Re: miniroot on sparc doesnt execute

[George Robbins <grr_(_at_)_shandakor_(_dot_)_tharsis_(_dot_)_com>]

> From: Tobias Richter <trichter_(_at_)_ipk_(_dot_)_fhg_(_dot_)_de>
> Subject: miniroot on sparc doesnt execute
> 
> using miniroot20.sun4c.fs (from ftp.fu-berlin.de) I get the message
> 'file loaded does not seem to be executable'
> from my SUN's PROM.
> 
> I used the (said to be) correct method to produce a bootable
> tape (i.e. dd if=miniroot of=/dev/rst0 bs=20b conv=sync) and
> told the machine to "boot tape bsd -s".

Unless something has changed from the ancient days, to make  "bootable tape"
you need to copy some other files to the tape.  Traditionally these were
the standalone format program and a copy program, you would use the copy
program to copy the miniroot into the b partition.  You might also need a
tape second level bootstrap as the very first file.

I'm not sure if there is a working copy utility in the distribution, but
you could probably copy the right stuff off a bootable sun install tape.

What most people do is simply boot SunOS in single user mode, then use
dd to copy the mini-root to the swap partition (b) and "boot disk" from
that point.  That's pretty much what's in the INSTALL.sparc notes.

						George