NetBSD/sys/arch/alpha/README

$NetBSD: README,v 1.11 1997/02/25 03:17:20 cgd Exp $

Obtaining NetBSD/Alpha sources and binaries:

	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

	Binary snapshots include two different sets of system binaries:
		(1) a disk image, for first-time installation (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 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-)

	Binary snapshots include two kernel images: one which is the
	same as the one on the disk image, and one which is the same
	but includes debugging symbols.

	The sources provided seperately from the normal NetBSD-current
	distribution are:
		(1) complete compiler toolchain sources
		(2) diffs against the XFree86 3.2A distribution to
		    make X work with NetBSD/Alpha.
	
	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 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 the
	  port-alpha@netbsd.org mailing list, and we'll try to help you. ]

	To install the NetBSD/Alpha distribution, you'll need a disk at
	least the size of an Quantum PD210S -- about 210Mb.  Once you've
	gotten the 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.

	If you 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
	point (the root partition is partition 'a' and the /usr partition
	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
			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.

	Once you have created those files, you should mount the /usr
	partition (if you set up /etc/fstab properly, you should be able
	to simply issue the command "mount /usr").  Then you set
	the terminal type correctly ("TERM=termtype export TERM", where
	termtype is the name of the correct terminal type), and
	edit the disk's disklabel with the 'disklabel -e root-disk-name'
	command.  In disklabel, you should adjust the size of the disk
	as appropriate to match the information printed at boot, and
	create partitions which use the rest of the space on your disk.
	At minimum, you should create a swap partition (on partition 'b'),
	and then another partition to use any space remaining on your disk.

	Once that is done, 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 flag "A".

Chris Demetriou
cgd@netbsd.org