mac68k NetBSD 5.1.2 Duo 270c

[theos911]

Awhile ago I tried getting linux on my 270c... with little luck...

Recently, NetBSD has proved to be much more fruitful. I followed the guide here and now have a working, bootable install on my 270c. (Only took three days for the duo to do the install : )

However, I have a few questions:

Is there a way to get the floppy drive to work with a floppy microdock?

Is there a way to get an ethernet microdock working? (Apparently something with if_netdock_nubus.c )

I don't have enough HDD space right now to install X, but does anyone know if the Duo's video hardware has been decoded enough to allow X to run?

Despite these, I give NetBSD some serious credit for running in any form on something this old. :approve:

 

[ClassicHasClass]

Hardly any floppy drive support exists in /mac68k (or for that matter /macppc). Do your floppy dirty work in MacOS.

It might be possible to get the microdock working, but that depends on the chipset and I don't know what Apple used.

 

[theos911]

The microdock is made by newertech (and/or asante). Someone did write a driver as named above, but I do not know how to use it nor how to get it on the duo with no way to mount the NetBSD partitions from within Mac OS, no way to mount a floppy, and no network access.

(Unless I can do something over Serial and/or the modem :?: )

 

[Gorgonops]

I would think the Microdock driver would be compiled into the default NetBSD kernel for m68k, but since I don't have the wherewithal to check that suspicion I'll leave confirming/denying to someone else. If it's not then you'll need to compile a kernel with it present. Do you have the source tree installed so you can do that? If not then you'll either need another 68k Mac or you'll have to cross-compile it.

If you were to lay your hands on a kernel with the driver present from a third party it looks like the Booter program for NetBSD has the ability to load a kernel from outside the UNIX partition.

 

[theos911]

Do you have the source tree installed so you can do that?

I am not sure what that is. I installed everything but games and comp from the binary sets. (Originally included comp, but the partition filled. ~about 202MB)

Even with a way to get the driver onto the NetBSD parition, without comp I do not think I can recompile the kernel anyway. So, I would need to cross compile (no other NetBSD compatible 68k available atm...) and transfer it over somehow. I've never compiled a kernel for Linux nor NetBSD so that will be new territory.

With the microdock attached it hangs at:

 

[Gorgonops]

Your screenshot demonstrates that the driver is present in the kernel you have installed. It's just wandering off into the weeds and dying after it recognizes the dock.

If you google for discussion results about this driver there are several threads that discuss patches people have made to the kernel to resolve hanging/crashing issues on their particular machines but to do anything with those threads you'll need a kernel compilation box.

 

[theos911]

This is what I found that seemed relevant:

http://mail-index.netbsd.org/port-mac68k/2004/03/02/0001.html

http://osdir.com/ml/os.netbsd.ports.mac68k/2004-02/msg00045.html

http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/src/sys/arch/mac68k/nubus/if_netdock_nubus.c

Edit- How would I go about getting more info about why it is hanging? (more verbose output and such)

 

[Gorgonops]

Your best bet is probably to hit up the NetBSD port-specific mailing list for mac68k and see if the developer can help you. Your screenshot shows that the driver is loaded to the point that it recognizes the MAC address of the Ethernet port so it's certainly "recognizing" your hardware, but remember, it's certainly possible that your particular combination of Duo+Dock hasn't ever been tested under NetBSD before.