(SUMMARY) Easy OS install onto 3rd party disks

From: Andrew Patrick (andrew@rick.doc.ca)
Date: Thu Aug 02 1990 - 15:27:13 CDT


On Jul 30, 5:24pm, I wrote:
} Subject: Easy OS install onto 3rd party disks
| I am about to install a new Sparcstation 1+. This machine is coming
| from Sun in a diskless configuration and will have no floppy or tape
| drive. However, I have purchased 2 Wren VI's from a 3rd party
| supplier, and I wish to install the OS (4.0.3c) on these drives. But,
| it seems that in order to format and partition the drives, and copy the
| software, I have to be able to boot the new machine. I can setup an
| existing Sparcstation as a boot server, boot the new machine over the
| network, install the OS from the floppies, and then tear out the server
| files, but that seems like a lot of work.
|
| Is there any other way of installing the OS on the new drives? Could I
| install the 2 drives on the existing Sparcstation, setup the
| partitions, clone the OS onto these drives, and then move them to the
| new machine? Is this a good idea?

To summarize the responses, the answer is "yes" I can do it this way.
In fact, many people do it this way as a matter of course. Some people
made the following suggestions:

    Do not forget to install the boot block on the disk which will be
    the boot disk on the new sparcstation. If you do, you won't be able
    to boot the machine.
    
    Just be careful when you run installboot -
    make sure you get the correct /boot and the correct raw device.
    
Thanks to the following people for replying:
        paisley@cme.nist.gov (Scott Paisley)
        bala@Synopsys.COM (Bala Vasireddi)
        uunet!ecn!bernards (Marcel Bernards)
        trinkle@cs.purdue.edu
        aldrich@sunrise.Stanford.EDU (Jeff Aldrich)
        "Matt Crawford" <matt@oddjob.uchicago.edu>
        "Anthony A. Datri" <convex!datri@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu>
        Chris Hook <hook@geog.ubc.ca>
        Steve Trythall <st@computing-science.aberdeen.ac.uk>
        tim@cstr.edinburgh.ac.uk
        bob@kahala.soest.hawaii.edu (Bob Cunningham)
        Jeff Nieusma <nieusma@boulder.Colorado.EDU>
        cdr@brahms.AMD.COM (Carl Rigney)

-- 
Andrew Patrick, Ph.D.               | Old Address: andrew@dgbt.crc.dnd.CA
andrew@dgbt.doc.CA                  | Alternate Address: andrew@doccrc.BITNET
Dept. of Communications, Ottawa, CA | Slow Address: andrew@dgbt.UUCP
         "Creativity is a function of the tools you work with."



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