I have two NeXT cubes: one boots successfully into NeXTStep 3.3, the other has an empty SCSI drive. If I can boot the second from the first via NetBoot, is it possible to install the base NeXTStep system onto this machine?
If it is not possible to install over the network, could I put both drive in one machine, boot into the good disk, then copy the filesystem over to the empty drive to clone the first one? Seems like that should be possible, unless there are special boot sectors that cannot easily be copied.
Unfortunately I do not have the original install disks so that is not an option.
Quote from: "davidhoenig"I have two NeXT cubes: one boots successfully into NeXTStep 3.3, the other has an empty SCSI drive. If I can boot the second from the first via NetBoot, is it possible to install the base NeXTStep system onto this machine?
If it is not possible to install over the network, could I put both drive in one machine, boot into the good disk, then copy the filesystem over to the empty drive to clone the first one? Seems like that should be possible, unless there are special boot sectors that cannot easily be copied.
Unfortunately I do not have the original install disks so that is not an option.
Maybe BuildDisk could work. BuildDisk is an app in NS3.3 and I believe it makes a basic OS on a drive you select. I think it puts enough on the drive to make it bootable with a couple adjustments to it. I have never done this myself but thought I would mention it. You could always use your NS Library and see if it has some help info on BuildDisk and its use.
tj
BuildDisk is an app that first appeared in NS 3.0 (I believe) and according to the "NeXTSTEP NETWORK AND SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION" manual -- pp. 186-189: Building a Bootable Disk
BuildDisk is the way to go for building a new system disk to boot from. The utility allows you to select just how bare you'd like the disk. It also allows you to partition (with a caution) the HDD.
I'm currently tying to create a new 3.3 system disk for my Cube from my Station. The first drive I created this way won't boot. Not sure why as it seems to mount fine and seems complete. The only thing I can figure is it might be a termination issue. Damn SCSI ;)
Quote from: "ErikTheHack"BuildDisk is an app that first appeared in NS 3.0
FYI: I was totally incorrect here. Some version of BuildDisk.app seems to be in every release of NS.
There are a couple of older threads on the site that discuss cloning NS/OS disks in great detail. Lots of good info from forum members, and some proven strategies on how to accomplish this while avoiding the major problems. The thread linked below discusses it, and links to a couple of others on this topic.
http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=372Check em out.