Re: mac68k install process

On Jul 1, 2004, at 10:32 PM, Nick Holland wrote:

> Matt R wrote:
>> Hey list
>> after struggling with the mac68k installer, I've
>> decided I wanted to do something about it.  I seem to
>> remember a conversation with the list back when 3.3
>> was new...something to the effect of " we have the
>> source but can't compile it ".
>> If someone would be so kind as to point me at said
>> source and what tools they need or just let me know
>> what tools they need, I will find/get/buy/whatever to
>> get the freaking installer updated.
>
> ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/3.5/mac68k/utils/ 
> Installer_1.3_src.sea.hqx
>
> Can't remember what compiler this thing uses, it is on the MacOS  
> platform.  It is pretty clearly spelled out in the SEA file.  At this  
> point, the version used would be something like ten years old -- I'm  
> not sure how much, if at all, the Mac world has kept producing 680x0  
> development tools.  The hard part is finding it.
>
> However, a word of warning: All the m68k platforms have been broke for  
> quite some time now, and I'm not aware of anyone actively working on a  
> fix.  You will note no snaps for any of the m68k platforms (hp300,  
> mvme68k, mac68k) have been made since 3.5 was released.  No, it isn't  
> because we switched to gcc3 and are still waiting for the first snap  
> to complete compilation...  At this point, I somewhat suspect OpenBSD  
> v3.6 will ship with a few less platforms.  Evolving the installer at  
> this point may not be overly productive. 8-/
>
> Nick.
> -- 
> http://www.holland-consulting.net
>
>

You can get MPW for free if you want a compiler that will work, but the  
sources were created in CodeWarrior, and linked against CW libraries  
... and I couldn't even find the right version on ebay, certainly not  
on the vendor website. Not that I actually looked that hard, since I'm  
barely a C programmer, and I have little desire to hone my skills  
learning the intricacies of MacOS 7. (Now THERE'S a useful skill to  
develop -- especially since the whole point of the exercise is to run a  
different OS ;-) )

The install works quite well if you install to a small initial  
partition, then rearrange & install other packages once you're booted  
to OpenBSD. This would work *much* better if you could mount two hard  
disks at a time. Or if the subtle bug preventing bsd.rd from  
identifying a swap partition (  
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=openbsd-mac68k&m=108255672412131&w=2 )  
could be fixed, then all the MacOS-based installer would have to do is  
install bsd.rd. That would rock, since then you would be in the  
familiar installer, and the limitations of the MacOS installer would be  
moot.

But then, probably the biggest problem is networking, at least,  not  
working on m68k processors in -current...


Frank