this is obsolete doc -- see http://doc.nethence.com/ instead

NetBSD USB installation media 

Introduction 

Here's how to make a NetBSD USB installation media (i386 or amd64). 

Ref. http://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/mkmemstick.sh 

Get the sets 

Choice 1) copy the CDrom 

Get and mount the install ISO (ftp://ftp.fr.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-5.1/iso/), 

wget ftp://ftp.fr.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-5.1/iso/i386cd-5.1.iso

vnconfig -c vnd0 i386cd-5.1.iso

mkdir -p loop/

mount_cd9660 /dev/vnd0d `pwd`/loop

Copy the CDrom installation media and unmount, 

cp -R loop/ inst/

umount loop/

rmdir loop/

vnconfig -u vnd0

Fix the boot loader, 

cd inst/

mv boot.cfg boot.cfg.dist

sed 's/installation CD/installation memory stick/' boot.cfg.dist > boot.cfg

rm -f boot.cfg.dist

ls -l boot

cd ../

Choice 2) fetch the stuff 

Fetch the installation kernel and miniroot module, 

cd inst/

mkdir -p i386/binary/sets/

ftp -a ftp: //ftp.fr.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-5.1_RC3/i386/binary/kernel/netbsd-GENERIC.gz

ftp -a ftp: //ftp.fr.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-5.1_RC3/i386/installation/miniroot/miniroot.kmod

mv netbsd-GENERIC.gz netbsd

Note. there's also netbsd-INSTALL_FLOPPY.gz but it's not like we don't have enought space on an USB stick. We simply use netbsd-GENERIC.gz even for installation : the miniroot module makes it happy happy 

Fetch the needed sets, 

cd i386/binary/sets

ftp -a ftp://ftp.fr.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-5.1_RC3/i386/binary/sets/base.tgz

ftp -a ftp://ftp.fr.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-5.1_RC3/i386/binary/sets/comp.tgz

ftp -a ftp://ftp.fr.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-5.1_RC3/i386/binary/sets/etc.tgz

ftp -a ftp://ftp.fr.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-5.1_RC3/i386/binary/sets/kern-GENERIC.tgz

ftp -a ftp://ftp.fr.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-5.1_RC3/i386/binary/sets/man.tgz

ftp -a ftp://ftp.fr.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-5.1_RC3/i386/binary/sets/misc.tgz

ftp -a ftp://ftp.fr.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-5.1_RC3/i386/binary/sets/text.tgz

cd ../../..

Configure the boot loader, 

cp -f /usr/mdec/boot .

cat > boot.cfg <<EOF9

banner=PWET PWET YOUPLA BOOM

menu=Install NetBSD:load /miniroot.kmod;boot netbsd

menu=Install NetBSD (no ACPI):load /miniroot.kmod;boot netbsd -2

menu=Install NetBSD (no ACPI, no SMP):load /miniroot.kmod;boot netbsd -12

menu=Drop to boot prompt:prompt

timeout=10

EOF9

cd ..

Make the USB image 

Build the image and make it bootable, 

makefs netbsdboot.img inst

installboot netbsdboot.img /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv1

Write the BSD label to the image, 

imgsize=$(stat -L -f %z netbsdboot.img)

cat <<EOF9 | \

  sed "s/@SECTORS@/$(expr $imgsize / 512)/" | \

  sed "s/@TCYLINDERS@/$(expr $imgsize / 512 / 1000 + 1)/" | \

  sed "s/@TSECTORS@/$(expr $imgsize / 512 + 1)/" > disklabel.tmp

type: unknown

disk: Memory Stick

label:

flags:

bytes/sector: 512

sectors/track: 63

tracks/cylinder: 16

sectors/cylinder: 1000

cylinders: @TCYLINDERS@

total sectors: @TSECTORS@

rpm: 3600

interleave: 1

trackskew: 0

cylinderskew: 0

headswitch: 0

track-to-track seek: 0

drivedata: 0

16 partitions:

 a: @SECTORS@ 0 4.2BSD 1024 8192 0

 d: @SECTORS@ 0 unused 0 0

EOF9

unset imgsize

ls -l disklabel.tmp

disklabel -R -F netbsdboot.img `pwd`/disklabel.tmp

rm -f disklabel.tmp

Ready to go 

Write the image to the a memory stick. 

On NetBSD, 

dd if=netbsdboot.img of=/dev/rsd1d bs=1024k

On Linux, 

dd if=netbsd-install.img of=/dev/sd1 bs=1024k

On Windows, use "HP Drive Key Boot Utility" or "DD for Windows", 

dd --list

dd if=netbsdboot.img of=\\?\Device... bs=1024k --progress

You can now use the memory stick to install NetBSD (i386 or amd64). 

Clean up, 

rm -rf inst/

References 

http://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/misc/jmcneill/mkmemstick.sh 

http://old.nabble.com/How-to-create-a-bootable-USB-stick-for-NetBSD-5.0-td25160151.html 

http://www.daemonforums.org/showthread.php?t=2824 

http://mail-index.netbsd.org/tech-install/2008/11/22/msg000086.html