Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 01:58:11 -0500 From: Thor Lancelot Simon <tls@rek.tjls.com> To: Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com> Cc: freebsd-alpha@FreeBSD.ORG, netbsd-alpha@netbsd.org Subject: Re: ARC/AlphaBIOS (164UX boards) .. was: Re: horrible hack / SRM Message-ID: <19990123015811.A17699@rek.tjls.com> In-Reply-To: <199901222310.QAA10649@usr09.primenet.com>; from Terry Lambert on Fri, Jan 22, 1999 at 11:10:34PM %2B0000 References: <Pine.BSF.4.01.9901221335420.59627-100000@herring.nlsystems.com> <199901222310.QAA10649@usr09.primenet.com>
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On Fri, Jan 22, 1999 at 11:10:34PM +0000, Terry Lambert wrote: > > > > Stefan Esser is working on AlphaBIOS booting at the moment but it is very > > > > early days. We are still at the stage of reverse-engineering the M$ > > > > executable format... > > > > > > I guess what I am not understanding is why this level of work needs to > > > be done? Cannot MILO be altered to also work with FreeBSD? I can see > > > many advantages in sharing sourcecode for this matter, even though it > > > is from 'the other camp' so to speak... > > > > Milo requires the Linux kernel sources to build. I would also prefer a > > non-gpl solution to the bootstrap. > > Not to mention that Milo replaces the microcode with something other > than SRM and other than ARC, etc, and as a result is constantly > playing catch-up with new boards. You're missing the point. SRM, too, requires "constantly playing catch-up with new boards". The cheap new boards don't have SRM *because Compaq wasn't willing to pay anyone to port it, or their vendors weren't willing to license it and then pay someone to port it. The do-it-yourself SRM kit costs a whopping $75. In fact, it's what MILO is (partially) based on. > Someone should approach Compaq about SRM, now that DEC is no longer > anally trying to keep everything $120 more expensive than running > NT for some sill ass reason... Why bother? A cook-your-own SRM kit is $75, MILO is free, but you still have to port either one of them to every new board just like you'd have to port a PC's BIOS -- they do very analogous things. Unfortunately, the PALcode in the SRM kit is quite old, doesn't work with many newer boards, and is known to be rather buggy, but the MILO folks have updated it (obviously). The question is where on *earth* to get the PALcode source MILO's built from. -- Thor Lancelot Simon tls@rek.tjls.com "And where do all these highways go, now that we are free?" To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-alpha" in the body of the message
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