NetBSD/sparc System Requirements and Supported Devices

NetBSD/sparc 1.4.3 runs on the following classes of machines:

• sun4c (e.g. the SS1, SS1+, SS2, IPC, ELC, IPX, and SLC)
• sun4 (e.g. the 4/100, 4/200, and 4/300 - note that support for the 4/400 processor is incomplete)
• sun4m (e.g. Classic, LX, SS4, SS5, SS10, and SS20)

NetBSD/sparc 1.4.3 does not run on these machines (yet):

• sun-4/400 (lacking support for the I/O cache, and has ethernet problems)
• sun4d (e.g. sparc center 2000)
• sun4u (e.g. Ultrasparcs)

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 X or compile the system, more RAM is recommended. (NetBSD with 4M of RAM feels like Solaris with 4M of RAM.) Note that until you have around 16M of RAM, getting more RAM is more important than getting a faster CPU.)

Supported devices include:

sun4c/sun4m sbus video:

cgsix, cgthree, and bwtwo frame buffers
cgfourteen and tcx frame buffers (limited ``emulation'' mode)

sun4 video (not thoroughly tested?):

P4 on-board bwtwo, and VME cgtwo card

serial ports:

ttya and ttyb (can be used as console if needed)

ethernet:

on-board AMD Lance ethernet ("le0"),
Sbus AMD Lance ethernet cards,
on-board Intel 82586 ethernet (ie0 on 4/100's and 4/200's),
VME Intel 82586 ethernet cards

SCSI:

on-board "esp" SCSI controller (sun4c, sun4m and the 4/300),
sbus "esp" SCSI controller,
Sun "SUN-3"/"si" VME SCSI controller (polled mode only, slow),
Sun "SCSI Weird"/"sw" on-board controller (4/110 only, polled)

VME disks:

Xylogics 7053 VME/SMD disk controller ("xd"),
Xylogics 450/451 VME disk controller ("xy")
[note: VME/IPI disks are not supported]

sun floppy disk drive

sun keyboard and mouse

sun4c audio

sun4m audio on Sparcstation Classic

Hardware the we do NOT currently support, but get many questions about:

• multiprocessor sun4m machines
• audio drivers for sun4m machines (other than the Sparcstation Classic)
• interrupt driven SCSI driver for sun-4/100's and sun-4/200's

Getting the NetBSD System on to Useful Media

Installation is supported from several media types, including:

• CDROM
• DOS Floppy
• Tape
• Remote NFS partition
• FTP

Note that, if you are installing or upgrading from a writable media, the media can be write-protected if you wish. These systems mount a root image from inside the kernel, and will not need to write to the media.

The distribution sets for installation or upgrade depend on which installation medium you choose. The steps for the various media are outlined below.

• To install or upgrade NetBSD using CDROM, you need to do the following:

  Find out where the distribution set files are on the CDROM.

  Proceed to the instruction on installation.

• To install or upgrade NetBSD using DOS floppies, you need to do the following:

  Count the number of "set_name.xx" files that make up the distribution sets you want to install or upgrade. You will need that number of 1.44M floppies.

  Format all of the floppies with DOS. DO NOT make any of them bootable DOS floppies. (If the floppies are bootable, then the DOS system files that make them bootable will take up some space, and you won't be able to fit the distribution set parts on the disks.) If you're using floppies that are formatted for DOS by their manufacturers, they probably aren't bootable, and you can use them out of the box.

  Place all of the "set_name.xx" files on the DOS disks.

  Once you have the files on DOS disks, you can proceed to the next step in the installation or upgrade process. If you're installing NetBSD from scratch, go to the section on preparing your hard disk, below. If you're upgrading an existing installation, go directly to the section on upgrading.

