386BSD

386 BSD
Logging into a 386 BSD system
Type:	Multitasking, multiuser
Creator:	CSRG, University of California, Berkeley
Architecture:	386 theoretically portable
This Version:	0.1 (1992)
Date Released:	1991

386 BSD was the first time that the Net/2 project was put into a functional release onto commodity hardware, and into the public under the BSD license. This is the starting point for both NetBSD & FreeBSD. While 386 BSD may be of historical significance, it's not up to the challenge of day to day usage.

Announcement

This is the 0.1 announcement:

                     386BSD Release 0.1 


                       "Cut the Tape" 
                        14 July 1992 
                       (Bastille Day) 
                    "Vive la Revolution" 


    The success of UNIX lies not so much in new inventions but rather 
    in the full exploitation of a carefully selected set of fertile ideas, 
    and especially in showing that they can be keys to the implementation 
    of a small yet powerful operating system. 
    -- Thompson & Ritchie, "The UNIX Time-Sharing System", CACM 1974. 


     We are pleased to  announce  the  official  release  of 
386BSD Release 0.1, the second edition of the 386BSD operat- 
ing system created and developed by William and Lynne Jolitz 
and  enhanced further with novel work and contributions from 
the dedicated 386BSD User Community. Like  its  predecessor, 
386BSD Release 0.0, Release 0.1 comprises an entire and com- 
plete UNIX-like operating system for  the  80386/80486-based 
AT Personal Computer. 


     386BSD is intended to foster new research and  develop- 
ment  in operating systems and networking technology by pro- 
viding this base technology in a broadly accessible  manner. 
As  such, like its predecessor, 386BSD Release 0.1 is freely 
redistributable and modifiable. 


     As with any BSD release, there is still  much  more  to 
do. Please remember to send in your REGISTRATION file, so we 
can add you to the SIG and regular mailing  lists.  We  also 
encourage  everyone  to  use  the SOFTWARE.FORM for software 
contributions and the BUGNFIX.FORM for fixes to the  system, 
as it saves us time. 


Features of 386BSD Release 0.1 


     386BSD Release 0.1 is intended to  be  widely  used  by 
those  interested in "pushing the envelope" towards the for- 
mation and development of innovative ideas in computer tech- 
nology.  As such, we have spent considerable time developing 
a system which  is  simple  to  partition  and  install  and 
emphasizes stability and completeness. 


     Among the many new features of 386BSD: 


*    New "Tiny 386BSD" System Installation Floppy 


*    Simplified installation procedures. 


*    386BSD partitioning for use on an MS-DOS system. 


*    Compressed,    multivolume     CPIO     dump     format 
     binary/source/other  distribution  sets on MS-DOS flop- 
     pies. 


*    387 emulation. 


*    SCSI support. 


*    CD-ROM support. 


*    NFS, TCP/IP and full networking. 


*    New 386BSD "Fix-It" System Maintenance Floppy. 


*    New "Additional User Software" MS-DOS floppy dump. 


We hope that while you browse through  386BSD  Release  0.1, 
you  will  take a moment to look at the CONTRIB.LIST file to 
see the many people who have made this release possible. 


Installation Procedures and New Partitioning Feature 


     Installation procedures have been simplified -- so much 
so  that  die-hard  BSD fans just cannot believe their eyes. 
Simply follow the INSTALL.NOTES information available on the 
Tiny 386BSD installation floppy to partition, install, down- 
load, and extract the rest of the distribution. If you  have 
special  configuration requirements, you can use the "Fixit" 
floppy and follow traditional BSD  installation  procedures. 
WE  RECOMMEND  YOU CHOOSE ONE APPROACH OR THE OTHER, BUT NOT 
BOTH! 


     If you presently have Release 0.0  on  your  drive,  we 
recommend that you backup your work and reformat your drive. 
We also urge you to take advantage of the 386BSD "partition- 
ing"  feature  if  you  can.  You will be surprised how con- 
venient it really is to use.  Now you can run MS-DOS, 386BSD 
and  two other systems on your PC for the price of one drive 
-- a bargain! 


Careware Charity Drive 


     The Careware Program is a charity effort which the edi- 
tors of DDJ have been running as a service to the community. 
Simply put, readers who send in a floppy and SASE mailer can 
receive at no charge a copy of a featured piece of software. 
In addition, if the reader so desires, he can send  along  a 
dollar  or  two for a charity designated by the developer of 
the software.  It's that simple. 


     As part of the DDJ Careware charity drive, we are  mak- 
ing  available  to  the editors of DDJ the latest version of 
our "Tiny 386BSD" installation  floppy,  with  all  proceeds 
benefiting the Childrens Support League of the East Bay (see 
the CAREWARE.INFO file).  Some of the  agencies  which  have 
received funds from CSL in the past include those using com- 
puters to  communicate  with  disabled  children,  providing 
respite  weekends  for  abused children, counciling bereaved 
children, and setting up safe after-school  play  areas  for 
children in impoverished neighborhoods. 


