Subject: Re: Kernel build errors in krpc_subr.o
To: None <current-users@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Ross Harvey <email@example.com>
Date: 10/07/1997 21:55:12
> > > If you do that, then you can not do NFS root over PPP/SLIP,
> > > (with BOOTP) which was intended to work. Does anybody care?
> > while i doubt i will ever use this feature, it _should_ exist.
> What does it _mean_ to mount root via NFS over a PPP or SLIP
> How do you set up the SLIP or PPP connection? How do you set up the
> kernel line discipline on the right tty? What does bootp over SLIP or
> PPP really "mean," to begin with?
> Even forgetting the performance issues, NFS root mounted over SLIP or
> PPP seems nonsensical.
Last time I looked at the netboot code, which was a while ago, it chose
an interface by looking for one that supports broadcast. A lot of stuff
is just wired for ethernet.
But as silly as it might seem over a tty line, there are four or five
arp-less point to point serial and parallel links used mainly for
parallel computing, these are all over 800 Mb/S (Avalon's is 3.2 Gb/S)
and would run NFS just fine. Nodes with 3 Gb/S links don't need local
Bootp should work OK over non-ethernet links. Unlike arp, it is encapsulated
over UDP and there is the bootpgw stuff to forward requests over subnet
As a fix, its fine for now, as other things presently prevent non-
ethernet netboot and it is trivial to undo. But arp-less netboot will be
required by us soon, and by others eventually, so work on a more
general approach would not be wasted.
Ross Harvey Avalon Computer Systems, Inc. firstname.lastname@example.org
Santa Barbara http://www.teraflop.com