Re: [9fans] install floppy

["Russ Cox" <rsc@plan9.bell-labs.com>]

	How is root.vd created?

Root.vd is a vdsqueezed mkfs -a style archive.
The ``kfs'' on the install disk is really vdfs, which
is quite literally a cross between vdexpand
and a lib9p-based ramfs.  The ramfs initializes
itself with the contents of the archive.

Second edition users might remember vdsqueeze
and vdexpand from its installation process as well.
I believe that (as then) we do not have the rights
to distribute the source.

Of course, AT&T has the rights to distribute the
source, and they do.  Vdexpand and vdsqueeze
are part of AT&T Research's mammoth AST package.
You'll never get the whole thing to configure under
Plan 9 (trust me), but you might be successful pulling
out just src/lib/libvdelta and getting it to compile.
Except for some extra #ifdefs, some formatting changes,
and some extra #define's to handle I/O, the code
in the AST package looks approximately like what
we have.

I have a gzfs that serves the same purpose using
/sys/src/cmd/gzip, but gzip -9 does a poorer job
than vdsqueeze does, to the extent that I can't fit
everything I want onto a disk using gzip.  Hence
I used vdsqueeze.

I can probably put all of that up somewhere, modulo
the vd source itself, if you're really interested.

	I am unable to use the floppy for installation since the June 17th update.  The
	problem appears to be the use of bootes as the login in nvram rather than
	glenda, as /usr/glenda is the only directory in /usr.  The boot complains of

Did you install a CPU server on the machine,
or change plan9.nvr on the floppy?  I'm pretty
sure the plan9.nvr on the floppy still has
glenda in it, but maybe the boot kernel is
picking up the nvram on the hard disk first.

Russ