     Even though we have made this software freely available 
-- with no contribution required for the use of 386BSD -- we 
hope that the 386BSD User Community will choose to  partici- 
pate  in this charity drive and help these children.  Simply 
put, by sending a dollar or two  along  with  your  software 
request, you directly benefit a child. 


     To participate in the Careware program,  send  a  high- 
density error-free formatted floppy and SASE mailer to: Tiny 
386BSD, DDJ, 411 Borel Avenue, San Mateo, CA.  94402  USA. 


     While a dollar or two may seem like a  trivial  amount, 
it does add up.  The Brevard County Food Bank in Florida has 
received over $3,000 in the past year alone from  supportive 
users  of  D-Flat, and the Vermont Association for the Blind 
and Visually Disabled has received over  $100  in  the  past 
month  from  X-Sharp users. For these charities, a dollar or 
two has made a difference! 


     Now it's our turn. Just like the generous users  of  D- 
Flat  and X-Sharp, we believe that each person in the 386BSD 
User Community is quite willing to meet  the  challenge  and 
help a child. 


New Newsgroup and SIGs Forming 


     There are many newsgroups forming which discuss 386BSD. 
One  should  check  out M&T Online (the DDJ newsgroup), Com- 
puserve, and BIX for 386BSD discussion forums. 


     On the INTERNET/USENET, we are hoping to establish  our 
own  newsgroup called "comp.os.386bsd". This newsgroup would 
reside  alongside  the  "comp.os.mach"  and  "comp.os.linux" 
newsgroups. Already there are over 100,000 copies of Release 
0.0, and we hope to add to this  number  with  the  new  and 
improved  Release  0.1.   Please  help  us to establish this 
newsgroup devoted to the "freely available"  386BSD  system, 
by  asking  your  news coordinator to subscribe to it. We do 
not recommend using comp.unix.bsd, since 386BSD, like  linux 
and mach, is not a "comp.unix" system. 


     There are also a  number  of  386BSD  special  interest 
groups  forming,  including  those  interested in discussing 
shared libraries, filesystems,  networking,  windowing  sys- 
tems,  gigabit  networking,  and so forth. Also, a number of 
projects are getting underway focussing on  improvements  in 
the kernel and utilities.  If you are interested in learning 
about any of these groups, please fill out and send  in  the 
REGISTRATION  form  and  we  will put you on the SIG mailing 
list (along with the general 386BSD mailing list  and  user- 
directory file). 


Patches to the System 


     An official patch system and  unofficial  patch  system 
have been created (see the ROADMAP file). The first official 
set of patches will be out later this coming week.  We  will 
also  be  sending  out an errata list which lists found bugs 
which are not currently covered by the latest patches. 


Technical Information We are trying to Obtain: 


     We are also interested in obtaining new information to 
assist us in subsequent releases. Lack of adequate document- 
ation limits us at the moment, so even the contribution of 
a spare copy or photostat of accurate technical documentation 
would be helpful. Among our specific needs are documentation 
on Novell NE-1000/2000, 3COM 3C503, IDE command set (Connors), 
and PS/2 Microchannel documentation (specifically PS/2 ABIOS 
(IBM PN 68X2341, 15F2161), Options and Adapters TR (P/N 
6322509), SCSI Adapters (P/N 68X2397, 68X2365), Mouse (P/N 
68X2229)). In general, if you notice a shortcoming in a driver, 
be certain we can use better technical documentation on the 
device. Any help you can offer will be appreciated. 


Where We Can Be Reached 


     We  can  be  contacted  via   Compuserve   email   (CIS 
76703,4266  or 76703.4...@compuserve.com), BIX (wjolitz), or 
via the internet at ljol...@cardio.ucsf.edu, and through DDJ 
and UNIX Magazin (Europe). Please be patient with responses, 
as the 386BSD user group base is growing  daily,  and  some- 
times  responses  are  a bit delayed. However, we do want to 
hear from you. 


Thank you for all your patience, support, and encouragement. 
We wouldn't have done it without you! 


Bill and Lynne Jolitz. 

Where can I get a copy

At the moment the only known place to get a full copy is here: http://www.oldlinux.org/Linux.old/distributions/386BSD/

How do I get this to run?!

386 BSD is difficult to install on real hardware, and emulated hardware is difficult as well. As of now the only known emulator that can run 386 BSD is Bochs 2.4. I'm currently having some issues with it's disktab structure as it keeps placing the swap partition starting at 0 and overwriting itself. The error message I keep on getting is:

/386bsd: wd0a: overlaps open partition (b)

I've found out that upon getting that error, just keep on rebooting and eventually it'll magically go away. It seems to be tied to the VM crashing

There is an evolving guide to be found here: Installing 386BSD on BOCHS.

What Runs?

Not terribly much, unpacking the distro tends to corrupt the disk.