[jasonyates]

I'm just curious who else is here.. I'm trying to get OpenBSD going on my SE/30..

-Jason

[bluedog]

The installation on 68k hardware seems to be the hardest part. I've downloaded versions in the past and done the formatting, but haven't gotten it all installed in any 68k machine yet.

The SE30 has a math coprocessor which I believe is necessary for use (you probably have the ethernet card too which is the only real reason to use unix on a machine of that age.

I have a few performa 580s that seem like they should be supported, but I haven't had luck with them yet.

Good luck.

[ranga]

I used to have Linux running on an MacIIci. The install was fairly straigth forward
once I got the disk partitioning figured in System 7. The other major hurdle was
getting the boot loader to work properly.

The IIci was really slow for interactive stuff and didn't work too well as a firewall/router.
I'm guessing your SE/30 will probably be just about as slow.

--ranga

[jasonyates]

Yeah I just want to do it for the hell of it.. I am having a problem with the installation as well. During the base package install it gives a couple SCSI errors then quits. I'm trying to figure out if there is a problem with the disk or if the files are corrupt or what..

-Jason

[Avon]

I installed NetBSD on a IIci. It was really painless to install but SLOW.

Almost usless its so slow

[Gene Jockey]

I have A/UX that I'm putting on a IIfx. I don't actually have it installed, but I have had it boot from the floppy/CD combo, and it seems OK. I'm just waiting to move so I have a better place to set it up than my closet...

--Josh

[jasonyates]

Well after doing a little searching around I found out that this problem I have had is fairly common. SCSI read/write error #5.. Apparently the installer has a problem working with larger partitions. I am in the process of manually copying the files over.. We'll see how that goes.

-Jason

[Gul Banana]

A friend of mine has Debian on a Quadra, and it works fine, as long as he doesn't try to do something silly like install XWindows.

[jasonyates]

Well my install finally worked. I had to change my partitions and all is well now. Just need to remember some of those UNIX commands that I haven't used in a couple years now.

-Jason

[jasonyates]

Well, to the above people who said it was probably going to be slow, I know what you meant now. Navigating around and running programs seems to work ok, but if I have to expand or compile anything it takes like all day. We are talking about 16mhz here though. I wonder if it would be more tolerable on a Quadra 840av (40mhz 040)??

-Jason

[Avon]

Originally posted by jasonyates:
I wonder if it would be more tolerable on a Quadra 840av (40mhz 040)??

-Jason

IT has to be a ton better. I remember an 840AV would SOMKE my LCII beyond smoked...

In 1999 I had a 7500 and I installed Linux PPC. It was really nice. Fast and pretty easy to install...

either way, 68Ks are way outdated for these modern operationg systems. The coolness factor is the only thing going for them.

If you find a PC in the trash pick it up, even a Pentium 1 runs FreeBSD fairly well and is much easier to install.

[l008com]

Originally posted by Avon:
If you find a PC in the trash pick it up, even a Pentium 1 runs FreeBSD fairly well and is much easier to install.

My feeling is the opposite, if you find a PC in your house, throw it in the trash, even if its a Pentium 4 :-P

I plan on installing BSD on a 68K soon, but its really only going to show off some cool hardware mods, all I need is for it to run, and have lots of disk activity. I think it will work out good :-)

[Rainy Day]

My feeling is the opposite, if you find a PC in your house, throw it in the trash, even if its a Pentium 4

I have heard, but can't confirm, that they are useful as door stops (and boat anchors).

I plan on installing BSD on a 68K soon, but its really only going to show off some cool hardware mods, all I need is for it to run, and have lots of disk activity. I think it will work out good :-)

I have OpenBSD running on an LC475 (aka Quadra 605) with full 68040 (which is required). It was a very painful install and did not go smoothly at all. After much , a few shrill shrieks in the middle of the night, two or three sacrificial goats, and some sort of pact with the devil, the exact terms of which are still unclear to me, i finally got it going. It wasn't easy and it wasn't pretty; in the words of "Radar" O'Reilly: "There weren't no survivors."

On the flip side, however, it does hum along quite nicely and works well. Unfortunately upgrades and security patches are equally painful. A simple sendmail upgrade, for example, requires about 130Mb of HD space and several hours of CPU churning, plus mucking through mirky documentation requiring about five levels of indirection to figure out. In the end, it didn't install everything needed for the compile, and installed things which weren't need (e.g. games like chess!) Sometimes you get what you pay for. The whole process has given me a new found respect for what Apple has achieved with MacOS X (especially its ease of installation and updates).

For hobbiest use, Linux or some other flavor of BSD might be a better choice than OpenBSD on the 68K. It doesn't, for example, support very many different ethernet cards on 68K Macs. I had to buy one off eBay as my Sonic-chip based card wasn't supported (but the Asante card i bought, because it was older, wouldn't talk to my auto speed switching 10/100T switch/router). I think FreeBSD and Linux both support more 68K hardware than OpenBSD. The 68K is definitely the step-child of the OpenBSD project. Mac68K OpenBSD doesn't support multiple SCSI drives, nor sound (other than beep), nor all ADB devices, etc.

For a production server, while OpenBSD's mantra of "secure by default" is seductive, the OpenBSD/68K combo is hostile territory which should only be entered if you can't afford a used G3 Mac, or you're bored with working crossword puzzles and other brain teasers. OpenBSD will cost you far more in your time than the price of a used G3 box. On the other hand, if you need to work on positive affirmations in the face of overwhelmingly negative strokes, have tons of free time and are incredibly bored, or would simply like a degree in rocket science (or a Ph.D. in computer "science") without the associated cost of tuition, then OpenBSD on a 68K is an excellent choice. You have been warned. YMMV.

[l008com]

How does NetBSD compare? Thats the 'flava' i'd use.

[Rainy Day]

I don't have any direct experience with NetBSD on a 68K (maybe someone else will post on that), but i think it might be somewhat better supported. When i was trying to solve my ethernet card problem last December, i found more useful info on the NetBSD website than on the OpenBSD website. If nothing else, i think there might be a larger 68K community over there, which usually means better support.

I think Linux might have the best 68K hardware support, however i don't know for sure so don't quote me on that. But there's something about penguins i just don't trust. YMMV.

[Detrius]

Originally posted by jasonyates:
Well, to the above people who said it was probably going to be slow, I know what you meant now. Navigating around and running programs seems to work ok, but if I have to expand or compile anything it takes like all day. We are talking about 16mhz here though. I wonder if it would be more tolerable on a Quadra 840av (40mhz 040)??

-Jason

If it takes all day on 16MHz, it will probably only take several hours on 40MHz. Have fun.

Backgrounding of processes will probably be VERY useful.

[BigMac2]

Me and my friend was managed to install NetBSD on a Performa 575. I exchange the CPU with a MC68040 with FPU that I took from very old Daystar Turbo 040 that I have on now dead MacIIx.

[Avon]

I find its much easier to install an OS when the user base is larger (except for Win)

Stick to NetBSD for 680X0 machines. And if you want to learn BSD on a PC, go with FreeBSD.