If Ian’s happy, I’ll upload (it’s only an 8Mb zip).
I first noticed the behaviour on a real R140, then swapped to Arculator because it’s a pain using a real ST506 drive.
RISCiX in Arculator is a bit odd - 1.21 can’t see the onboard ST506 controller in an A440 (or /1). I spent ages trying to mount an ST506 image before adding the ST506 podule. At which point it worked first time.
I’ve since tried A440 and A540 in Arculator - always the same issues.
Sadly, running MAKEDEV always creates the files in /dev, whichever directory you (or it) happen to be in at the time. I discovered this the hard way.
/sbin seems to be a purely 1.21 thing. It doesn’t exist in 1.1x. The Grenada instructions for rebuilding 1.13 state that init lives in /etc and sh in /bin. And the printout of all the files in the 1.13 release (I uploaded this scan some years back) confirms these locations; there is no /sbin or /usr/sbin in 1.13.
I can confirm that deleting the /dev folder in 1.21 does not cause the kernel to panic, just init to die from lack of console.
Plus the kernel is still alive in the 1.13 - as shown by the terminal switcher and setup screens still working.
Granted, just because the symptoms are the same it doesn’t mean the cause is. However, pretty much the first thing /etc/rc does when /etc/init runs it is send an echo to the console.
So, my next plan is to write a couple of dummy files, then add a line before and after the first echo to delete one of them. If I’m right, it’ll delete the first then die before it can delete the second. (Later in /etc/rc it delete and recreates /etc/mtab, so it should be capable).
If that works, I’ll remove all the echoes and see how far it gets…
If not, next most likely target is /bin/sh. Sadly, I’ve alrwady tried the one from 1.21 - no change in behaviour.
I first noticed the behaviour on a real R140, then swapped to Arculator because it’s a pain using a real ST506 drive.
RISCiX in Arculator is a bit odd - 1.21 can’t see the onboard ST506 controller in an A440 (or /1). I spent ages trying to mount an ST506 image before adding the ST506 podule. At which point it worked first time.
I’ve since tried A440 and A540 in Arculator - always the same issues.
Sadly, running MAKEDEV always creates the files in /dev, whichever directory you (or it) happen to be in at the time. I discovered this the hard way.
/sbin seems to be a purely 1.21 thing. It doesn’t exist in 1.1x. The Grenada instructions for rebuilding 1.13 state that init lives in /etc and sh in /bin. And the printout of all the files in the 1.13 release (I uploaded this scan some years back) confirms these locations; there is no /sbin or /usr/sbin in 1.13.
I can confirm that deleting the /dev folder in 1.21 does not cause the kernel to panic, just init to die from lack of console.
Plus the kernel is still alive in the 1.13 - as shown by the terminal switcher and setup screens still working.
Granted, just because the symptoms are the same it doesn’t mean the cause is. However, pretty much the first thing /etc/rc does when /etc/init runs it is send an echo to the console.
So, my next plan is to write a couple of dummy files, then add a line before and after the first echo to delete one of them. If I’m right, it’ll delete the first then die before it can delete the second. (Later in /etc/rc it delete and recreates /etc/mtab, so it should be capable).
If that works, I’ll remove all the echoes and see how far it gets…
If not, next most likely target is /bin/sh. Sadly, I’ve alrwady tried the one from 1.21 - no change in behaviour.
Statistics: Posted by Boydie — Wed Mar 26, 2025 8:23 am