• To install or upgrade NetBSD using a tape, you need to do the following:

  To install NetBSD from a tape, you need to make a tape that contains the distribution set files, in "tar" format. If you're making the tape on a UN*X-like system, the easiest way to do so is probably something like: tar cf tape_device dist_directories where tape_device is the name of the tape device that describes the tape drive you're using (possibly /dev/rst0, or something similar, but it will vary from system to system. (If you can't figure it out, ask your system administrator.) In the above example, dist_directories are the distribution sets' directories, for the distribution sets you wish to place on the tape. For instance, to put the misc, base, and etc distributions on tape (in order to do the absolute minimum installation to a new disk), you would do the following:        cd .../NetBSD-1.4.3 # the top of the tree
         cd sparc/binary
  And then:
         tar cf tape_device misc etc kern
  

  Note

  You still need to fill in tape_device in the example.

  Once you have the files on the tape, you can proceed to the next step in the installation or upgrade process. If you're installing NetBSD from scratch, go to the section on preparing your hard disk, below. If you're upgrading an existing installation, go directly to the section on upgrading.

• To install or upgrade NetBSD using a remote partition, mounted via NFS, you must do the following:

  Note

  This method of installation is recommended only for those already familiar with using BSD network configuration and management commands. If you aren't, this documentation should help, but is not intended to be all-encompassing.

  Place the NetBSD distribution sets you wish to install into a directory on an NFS server, and make that directory mountable by the machine on which you are installing or upgrading NetBSD. This will probably require modifying the /etc/exports file on of the NFS server and resetting its mount daemon (mountd). (Both of these actions will probably require superuser privileges on the server.)

  You need to know the the numeric IP address of the NFS server, and, if the server is not on a network directly connected to the machine on which you're installing or upgrading NetBSD, you need to know the numeric IP address of the router closest to the NetBSD machine. Finally, you need to know the numeric IP address of the NetBSD machine itself.

  Once the NFS server is set up properly and you have the information mentioned above, you can proceed to the next step in the installation or upgrade process. If you're installing NetBSD from scratch, go to the section on preparing your hard disk, below. If you're upgrading an existing installation, go directly to the section on upgrading.

• To install or upgrade NetBSD by using FTP to get the installation sets, you must do the following:

  Note

  This method of installation is recommended only for those already familiar with using BSD network configuration and management commands. If you aren't, this documentation should help, but is not intended to be all-encompassing.

  The preparations for this installation/upgrade method are easy; all you make sure that there's some FTP site from which you can retrieve the NetBSD distribution when you're about to install or upgrade. You need to know the numeric IP address of that site, and, if it's not on a network directly connected to the machine on which you're installing or upgrading NetBSD, you need to know the numeric IP address of the router closest to the NetBSD machine. Finally, you need to know the numeric IP address of the NetBSD machine itself.

  Once you have this information, you can proceed to the next step in the installation or upgrade process. If you're installing NetBSD from scratch, go to the section on preparing your hard disk, below. If you're upgrading an existing installation, go directly to the section on upgrading.

• If you are upgrading NetBSD, you also have the option of installing NetBSD by putting the new distribution sets somewhere in your existing file system, and using them from there. To do that, you must do the following:

  Place the distribution sets you wish to upgrade somewhere in your current file system tree. Please note that the /dev on the floppy used for upgrades only knows about wd0, wd1, sd0, sd1 and sd2. If you have more than two IDE drives or more than three SCSI drives, you should take care not to place the sets on the high numbered drives.

  At a bare minimum, you must upgrade the "base" binary distribution, and so must put the "base" set somewhere in your file system. If you wish, you can do the other sets, as well, but you should NOT upgrade the "etc" distribution; the "etc" distribution contains system configuration files that you should review and update by hand.

  Once you have done this, you can proceed to the next step in the upgrade process, actually upgrading your system.

Preparing your System for NetBSD Installation

Before you start you might need to consider your disk configuration to sort out a quirk in SCSI-ID to SD-UNIT mapping that exists on Sun Sparcstations.

Upon leaving the factory, SunOS and the OpenBOOT ROM map according to this table:

Unlike SunOS and the OpenBOOT ROM, a generic NetBSD kernel numbers scsi drives sequentially as it finds them. The drive with the lowest scsi-id will be called sd0, the next one sd1, etc.

To ease the installation process, the default NetBSD kernel in the distribution is setup to match the Sun mapping above by hard-wiring scsi-id#3 to sd0 and scsi-id#0 to sd3. The remaining drives will be dynamically mapped to other sd* numbers.

