46 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
46 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
# NetBSD on a Sun Blade 1500
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Configuration files I've modified or added to get NetBSD to run
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well on my Sun Blade 1500 with a Sun XVR-100 graphics card.
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## Xorg and securelevel
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Most stuff works out of the box, except for X11 with the Sun XVR-100
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graphics card. The card is actually a Radeon 7000, and hence the `radeon`
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driver could be used. However, this is prevented by the default
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`securelevel`.
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Here we have two choices. One is to use the `wsfb` driver instead, which works
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out of the box. The downside is that it uses the same bit bepth as the
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framebuffer console, which is only 8 bits. The other choice is to compile a
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new kernel with `options INSECURE`. This lets us set `securelevel` to `-1` in
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`/etc/rc.conf`. We can then use 24 bit color depth with the `radeon` driver.
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In my case I've named the kernel after myself, JACKBENNY. But you can rename
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the kernel config file to whatever you like. For instruction on how to compile
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a new kernel in NetBSD, read the following (in this order):
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1. [Obtaining the sources](https://www.netbsd.org/docs/guide/en/chap-fetch.html)
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2. [Compiling the kernel](https://www.netbsd.org/docs/guide/en/chap-kernel.html)
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For more information about securelevels, see [secmodel_securelevel(9)](https://man.netbsd.org/secmodel_securelevel.9)
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and [kernel secure levels](https://wiki.netbsd.org/tutorials/kernel_secure_levels/).
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## The keyboard
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I live in Sweden so I've set the keyboard layout to Swedish in
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`/etc/wscons.conf`, and then activated wscons in `/etc/rc.conf`.
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To get the **Compose** key (on a Sun Type 6 keyboard) to work under Xorg I
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needed to map the keycode (117) to `Multi_key` with Xmodmap. I've added this
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to the system-wide `.Xmodmap` under `/etc/X11/xinitrc/` so it works for all
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users.
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## Closing thoughts
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I really enjoy Sun hardware, but Solaris hasn't aged very well (it's hard to
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find software for it). NetBSD on the other hand is a really nice system. It's
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a modern BSD which is both fun and simple to tinker with, and there's lots and
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lots of software available for it.
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The picture below is my own Sun Blade 1500. I have replaced the mechanical
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harddrive with a 128 gigabyte SSD connected with a SATA-to-IDE adapter.
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