Re: Booting Linux on Sun3 machines

[Sam Creasey <sammy@sammy.net>]

Honestly, it probably doesn't boot.  The last kernel I knew to boot
successfully was 2.6.16, and that required patches.

My last round of notes is still here: https://sammy.net/sun3/

It does include links to a compiled bootloader to netboot a sun3, and
a very ancient debian userland (though if you get to trying to load
init, I'd call that a victory).

I don't believe I ever wrote up full boot instructions, but the
bootloader is a fork of the NetBSD one, so if you can get
rarp/tftp/nfs/etc working well enough to netboot that, you're in the
right place to try to netboot a Linux kernel.  I don't currently have
a boot server configured, but I might be able to find some time to
set something up and help you debug if you get that far.  I've
certainly still got hardware to test with.

-- Sam

On Fri, Jan 15, 2021 at 07:52:05PM +0100, Geert Uytterhoeven wrote:
> CC sammy
>
> On Fri, Jan 15, 2021 at 7:32 PM John Paul Adrian Glaubitz
> <glaubitz@physik.fu-berlin.de> wrote:
> > Since Arnd has waved with the axe at the Sun3 port this week, I would like to start
> > testing the port to make sure it still boots and if not, we can fix the problems.
> >
> > I have three Sun3 machines in my basement that I can test the kernel on. However,
> > I have zero experience booting these machines, so I was wondering whether anyone
> > has booted Linux on these machines in the past and can tell me how that works.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Adrian
> >
> > --
> >  .''`.  John Paul Adrian Glaubitz
> > : :' :  Debian Developer - glaubitz@debian.org
> > `. `'   Freie Universitaet Berlin - glaubitz@physik.fu-berlin.de
> >   `-    GPG: 62FF 8A75 84E0 2956 9546  0006 7426 3B37 F5B5 F913