A truely generic NetBSD kernel is also provided as `/netbsd.GENERIC', which will do the standard NetBSD probe ordering. If your configuration differs from the default Sun setup, you can try to use this kernel to complete the installation.

Note

This is also a concern when you start building your own customised kernels.

Your OpenBOOT ROM may need some setup. make sure you boot from `new command mode'. If your machine comes up and gives you a `>' prompt instead of `ok', type:        > n
       ok setenv sunmon-compat? false
       ok
This is needed because the NetBSD kernel relies on functionality provided by OpenBOOT ROMs -- the ability to pass down Forth commands and have them executed in the ROM -- that appears to go away when the OpenBOOT ROM operates in `old monitor compatibility' mode.

Also, you cannot use the security modes of the sparc OpenBOOT ROM.
       ok setenv security-mode none

If you're installing NetBSD/sparc for the first time it's a good idea to look at the partition sizes of disk you intend installing NetBSD on.

Asumming a classic partition scheme with root (`/') and /usr filesystems, a comfortable size for the NetBSD root filesystem partition is about 20MB; a good initial size for the swap partition is twice the amount of physical memory in your machine (though, unlike SunOS 4.x, there are no restrictions on the size of the swap partition that would render part of your memory unusable). A full binary installation takes about 60MB in `/usr'.

Some network devices (i.e. the built-in `le' interface on sun4m machines) allow a choice between operating on a UTP or a AUI port. The `le' driver supports automatic detection of the port which is actually connected to the wire.

If automatic detection is not available or not working properly in your environment, you may have to specify the type connection using the `media' parameter of ifconfig(8). During installation, you'll get the opportunity to specify the appropriate medium. Use ``10base5/AUI'' to select the AUI connector, or ``10baseT/UTP'' to select the UTP connector.

Installing the NetBSD System

Installing NetBSD is a relatively complex process, but if you have this document in hand it shouldn't be too much trouble.

There are several ways to install NetBSD onto a disk. The easiest way in terms of preliminary setup is to use the NetBSD miniroot that can be booted off your local disk's swap partition. Alternatively, if your Sparcstation is hooked up in a network you can find a server and arrange for a diskless setup which is a convenient way to install on a machine whose disk does not currently hold a usable operating system (see the section `Installing NetBSD by using a diskless setup' below). There is also a bootable 1.4MB floppy available that contains a slightly less featureful miniroot environment.

Installing NetBSD by using the NetBSD miniroot.

Loading the miniroot onto your raw partition is simple. On NetBSD as well as SunOS you use a command like:
       # dd if=miniroot-1.4.3.fs of=/dev/rsd0b bs=4k conv=sync
(Here, `/dev/rsd0b' is assumed to be your swap partition.) There's a potential problem here if /dev/rsd0b is actually in use as a swap partition by your currently running system. If you don't have another disk or partition to spare, you can usually get away with running this command anyway after first booting into single-user mode to ensure a quiet system.

After transferring the miniroot to disk, bring the system down by:
       # halt

Then boot the miniroot by typing the appropriate command at the PROM:
       > b sd(,,1)netbsd -s # for sun4 monitors
       ok boot sd(,,1)netbsd -s # for version 1 OpenBOOT ROMs
       ok boot disk:b netbsd -s # for version 2 OpenBOOT ROMs

If you've loaded the miniroot onto some other disk than `sd0' adapt the boot specifier accordingly, e.g.:
       ok boot disk1:b netbsd -s
to boot from SCSI disk target 1 from a version 2 OpenBOOT ROM. If you have to use the old-style sd(c,u,p) syntax to boot from a SCSI disk, you can calculate the parameters as follows:

c

specifies the controller number

u

the hexadecimal number obtained from evaluating the expression `(8 * TARGET) + LUN'

p

the partition number from which to boot (0=`a', 1=`b', etc).

The monitor boot command will cause the NetBSD kernel contained in the miniroot image to be booted. After the initial probe messages you'll be asked to start the install or upgrade procedure. Proceed to the section Running the installation scripts below.

Installing NetBSD by using the bootable floppy.

