🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <17574@umd5.umd.edu> matthews@oberon.umd.edu (Mike Matthews) writes:
> I've got a bit of a problem here.
> 
> I'm trying to netboot one NeXT off another NeXT, which is easy enough to do.
> The catch, though, is the netboot server is in a different subnet, going
> through two routers on an FDDI ring.
> 
> The boot goes fine -- /private/tftpboot/boot is loaded, then
> /private/tftpboot/mach, then it goes around, says the primary ethernet
> interface is en0 [some not quite right number -- where DOES it get that,
> anyway?] then it gets its hostname, says whoami: no domain name, and panics
> because it can't mount root.
> 
> The netboot server is exporting root to anyone who cares to mount it (it's on
> an isolated network, so security is not a big concern).  If I boot off SCSI
> disk, and mount the netboot server's root as, say, /tmp/otherroot, it works
> fine.
> 
> Netbooting another NeXT on the same subnet as the netboot server works fine,
> and both are configured.  I know the bootparams are set up right (well, I'm
> reasonably sure).  I know the ethernet address is entered right, as
> -AUTOMATIC- works for hostname and IP address on normal booting (btw, if you
> wish to do that through a gateway, you have to move the IP Routing code from
> /etc/rc to /etc/rc.boot, to right before it tries to do hostname  
-AUTOMATIC-).
> 
> But it can't mount the root directory and dies.  I know, via router
> debugging, that it sends out a sunrpc call to the correct host, presumably to
> to the NFS mount.  It does not look like the call's ever making it to the
> netboot server, though, by debugging on the other router.
> 
> But why, then, does it work when the machine boots up normally?  What's
> different? 
> 
> And where the heck does the first, seemingly bogus, primary ethernet address
> come from, anyway?
> 
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
> ------
> Mike Matthews, matthews@oberon.umd.edu (NeXTmail accepted)
> ------
> When in doubt, do what the President does -- guess.
> 

One thing I ran into was the need for the flat files in the /private area of  
the netboot client AND the netinfo in the client's /private area to agree and  
to have the boot host defined as a machine with it's IP address and name  
defined.  Another test is to put the IP address of the host in the netboot info  
fields rather than the host name.  This reduces the chance of some lookup  
messing you up.

Michael Allen Latta
Kripalu Center
harit@kripalu.com

-- 
Michael Allen Latta
Kripalu Center
harit@kripalu.com
(413)448-3288