prep revision 1.1 
1NOTE: If you wish to install NetBSD on your whole disk, i.e. you do
2not want DOS or any other operating system to reside on your hard
3disk, you can skip this section and go on to the section that
4describes installation, below.  If you're upgrading your system from a
5previous release of NetBSD, you shouldn't have proceeded directly to
6the section about upgrading; you need none of the information
7presented here.
8
9First and foremost, before beginning the installation process, MAKE
10SURE YOU HAVE A RELIABLE BACKUP of any data on your hard disk that you
11wish to keep.  Repartitioning your hard disk is an excellent way to
12destroy important data.
13
14Second, if you are using a disk controller which supports disk
15geometry translation, be sure to use the same parameters for NetBSD as
16for DOS or the other operating systems installed on your disk.  If you
17do not, it will be much harder to make NetBSD properly coexist with
18them.
19
20Third, use the DOS "fdisk" program or another partition editor to
21repartition your hard disk.  Create a partition of at least 40M in
22size, and note its starting offset and its length (preferably in units
23of disk sectors or cylinders).  You will need that information when
24installing NetBSD (and if the offset and length are not in those
25units, you will have to convert them).  Once you have created the new
26NetBSD partition, mark it as having a partition type of 0xA5 (265, in
27decimal).  If you used "fdisk" to partition your disk, you will
28probably have to use a different partition editor to mark the
29partition with the correct type.
30
31Finally, do whatever is necessary to restore order to the partition
32you took space away from.  If it was a DOS partition, you probably
33will need to use "format" to create a new file system on it, and then
34restore your important files from your backups.  Other operating
35systems will have different needs; most will need to reformat the
36partition, and if it was their "main" partition, will probably need
37to be reinstalled.
38
39Your hard disk is now prepared to have NetBSD installed on it, and
40you should proceed with the installation instructions.
41