I just came across this article after reading what's new in SystemD v257
It's a miracle how simple NetBSD still is, a few foo=NO in /etc/rc.conf and a check with ps auxc after rebooting, that's all.
Running NetBSD on IBM ThinkPad 380Z
51–60 of 65 posts
Re: Running NetBSD on IBM ThinkPad 380Z
#52"It doesn't matter to operating systems, but confuses some bootloaders. In general it's safer to use a smaller root partition and a separate one for /home. However, NetBSD worked just fine off a single full-disk partition."
A favourite component of NetBSD for me has always been the i386 bootloader. Perhaps it is personal taste but I have not found another one that I like better.
"Even NetBSD comes with some bloatware ;-) To save as much RAM as possible, you can turn it off by adding to /etc/rc.conf:
inetd=NO
postfix=NO
cron=NO
virecover=NO
makemandb=NO
powerd=NO
syslogd=NO"
For example, if install provided sets from https://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-9.4/i386/binary/set...
Look at https://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-release-9/src/etc/d...
"You can also reduce the amount of consoles by commenting them out in /etc/ttys."
By default only one tty is enabled
Look at https://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-release-9/src/etc/e...
NetBSD might have some "bloatware" but _the user must enable it_ first
Everything is off by default. That is one of the things that makes NetBSD great IMHO
"I was able to fix it by adding usermod disable wss to the bootloader line."
Does he mean userconf
Another option is comment the driver out in the kernel source and recompile
For example https://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-release-9/src/sys/a...
"... I think it's the ultimate UNIX to put on a spare, underpowered machine."
100%
Some folks who are not "developers" or gamers use underpowered computers every day
I've used it for decades as a daily driver
Re: Running NetBSD on IBM ThinkPad 380Z
#53"It doesn't matter to operating systems, but confuses some bootloaders. In general it's safer to use a smaller root partition and a separate one for /home. However, NetBSD worked just fine off a single full-disk partition." A favourite component of NetBSD for me has always been the i386 bootloader. Perhaps it is personal taste but I have not found another one that I like better. "Even NetBSD comes with some bloatware…
> Isn't powerd off by default
Sometimes it's on, see https://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-release-10/src/etc/...
> By default only one tty is enabled
Ah, but the rest is getting enabled by the installer, see https://github.com/NetBSD/src/blob/netbsd-10/usr.sbin/sysins...
> NetBSD might have some "bloatware" but _the user must enable it_ first
> Everything is off by default. That is one of the things that makes NetBSD great IMHO
I mean, it gets pretty close to that, and I don't even mind syslogd and powerd, but I'm confused why they enable stuff like postfix, inetd and makemandb without asking. Especially makemandb is pretty intensive on slow machines.
> "I was able to fix it by adding usermod disable wss to the bootloader line."
> Does he mean userconf
Whoopsie, that's on me, good catch!
Re: Running NetBSD on IBM ThinkPad 380Z
#54> In general it's safer to use a smaller root partition and a separate one for /home. However, NetBSD worked just fine off a single full-disk partition. Right until there is an update or anything and a bootloader or one of its required files gets written past the 8GB barrier, rendering your system unbootable.
Yeah, I suspect so! To be honest, I wouldn't notice this issue at all, if it wasn't for FreeBSD which refused to boot right off the bat. It has a more advanced bootloader though, so perhaps it does some extra sanity checks.
Of course you're not going to notice anything until it breaks -- you didn't write more than 8GB of files to the root partition yet, I guess...
Re: Running NetBSD on IBM ThinkPad 380Z
#55> In general it's safer to use a smaller root partition and a separate one for /home. However, NetBSD worked just fine off a single full-disk partition. Right until there is an update or anything and a bootloader or one of its required files gets written past the 8GB barrier, rendering your system unbootable.
>Right until there is an update or anything and a bootloader or one of its required files gets written past the 8GB barrier, rendering your system unbootable. I do not fully understand this. Can you add specifics ? To me the article indicates he used a small root partition. Or did I miss something ? A little hint for people (like me) who have a separate partition for /usr, /var, /tmp and /home due to cgd encryption o…
> To me the article indicates he used a small root partition. Or did I miss something ?
