new NetBSD installation, you will need to place a disklabel on the disk.
       sys_inst> disklabel

Note:

It may be worth selecting the `zap' option initially to ensure that the disklabel area is clear. This may be especially important if an HP-UX boot block had been previously installed on the disk.

Select the `edit' option, and answer the questions about your disk. There may be several questions which you may not be sure of the answers to. Listed below are guidelines for SCSI and HP-IB disks:

Next, you will be asked to fill out the partition map. You must provide responses for all 8 partitions. Remember, you must allocate at least 6M for the `b' partition, or else the miniroot will not fit. Set the size and offset of any unused partition to 0. Note that sizes and offsets are expressed in `n sectors', assuming 512 byte sectors. Care should be taken to ensure that partitions begin and end on cylinder boundaries (i.e. size and offset is an even multiple of the number of sectors per cylinder). While this is not technically necessary, it is generally encouraged.

Note:

When setting the partition type of the `b' partition, make sure to specify it as an `ffs' partition so that the miniroot can be mounted (even if this will be a swap partition). You will be given a chance to clean this up later in the installation process.

Once you have edited the label, select the `show' option to verify that it is correct. If so, select `write' and `done'. Otherwise, you may re-edit the label.

The next step is to copy the miniroot image onto the target disk.
       sys_inst> miniroot
You will be prompted for the target disk and the source of the miniroot filesytem image.

Enter the filename of the miniroot image. Note that this file must reside in the server directory being mounted. Next you will be asked for the client's IP address, netmask, and default router, the server's IP address, and the directory on the server to mount. Once you have entered this information, SYS_INST will attempt to mount the NFS server and begin copying the miniroot filesystem to the `b' partition of the target disk.

Is is worth noting that this copy may take a while. It might be worth grabbing a cup of coffee at this point.

Once the miniroot filesystem image has been copied onto the target disk, you may boot from the miniroot filesystem.
       sys_inst> boot
Enter the disk from which to boot. The kernel in the miniroot filesystem will be booted into single-user mode.

Installing the NetBSD System

The miniroot's install program is very simple to use. It will guide you through the entire process, and is well automated. Additional improvements are planned for future releases.

The miniroot's install program will:

• Allow you to place disklabels on additional disks. Note that partition sizes and offsets are expressed in sectors. When you fill out the disklabel, you will need to specify partition types and filesystem parameters. If you're unsure what the these values should be, use the following:

  fstype: 4.2BSD
  fsize: 1024
  bsize: 4096
  cpg: 16
  

  If the partition will be a swap partition, use the following:

  fstype: swap
  fsize: 0 (or blank)
  bsize: 0 (or blank)
  cpg: 0 (or blank)
  

  You will also need to specify the number of partitions. The number of partitions is determined by the `index' of the last partition letter, where a == 1, b == 2, etc. Therefore, if the last filled partition is partition `g', there are 7 partitions. Any partitions with size of 0 may be removed from the list.

  If the disk is the boot disk, you _must_ offset the root partition (`a') one cylinder, as the hp300 boot code if large enough to spill past the label area. In this case, the `c' partition must be fstype `boot'.

  Anything after a `#' is a comment.

  The following is an example disklabel partition map:

  7 partitions:
  #        size   offset    fstype   [fsize bsize   cpg]
  a:    30912      448    4.2BSD     1024  8192    16   # (Cyl.    1 - 69)
  b:   130816    31360      swap                        # (Cyl.   70 - 361)
  c:  1296512        0      boot                        # (Cyl.    0 - 2893)
  e:    81984   162176    4.2BSD     1024  8192    16   # (Cyl.  362 - 544)
  f:   102592   244160    4.2BSD     1024  4096    16   # (Cyl.  545 - 773)
  g:   949760   346752    4.2BSD     1024  8192    16   # (Cyl.  774 - 2893)
  

• Create filesystems on target partitions.

• Allow you to set up your system's network configuration. Remember to specify host names without the domain name appended to the end. For example use `foo' instead of `foo.bar.org'. If, during the process of configuring the network interfaces, you make a mistake, you will be able to re-configure that interface by simply selecting it for configuration again.

• Mount target filesystems. You will be given the opportunity to manually edit the resulting /etc/fstab.

• Extract binary sets from the media of your choice.

