Re: Getting started netbooting a NeXTcube

Thank you for those words of encouragement...  Turns out it works just
as you said!
Pic: https://twitter.com/randomdross/status/1442341255845875716

And as a bonus, looks like it enables networking in NeXTSTEP as well.

Dave

On Sun, Sep 26, 2021 at 7:22 PM Brian Willoughby
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Hi David,
>
> When I was learning about how NEXTSTEP networking "works," I remember bei=
ng very confused about BOOTP. It's entirely possible that my confusion was =
entirely due to lack of knowledge of TCP/IP and networking itself, but I do=
 seem to recall some weird behavior that sounds like the race conditions yo=
u're describing.
>
> I say go for it: Set up a BOOTP server and then see what happens. It's en=
tirely possible that the race condition is a separate issue. But it's also =
possible that's normal behavior and the NeXT will take a different path if =
it receives a prompt reply to its BOOTP request.
>
> Brian
>
>
> On Sep 26, 2021, at 18:23, David Ross <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Hey Brian,
> >
> > Thanks for that response, and it's great to know there are still
> > people hanging out on this list.  =3D)
> >
> > The next thing I was going to try (and probably will try in any event)
> > is in fact to set up a BOOTP server.  The reason I didn't go do that
> > yet is only because the strange behavior I'm seeing from the NeXTcube
> > makes me think it won't work.  To me, it looks like a kind of a race
> > condition, where the link is only up for a very short period of time,
> > and during that time, a BOOTP packet _might_ make it out.  When
> > booting with "ben" I will see a BOOTP packet sometimes, but it's quite
> > inconsistent.  And then I see the link immediately go down.  In fact,
> > in some cases it appears the link never even turns on at all.  Maybe
> > there's some setting configured that could cause this?
> >
> > My thinking is that I could have a BOOTP server responding to the
> > BOOTP packet, but then the link will still go down regardless.  And it
> > won't even work half the time because the BOOTP packet doesn't always
> > go out.
> >
> > If anyone has free time and a NeXT handy, here's what might help a bit:
> > 1)  Plug in an empty ethernet network switch into the NeXT, just to
> > observe if the link LED turns on.
> > 2)  Boot into the ROM monitor using Command-`
> > 3)  Type "ben" to boot from the network.
> > 4)  Observe what gets displayed on the console.  Also, does the link
> > light on the ethernet switch turn on?  And if so, does it stay on or
> > turn off after a second or two?
> >
> > Dave
> >
> > On Sun, Sep 26, 2021 at 6:05 PM Brian Willoughby <[email protected]=
om> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi David,
> >>
> >> When booting from disk, BOOTP is a critical step to getting on the net=
work, and things like NetInfo won't even work without it.
> >>
> >> However, I'm not sure what happens if there isn't a BOOTP response. I =
assume that the NEXTSTEP OS on disk would still launch, but the network wou=
ld not function, and all configuration from NetInfo would necessarily be ab=
sent.
> >>
> >> Since netboot has no disk to fall back on, I'm going to assume that BO=
OTP is absolutely essential to get working before the netboot can even begi=
n.
> >>
> >> I became very familiar with BOOTP while creating my own multi-tier Net=
Info hierarchy of NeXTcube, NeXTstation, and even SPARCstation machines. So=
me of the information is duplicated on multiple machines in case one machin=
e goes down, because things won't boot if the BOOTP server is down. Obvious=
ly, I had to toss all that knowledge and learn DHCP with newer systems. I s=
eem to recall that DHCP is a superset of BOOTP, and it might even be true t=
hat some or all DHCP servers have the ability to respond to BOOTP requests.
> >>
> >> I have very little knowledge of netboot, but I would recommend that yo=
u set up a BOOTP server in conjunction / coordination with the netboot serv=
er. Once the machine receives a BOOTP response, it will probably then conti=
nue on to load the OS from the netboot server.
> >>
> >> Just remember: NEXTSTEP is older than DHCP, and certainly older than Z=
eroConf (Bonjour).
> >>
> >> Brian
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sep 26, 2021, at 15:53, David Ross <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>> Hey port-next68k,
> >>>
> >>> I've managed to acquire a NeXTcube and I'm playing around with gettin=
g
> >>> the old netbsd port up and running on it.  Since it was only ever set
> >>> up to netboot, I'm starting there.  Unfortunately I'm seeing some
> >>> really weird behavior...
> >>>
> >>> The ethernet network connection seems to work fine.  When I boot up
> >>> via the hard drive, I see it recognizes when it's plugged in and
> >>> attempts to retrieve network configuration.  Sniffing on the network =
I
> >>> see BOOTP packets.
> >>>
> >>> However, when I attempt to netboot from the ROM monitor, I'm seeing
> >>> that the network only comes up for a brief period of time, if at all.
> >>> During that time, in some cases a BOOTP packet manages to make it out=
.
> >>> I haven't gone any further to try to respond to the BOOTP packet yet.
> >>>
> >>> Any idea what might be causing this behavior, or how it might be
> >>> fixed?  Can anyone attest to what the normal behavior is when
> >>> netbooting?  (I'd expect the network comes up & stays up, and BOOTP
> >>> packets continue to get sent on some interval until there's a
> >>> response.)
> >>>
> >>> David Ross
> >>> [email protected]
> >>>
> >>
> >
>