*BSD News Article 8621


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Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd
Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!uunet!news.encore.com!idequesa
From: idequesa@encore.com (Ivan Dequesada)
Subject: Re: Compaq's incompatability. Can't boot dist.fs.
Organization: Encore Computer Corporation
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1992 17:14:25 GMT
Message-ID: <BywFw1.2z7@encore.com>
References: <Byoso4.MMB@encore.com>
Keywords: can not boot
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idequesa@encore.com (Ivan Dequesada) writes:




>BSD's early switch to protected mode, and initialization at the register
>level, causes Compaq systems (Systempro, Deskpro 386/20e, 486 EISAs, etc)
>to loop-back into the BIOS-POST over & over in an infinite loop. I
>believe TI's TM4000 has a similar problem. This problem does not excist
>in LINUX's dist.fs because Linux does not switch to protected mode until
>much later in the initilization process, and probably uses some BIOS
>calls instead of register level video initialization.

>My thanks to Dr Holger Veit of the University of Duisburg for pointing
>out the differences between Linux and 386BSD as it pertains to the
>boot sequence.

 There are 2 files, compaq.fixit and compaq.boot that are suppose to fix
 this problem. They can be found via anonymous ftp on wotan.compaq.com
 directory pub/386BSD. I have not yet tested them. However, there are
 a lot of differences between these files and dist.fs & fixit.fs and
 there are to instruction to clarify if these are to be used with
 rawrite, or if they are binary images for BSD 0.1's dist.fs/fixit.fs
 ...etc.

   If someone is able to boot this diskettes on a Compaq, please let
   me know.  Thanks  (idequesa@encore.com)