The article explicitly says a single full disk partition was used -- it's right on the quote I used.
In any case, this is a BIOS limitation affecting all bootloaders from all operating systems. It has nothing to do with any particular BSD or OS, and you do not need to care if your computer is less than 20 years old.
Re: Running NetBSD on IBM ThinkPad 380Z
#56"It doesn't matter to operating systems, but confuses some bootloaders. In general it's safer to use a smaller root partition and a separate one for /home. However, NetBSD worked just fine off a single full-disk partition." A favourite component of NetBSD for me has always been the i386 bootloader. Perhaps it is personal taste but I have not found another one that I like better. "Even NetBSD comes with some bloatware…
> Isn't powerd off by default Sometimes it's on, see https://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-release-10/src/etc/... > By default only one tty is enabled Ah, but the rest is getting enabled by the installer, see https://github.com/NetBSD/src/blob/netbsd-10/usr.sbin/sysins... > NetBSD might have some "bloatware" but _the user must enable it_ first > Everything is off by default. That is one of the things that makes Ne…
Ah, sysinst. I do not use it. This explains the enabling of programs in the configuration. Apologies I should have guessed that's where these settings were coming from.
I usually installboot and disklabel manually, download and extract sets manually, use makefs or mdsetimage and vnconfig to create/edit images.
Re: Running NetBSD on IBM ThinkPad 380Z
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Right until there is an update or anything and a bootloader or one of its required files gets written past the 8GB barrier, rendering your system unbootable. I do not fully understand this. Can you add specifics ? To me the article indicates he used a small root partition. Or did I miss something ? A little hint for people (like me) who have a separate partition for /usr, /var, /tmp and /home due to cgd encryption o…
> To me the article indicates he used a small root partition. Or did I miss something ? The article explicitly says a single full disk partition was used -- it's right on the quote I used. In any case, this is a BIOS limitation affecting all bootloaders from all operating systems. It has nothing to do with any particular BSD or OS, and you do not need to care if your computer is less than 20 years old.
Yeah, you're right, sorry for the confusion! I've just rewritten this part to make it more clear.
Re: Running NetBSD on IBM ThinkPad 380Z
#58I recently installed NetBSD on a Thinkpad T430s, it is surprisingly snappy and usable, except when firefox is running. With i3wm, tmux and helix with clangd it is a capable development machine with a surprisingly modern feel, only the compile times give away that the machine is from the early 2010s. Even WiFi is working, and pkgsrc is fast and well-stocked with the newest software.
It's funny to hear someone describe my daily driver personal laptop in the same way as a 380Z. I use Slackware with Xfce4 and except for the lower screen resolution (1360x768) I have never noticed that it's not "modern." I even have a new battery so it gets 6-9 hours of use again. Like you said, the giveaway is the poor performance, but if you're a systems developer that usually isn't a problem anyway. Emacs, C, asse…
I still rock a Latitude E6220 from 2011 or so after my main one broke and I just never replaced it.
It had 4gb ram, upgraded it to 8gb for $10 via Amazon, running Alpine with awesomewm and it works perfectly fine, firefox runs fine, compiling works fine, VLC works fine, etc.
Even Windows 10 ran on it fine. Really, CPU's haven't changed so much in the last 10 years, the focus has all bee on graphics.
Re: Running NetBSD on IBM ThinkPad 380Z
#59> It doesn't overwhelm you with thousands of packages and dozens of boot services right in a fresh install. On the contrary, it does only what you tell it to do. It puts you in charge and makes you feel like you can understand it top to bottom. Just like Arch Linux and Gentoo, of course.
Alpine and Void are better for this IMO.
Re: Running NetBSD on IBM ThinkPad 380Z
#60> It may not be mainstream enough for a daily driver Horses for courses - it's my daily driver for development and administration. To be fair though, I relegate the vast majority of consuming the web to a mobile device.
> Horses for courses - it's my daily driver for development and administration.
Because OS doesn't really matter here. You can install the same packages and have the same workflow on any opensource unix OS.