Re: Quadra 800 acting strange

Mathias Bolt Lesniak wrote:
> 
> Hi!
> 
> I've just installed version 3.2 on an old Quadra 800, but my first boot
> don't go like described in the INSTALL.mac68k file (Yes I have followed
> it to point).
> 
> When I boot up in single user mode I'm told to write the path to my
> shell or ENTER to use sh. I've tried both just sh, csh, tcsh (with
> appropriate paths). 

This is normal for single user mode... (sh works well and is easy. 8)

> Then I'm asked to enter the shell type I've tested
> a few; some work and some don't. 

You mean, terminal type, right?
vt100 is the right answer for mac68k...

> Anyway when I get past this I get the
> "#" prompt, but it's impossible to edit any of the files (myname,
> mygate, etc.) in vi, because it tells me it's on a read-only file
> system, which from what I know it is not (if that's the case it has to
> have been set so by the installer(!)).

no, it *is* mounted read only, because that's what it does in single
user mode, after an install with an unclean file system.
 
> When I boot up in multi-user mode the startup process hangs just before
> the point where I'm asked for the shell info in single-user mode.

exactly what was on the display for the several lines before would be
useful, but I'll take a guess...
 
> Not at any point am I asked to log in!
> 
> During the startup I'm getting one warning about / not having been
> properly unmounted.

Bingo.

Rule #1: mac68ks are slow. 8)

Here is what I think is going on:
1) you do the install.
2) For whatever reason, the MacOS mkfs utils doesn't mark the file
system clean, so yes, it will think / hasn't been properly unmounted.
3a) when you boot in single user mode, it sees an unclean file system,
and mounts it RO.  That is what it is supposed to do.
3b) when you boot in multi-user mode, it starts an fsck.  In Apple's
infinite wisdom (shared by Sun on many systems, btw), they don't think
it is important that you know when disk access is taking place, so
they don't put a disk activity light on the front of the machine... 
So, you assume the machine hung.

So, either boot the thing, look closely at the last messages on the
screen, and walk away for at least an hour, or bring it up in single
user mode, and do the following:

   # fsck /dev/sd0a
       (that will clean the root partition)
   # mount /
       (that will mount the root volume RW)

do the cleanup of your install at this point, probably editing
/etc/fstab, your network files, etc...
 
When you do your first boot, allow quite some time for the key
generation process.  45 minutes should do it on a Q800, but on slower
machines, it will take longer.

And when you get the thing working, drill a hole in your case or
otherwise modify it so that you have a disk activity light (I drilled
a hole in my Q650, reworked the power light to be a drive light on my
Q610).

> Technical info:
> 24MB RAM.
> One apr. 250MB disk (with root (214MB) and swap (30MB)) at SCSI ID 2
> One 2GB disk (with usr (apr. 1.5GB) and a HFS partition) at SCSI ID 0

I'll be curious to see how well this works...lots of problems with
multiple drives for OpenBSD/mac68k...  Typically involving system
panics. 8(
 
> Hope somebody can help! I'm not a UNIX geek, but I'm learning! :-)

well, if you get it going on a mac68k, you will learn a lot the hard
way. (which isn't always bad. 8)  Be patient, use the on-line man
pages, etc.  And if you don't make it, grab a 486 or Sparc and try
again...mac68k is probably our hardest platform...and diving in when
new to Unix would be painf..er..highly educational.

Nick.
-- 
http://www.holland-consulting.net