Date: Mon, 1 Sep 1997 22:32:34 -0700 (PDT) From: Doug White <dwhite@gdi.uoregon.edu> To: Francis Vidal <francis@cody.usls.edu> Cc: FreeBSD-Questions List <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: 'uname -m' not i586? Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.96.970901222635.3114B-100000@localhost> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.96.970901162505.309A-100000@cody.usls.edu>
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On Mon, 1 Sep 1997, Francis Vidal wrote: > hello everyone! > > does FreeBSD 2.2.2 support pentium? in linux, you can specify the machine > with -DCPU=596 (compiling the kernel) and i586 would appear if you execute > 'uname -m'. in my FreeBSD 2.2.2 box, machine="i386"; cpu="I586_CPU". The `machine' identifies the architecture under which the kernel is designed to run under. Since FreeBSD is designed to run under the Intel i386 architecture (386 and compatible processors) it will report 'i386.' This is also used to define machine-dependent code in the kernel to compile, ie there is a /usr/src/sys/i386 heirarchy. In the future DEC Alpha port there will be a machine type `alpha' in addition to `i386.' The Pentium chips don't require a different board architecture, they still use the standard i386 components such as the ISA bus, memory access and so forth. So calling it i586 on Pentium-class machines is really a misnomer. If the Pentium chip was something completely new and different it would earn that designation. You could probably rename i386 to i586 if it bothered you, but you'd have to check all the source files to make sure there are no direct references to /sys/i386. The CPU line enables CPU-specific instructions in the kernel where appropriate and enables the kernel to detect Pentium-class processors properly. Hope this helps. Doug White | University of Oregon Internet: dwhite@resnet.uoregon.edu | Residence Networking Assistant http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dwhite | Computer Science Major Spam routed to /dev/null by Procmail | Death to Cyberpromo
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