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Received: by minnie.vk1xwt.ampr.org with NNTP id AA448 ; Sun, 31 Jan 93 14:08:39 EST Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!destroyer!cs.ubc.ca!unixg.ubc.ca!ucla-mic!MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU!IZZYPI9 From: IZZYPI9@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Alexander Burchell) Subject: Help request: can't boot dist.fs floppy on Micronics 486 Message-ID: <19930201134953IZZYPI9@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU> Sender: MVS NNTP News Reader <NNMVS@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU> Nntp-Posting-Host: mvs.oac.ucla.edu Date: 1 Feb 93 13:50:07 PST Lines: 24 I wonder if anyone can help me with this frustrating problem. Having purchased a machine to run 386BSD and ignoring the advice to pre-test it with the "dist.fs" floppy (a mistake), I now find that my system will not boot this floppy! It is the only disk that will not work on my machine; all DOS disks work, and so does the SLS Linux release. I have the following hardware installed: Micronics 486/66 DX2 ISA MB w/8MB, 256K cache TEAC floppy drives (1.2 MB & 1.44 MB) On-board "local bus" (VESA VL-BUS) IDE HD/FD controller "local bus" ET4000 based SVGA card Phoenix BIOS I have tried swapping the ET4000 SVGA for a standard (640x480) VGA card, and have used a 16-bit IDE controller in place of the local bus controller for both HD & FD. I also have tried all available BIOS options to disable external & internal cache memory, slow down the CPU, don't cache certain ranges of memory, block transfer mode on HD disabled, etc., and nothing works. I have used all versions of "dist.fs" and "debug.fs" that I have been able to find, including those from the patched directory on AGATE.BERKELEY.EDU which contain "boot-tracing" code. I have seen these floppies boot on other 486 machines, but not mine: on my machine, after the memory test message, the floppy spins forever and nothing appears on screen. Can anyone help me with this frustrating problem? Alexander Burchell (IZZYPI9@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU)