I have some questions about OpenBSD. I'm going to put it in this forum instead of Unix. I went to ftp.openbsd.org. I clicked on OpenBSD then i386. I download floppy33.fs. I copy it to a floppy disk. I did not have a higher floppy disk so i used winimage and format my floppy to higher. After i copy the file to a floppy disk. I restart my computer with the floppy disk in place. OpenBSD did not come up. I download the right file. Why could'nt i boot from the floppy that has the file on?? Do you guys understand what i'm trying to do?? Please reply back. Thanks for any help.

what did you use to write the disk image? rawrite, ntrw, ... ?

and are you sure the bios will check the floppy drive before the hard drive for an OS?

I used rawrite and now i got it copied. When i put the floppy disk in it says.

Reading boot
Read error.

Why does it say that?? Please reply back. Thanks.

sorry I didn't reply earlier... I just got done watching 'Spirited Away'.. fantastic movie by the way. Read Error... does the floppy disk have any bad sectors? Have you tried a different floppy image?

just some ideas to try out.

ok the floppy did have bad sectors. I got it to copy to another floppy. I'm having a little trouble installing it. I'm trying to follow along with the FAQ instructions. Please reply back. Thanks.

as you've already had over 100 posts on this site, I would have hoped you'd use a suitable thread title. your title should briefly reflect the contents of the thread. thanks

acid_kewpie. Why don't you just edit the title?? Thanks.

because I'm not a moderator of this forum and you should be providing useful thread titles in the first place. thanks

so you tried a new floppy and now you're booting properly?

what is the next problem you're running into?

Thanks acid_kewpie. The next time i will make sure i will use a suitable title. sorry about that. Let's move on. I wanted to set up a dual boot with Windows XP and OpenBSD. I'm having trouble with the partitions. It might be that i'm trying to set up with Windows XP. Later i'm going to delete out my windows partition and try setting up OpenBSD by it self. Please reply back if you can help. Thanks.

I thought you were running RH8 OR 9.......iare you switching to OpenBSD to get your winmodem up and running?

I'm going to see will my winmodem will work under OpenBSD. I'm going to take a guess and say yes it will work. That's just a guess and i'm going to assume that it will work but i'm not sure. Do you know how to make OpenBSD partitions?? Do you know how to install OpenBSD?? Please reply back. Thanks.

I am unfamiliar with OpenBSD and what partition it will run off of (don't know if it has particular partitions like ext2, ext3, and rieserfs).

I think it will run on ext2 but don't quote me on that.

Have you checked that your winmodem is supported under OpenBSD? If it isn't, you are going to have the exact same problems that you are currently getting.

Jon said you need to:
"tar zxvf pctel-0.9.6.tar.gz

cd pctel-0.9.6

./configure --with-hal=pct789 --with-kernel-includes=/usr/src/linux-2.4.20-8/include

make

su

make install

/sbin/insmod -f pctel

/sbin/insmod -f ptserial

/sbin/lsmod

vi etc/modules.conf

Hit the "I" key
Use arrow keys to go right BELOW

alias char-major-62 ptserial

"copy/paste:"

below ptserial pctel

"right BELOW 'alias char-major-62 ptserial' on a new line."

Hit "ESC". Hold down "shift" then press "Z" twice. Type:

/sbin/depmod -a

tail /var/log/messages"

and then

"Your modem works Derek. I can no longer help you because it works. You'll have to make a new symlink for /dev/modem that points to dev/ttys15..... That's probably the only thing you will have to do. That and change the modules.conf to what I said. If that doesn't work you'll have to load the modules everytime you boot into RH manually.

EVERY PIECE OF INFORMATION I HAVE GIVEN YOU IS HERE...

http://www.peacefulaction.org/sayamindu/pctel.html"

followed by

"Your modem is on "comm 16"!!!! It didn't look that far..... YOUR MODEM WORKS!!!!! It will not autoload those modules when you boot up everytime unless you have these 2 lines in /etc/modules.conf

alias char-major-62 ptserial
below ptserial pctel

If that doesn't work and you just can't get it to autoload on every boot up, you are going to have to:

/sbin/insmod -f pctel

/sbin/insmod -f ptserial

before you connect to the internet.... Big deal. Making a script that will run those 2 commands for you if you type "modem" in a Terminal Window will take about 20 seconds..."

and so on.

If you are still having modem in problems in RH9 after all of Jon's help I do not think you will get any further with OpenBSD. My advice is to print out all of Jon's posts in Computing.net (use copy/paste to put them into Wordpad/Notepad/Whatever) and seriously go through them step by step.

I am sure that when Jon has his laptop fixed he will be able to help you further - but you have to show him that you have exhausted all of his help to date.

Good luck.

Answers to most common questions.
http://www.se.openbsd.org/faq/index.html