After the initial probe messages you'll be asked to start the install or upgrade procedure. Proceed to the section Running the installation scripts below.

Installing NetBSD by using a diskless setup.

Your Sparcstation expects to be able to download a second stage bootstrap program via TFTP after having acquired its IP address through RevARP when instructed to boot "over the net". It will look for a filename composed of the machine's IP address followed by the machine's architecture, separated by a period. For example, a sun4c machine which has been assigned IP address 130.115.144.11, will make an TFTP request for `8273900B.SUN4C'. Normally, this file is a symbolic link to an appropriate second-stage boot program, which should be located in a place where the TFTP daemon can find it (remember, many TFTP daemons run in a chroot'ed environment). You can find the boot program in /usr/mdec/boot.net in the NetBSD/sparc distribution.

Note

The only difference between /usr/mdec/boot.net and /usr/mdec/boot is in the a.out header, which has been magically transformed in a way that makes it usable on all versions of Sparc PROMs.

After the boot program has been loaded into memory and given control by the PROM, it starts locating the machine's remote root directory through the BOOTPARAM protocol. First a BOOTPARAM WHOAMI request is broadcast on the local net. The answer to this request (if it comes in) contains the client's name. This name is used in next step, a BOOTPARAM GETFILE request -- sent to the server that responded to the WHOAMI request -- requesting the name and address of the machine that will serve the client's root directory, as well as the path of the client's root on that server.

Finally, this information (if it comes in) is used to issue a REMOTE MOUNT request to the client's root filesystem server, asking for an NFS file handle corresponding to the root filesystem. If successful, the boot program starts reading from the remote root filesystem in search of the kernel which is then read into memory.

As noted above in the section Preparing your System for NetBSD Installation you have several options when choosing a location to store the installation filesets. However, the easiest way is to put the *.tar.gz files you want to install into the root directory for your client on the server.

Next, unpack `base.tar.gz' and `etc.tar.gz' on the server in the root directory for your machine. If you elect to use a separately NFS-mounted filesystem for `/usr' with your diskless setup, make sure the "./usr" base files in base.tar.gz end up in the correct location. One way to do this is to temporarily use a loopback mount on the server, re-routing root/usr to your server's exported NetBSD /usr directory. Also put the kernel and the install/upgrade scripts into the root directory.

A few configuration files need to be edited:

root/etc/hosts

Add the IP addresses of both server and client.

root/etc/myname

This files contains the client's hostname; use the same name as in <root>/etc/hosts.

root/etc/fstab

Enter the entries for the remotely mounted filesystems. For example:
       server:/export/root/client / nfs rw 0 0
       server:/export/exec/sun4.netbsd /usr nfs rw 0 0

Now you must populate the the `/dev' directory for your client. If yoarserver runs SunOS 4.x, you can simply change your working directory to root/dev and run the MAKEDEV script: sh MAKEDEV all.

On SunOS 5.x systems, MAKEDEV can also be used, but there'll be error messages about unknown user and groups. These errors are inconsequential for the purpose of installing NetBSD. However, you may want to correct them if you plan to use the diskless setup regularly. In that case, you may re-run MAKEDEV on your NetBSD machine once it has booted.

Boot your workstation from the server by entering the appropriate `boot' command at the monitor prompt. Depending on the PROM version in your machine, this command takes one of the following forms:
       > b le()netbsd -s # for sun4 monitors
       ok boot le()netbsd -s # for version 1 OpenBOOT ROMs
       ok boot net netbsd -s # for version 2 OpenBOOT ROMs

This will boot the NetBSD kernel in single-user mode.

Note

The latter two examples assume you operate the OpenBOOT ROM in "new command mode". If your machine comes up and gives you a `>' prompt instead of `ok', type:
       >n # enter native OpenBOOT mode
       ok setenv sunmon-compat? false # make it permanent
       ok

If you use a diskless setup with a separately NFS-mounted /usr filesystem, mount /usr by hand now:
       netbsd# mount /usr

NOTE: For floppy installs, the text editor provided is ed. For miniroot installs, the text editor is vi. When using disklabel(8) to edit disklabels the -e switch will invoke the editor on the label. The -i switch will run an interactive session.

