Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 16:42:19 -0700 From: Darryl Okahata <darrylo@sr.hp.com> To: freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Intel Merced FreeBSD??? Intel? - NOT Message-ID: <199908292342.QAA07935@mina.sr.hp.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Fri, 27 Aug 1999 17:48:02 CDT."
next in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
"Jay West" <jlwest@tseinc.com> wrote:
> The merced executes PA-RISC instructions natively. It also executes x86
> instructions natively. If the chip you get doesn't do one or the other, it's
> because that section has been lobotomized for marketing/contract reasons due
> to where you get the chip from. The section is still on the silicon
> though...
As a side comment, note that there is more than one "Merced Linux
port" (it'll be interesting to see how they merge the efforts, if at
all). There's the VA/Intel port, and there's a lesser-known one from HP
Labs (it's been demo'd at the HP booth at recent Linux trade shows).
From the secondhand info I've heard, it may be further ahead than the
VA/Intel one. Back in February, I did see a very early version boot on
some laptop running a Merced simulator. At the time, it wasn't very
functional, being able to do ps, ls, and not much else, but I was
surprised at how fast the simulator ran on the laptop (I think the boot
sequence took a couple of minutes, but I didn't do any actual timings).
However, that was six months ago, and quite a bit has supposedly been
done since then. I've heard that it's "almost usable" (whatever this
means).
--
Darryl Okahata
darrylo@sr.hp.com
DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not
constitute the support, opinion, or policy of Hewlett-Packard, or of the
little green men that have been following him all day.
To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?199908292342.QAA07935>