PR kernel/1501 and custom boot disk

["Panon, Paul-Andre" <Paul-AndrePanon@SierraSystems.com>]

Hello,

I am trying to rebuild a kernel with a patch to workaround PR kernel/1501
and install OpenBSD 2.8 on a pair of HP NetServer LPr PIII/750 systems. I
rebuilt a GENERIC kernel  with a patched ncr.c on a different machine and it
seems to work on that machine but the patch isn't being exercised since that
machine doesn't have an NCR853C895 like the HPs do.

So I now want to try to install OpenBSD with the patch. I tried to use the
RAMDISK kernel configuration to rebuild the kernel but I still seem to be
getting a 3+ MB kernel file. I was hoping to follow the approach suggested
by Erich
 in http://www.monkey.org/openbsd/archive/tech/0008/msg00205.html but Theo's
reply ( http://www.monkey.org/openbsd/archive/tech/0008/msg00206.html)
worries me a little :-)
Just what exactly do I need to do create a new boot floppy to work around
this bug?

I can submit my patch, but I am just hiding the error message in that
special error condition (i.e. I don't really understand SCSI enough to
figure out what the correct behaviour should be) so the patch wouldn't be
maintainable.

I just need to get OpenBSD loaded on these systems. Can somebody please give
me offer some pointers or suggestions? Installing to an IDE drive and then
copying the partition is not an acceptable option.

Thank you,

Paul-Andre Panon