• Copy configuration information gathered during the installation process to your root filesystem.

• Make device nodes in your root filesystem.

• Copy a new kernel onto your root partition.

• Install a new boot block.

• Check your filesystems for integrity.

First-time installation on a system through a method other than the installation program is possible, but strongly discouraged.

Post installation steps

Once you've got the operating system running, there are a few things you need to do in order to bring the system into a propperly configured state, with the most important ones described below.

1. Configuring /etc/rc.conf

   If you haven't done any configuration of /etc/rc.conf, the system will drop you into single user mode on first reboot with the message        /etc/rc.conf is not configured. Multiuser boot aborted.
   and with the root filesystem mounted read-write. When the system asks you to choose a shell, simply hit return to get to a prompt. If you are asked for a terminal type, respond with vt220 (or whatever is appropriate for your terminal type) and hit return. At this point, you need to configure at least one file in the /etc directory. Change to the /etc directory and take a look at the /etc/rc.conf file. Modify it to your tastes, making sure that you set rc_configured=YES so that your changes will be enabled and a multi-user boot can proceed. If your /usr directory is on a separate partition and you do not know how to use 'ed' or 'ex', you will have to mount your /usr partition to gain access to 'vi'. Do the following:
          mount /usr
          export TERM=vt220
   If you have /var on a seperate partition, you need to repeat that step for it. After that, you can edit /etc/rc.conf with vi(1). When you have finished, type exit at the prompt to leave the single-user shell and continue with the multi-user boot.

   Other values that need to be set in /etc/rc.conf for a networked environment are hostname and possibly defaultroute, furthermore add an ifconfig_int for your interface <int>, along the lines of
          ifconfig_de0="inet 123.45.67.89 netmask 255.255.255.0"
   or, if you have myname.my.dom in /etc/hosts:
          ifconfig_de0="inet myname.my.dom netmask 255.255.255.0"
   To enable proper hostname resolution, you will also want to add an /etc/resolv.conf file or (if you are feeling a little more adventurous) run named(8). See resolv.conf(5) or named(8) for more information.

   Other files in /etc that are new to NetBSD 1.4 and may require modification or setting up include /etc/mailer.conf, /etc/nsswitch.conf and /etc/wscons.conf.

2. Logging in

   After reboot, you can log in as root at the login prompt. There is no initial password, but if you're using the machine in a networked environment, you should create an account for yourself (see below) and protect it and the "root" account with good passwords.

3. Adding accounts

   Use the vipw(8) command to add accounts to your system, do not edit /etc/passwd directly. See adduser(8) for more information on the process of how to add a new user to the system.

4. The X Window System

   If you have installed the X window system, look at the files in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc for information.

   Don't forget to add /usr/X11R6/bin to your path in your shell's dot file so that you have access to the X binaries.

5. Installing 3rd party packages

   There is a lot of software freely available for Unix-based systems, almost all of which can run on NetBSD. Modifications are usually needed to when transferring programs between different Unix-like systems, so the NetBSD packages collection incorporates any such changes necessary to make that software run on NetBSD, and makes the installation (and deinstallation) of the software packages easy. There's also the option of building a package from source, in case there's no precompiled binary available.

   Precompiled binaries can be found at ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/packages/ Package sources for compiling packages can be obtained by retrieving the file ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-current/tar_files/pkgsrc.tar.gz They are typically extracted into /usr/pkgsrc (though other locations work fine), as with the command:
          cat pkgsrc.tar.gz | gunzip | (mkdir /usr/pkgsrc;
          cd /usr/pkgsrc; tar xpf - )
   After extracting, then see the README file in the extraction directory (e.g. /usr/pkgsrc/README) for more information.

6. Misc

   • To adjust the system to your local timezone, point the /etc/localtime symlink to the appropriate file under /usr/share/zoneinfo.

   • Edit /etc/aliases to forward root mail to the right place (run newaliases(1) afterwards.)

   • The /etc/sendmail.cf file will almost definitely need to be adjusted; files aiding in this can be found in /usr/share/sendmail. See the README file there for more information.

   • Edit /etc/rc.local to run any local daemons you use.

   • Many of the /etc files are documented in section 5 of the manual; so just invoking
            man filename
     is likely to give you more information on these files.