At this point, it's worth checking the disk label and partition sizes on the disk you want to install NetBSD onto. NetBSD understands SunOS-style disklabels, so if your disk was previously used by SunOS there will be a usable label on it. Use `disklabel -e <disk>' or `disklabel -i <disk>' (where <disk> is the device name assigned by the NetBSD kernel, e.g. `sd0') to view and modify the partition sizes. See the section Preparing your System for NetBSD Installation above for suggestions about disk partition sizes.

If you are installing on a SCSI disk that does not have a SunOS or NetBSD label on it, you may still be able to use disklabel(8) but you'll have to create all partitions from scratch. If your disk is listed in `/etc/disktab', you may use the entry (which in most cases only defines a `c' partition to describe the whole disk) to put an initial label on the disk. Then proceed with `disklabel -e <disk>' or `disklabel -i <disk>' to create a partition layout that suits your needs.

Note

Because of the built-in compatibility with SunOS-style labels, Always make sure all your partitions start and end on cylinder boundaries.

Here follows an example of what you'll see while in the dislabel editor. Do not touch any of the parameters except for the `label: ' entry and the actual partition size information at the bottom (the lines starting with `a:', `b:', ...).

The size and offset fields are given in sector units. Be sure to make these numbers multiples of the of the number of sectors per cylinder: the kernel might be picky about these things, but aside from this you'll have the least chance of wasting disk space. Partitions on which you intend to have a mountable filesystem, should be given fstype `4.2BSD'. Remember, the `c' partition should describe the whole disk. The `(Cyl. x - y)' info that appears after the hash (`#') character is treated as a comment and need not be filled in when altering partitions.

Note

The line containing `8 partitions:' is best left alone, even if you define less then eight partitions. If this line displays a different number and the program complains about it (after you leave the editor), then try setting it to `8 partitions:'.

Sample Disklabel Screen

netbsd# disklabel sd2
 # /dev/rsd2c:
type: SCSI
disk: SCSI disk
label: Hold Your Breath
flags:
bytes/sector: 512
sectors/track: 64
tracks/cylinder: 7
sectors/cylinder: 448
cylinders: 1429
rpm: 3600
interleave: 1
trackskew: 0
cylinderskew: 0
headswitch: 0           # milliseconds
track-to-track seek: 0  # milliseconds
drivedata: 0
     

8 partitions:
#        size   offset    fstype [fsz bsz cpg]
  a:    50176        0    4.2BSD   0   0   0   # (Cyl.    0 - 111)
  b:    64512    50176      swap               # (Cyl.  112 - 255)
  c:   640192        0   unknown               # (Cyl.    0 - 1428)
  d:   525504   114688    4.2BSD   0   0   0   # (Cyl.  256 - 1428)

If you are upgrading a NetBSD installation, start the upgrade script:
       netbsd# sh upgrade.sh
else, start the installation script:
       netbsd# sh install.sh

Running the installation scripts.

Occasionally, you will have to provide a piece of information such as the name of the disk you want to install on or IP addresses and domain names you want to assign. If your system has more than one disk, you may want to look at the output of the dmesg(8) command to see how your disks have been identified by the kernel.

The installation script goes through the following phases:

• determination of the disk to install NetBSD on
• checking of the partition information on the disk
• creating and mounting the NetBSD filesystems
• setup of IP configuration
• extraction of the distribution tar files
• installation of boot programs

Now try a reboot. Initially I'd suggest you "boot sd()netbsd -bs", then try multiuser after that. If you boot single-user the NetBSD incantation to make the root filesystem writable is
       netbsd# mount -u /dev/sd0a /
The Sun monitor might have been setup to instruct the boot program to load a file called "vmunix". On OpenBOOT ROM systems you can change it to load "netbsd" instead using the following commands:

On version 1 OpenBOOT ROMs:
       >n
       ok setenv boot-from sd(0,0,0)netbsd
       ok

On version 2 OpenBOOT ROMs:
       ok setenv boot-file netbsd
       ok setenv boot-device /sbus/esp/sd@0,0

Congratulations, you have successfully installed NetBSD 1.4.3.

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.