Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 14:33:20 -0500 From: "Group Captain Buzzwang" <buzzwang@gamersgarrison.com> To: <freebsd-alpha@freebsd.org> Subject: FW: FreeBSD install on AlphaBios equipped DEC Alpha's Message-ID: <013601c10bd2$acc65000$0501010a@gamersgarrison.com>
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This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_012C_01C10BA8.C3486F40 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Forwarding as suggested (didn't know the -alpha list existed). See below. -----Original Message----- From: Terry Lambert [mailto:tlambert2@mindspring.com] Sent: Friday, July 13, 2001 1:34 PM To: buzzwang@gamersgarrison.com Cc: freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: FreeBSD install on AlphaBios equipped DEC Alpha's Group Captain Buzzwang wrote: > > I have 4 DEC Alpha XLT's here (all are 300mhz 256m ram) that I have > wanted to put to use for some time. I really, really wanted to install > FBSD on them but FBSD doesn't support an Alpha that isn't using SRM > firmware. All 4 of mine are equipped with the latest (v5.66) AlphaBIOS > as that is all that is available anymore from Digital/Compaq. I queried > them about it a couple months ago and the reply was rather abrupt: "It's > not available." > > I just finished installing Debian GNU/Linux on one of them. I tried it > because I was told that Debian has a method of using the AlphaBIOS (made > for installing WinNT only) to install and run Linux. > > It seems Debian uses to files: linload.exe and another referred to as > MILO (Mini Loader) to bootstrap the OS into operation. It actually works > out quite well, and I was a little surprised to see things running in a > short time. Problem is that I want to use FBSD, not Linux, on these > boxes. I have nothing against Linux, but I figure that it's better to > run FBSD with Linux support than just straight Linux. That and I find > that I really like FBSD anyway. MILO loads it's own firmware, which the Linux people wrote from scratch. You are lucky it works on your particular hardware. FreeBSD has a more sophisticated VM model than Linux, and the Linux-written firmware is missing a number of crucial instructions which are not missing from SRM, and so can not use the Linux firmware, without modifications which no one has written yet. You should post your question to the -alpha mailing list, instead of -hackers, since there has been some work on making the AlphaBIOS work natively (e.g. without replacing it with hand written and incomplete firmware which may not be appropriate, or may damage your machine irreparably, if there is too great a mismatch). I believe they had it to the point of being able to load the kernel into memory, and start up some of the memory management, last time they posted about it, but that was some time ago. You may also find that they know where you can find an SRM firmware for the machine, if it isn't one of the ones where the necessary chip gate has been lasered to death to keep people from using SRM with the chip. -- Terry ------=_NextPart_000_012C_01C10BA8.C3486F40 Content-Type: application/x-pkcs7-signature; name="smime.p7s" Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="smime.p7s" MIAGCSqGSIb3DQEHAqCAMIACAQExCzAJBgUrDgMCGgUAMIAGCSqGSIb3DQEHAQAAoIII8jCCApAw ggH5oAMCAQICAwQuMjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQQFADCBkjELMAkGA1UEBhMCWkExFTATBgNVBAgTDFdl c3Rlcm4gQ2FwZTESMBAGA1UEBxMJQ2FwZSBUb3duMQ8wDQYDVQQKEwZUaGF3dGUxHTAbBgNVBAsT FENlcnRpZmljYXRlIFNlcnZpY2VzMSgwJgYDVQQDEx9QZXJzb25hbCBGcmVlbWFpbCBSU0EgMjAw MC44LjMwMB4XDTAxMDIxNDAyMzA1OFoXDTAyMDIxNDAyMzA1OFowTTEfMB0GA1UEAxMWVGhhd3Rl IEZyZWVtYWlsIE1lbWJlcjEqMCgGCSqGSIb3DQEJARYbYnV6endhbmdAZ2FtZXJzZ2Fycmlzb24u Y29tMIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQDMJ+tGm/DN/RuNC1H83hhKY5F5GzALIIib dWxnHb2T7ZaEamoTDNmCGVutRfBttZ2MAWpJCVk1WXOi1U09kiNVGoFnh8T3EynLE42qoIl2zdud 32eK1FHrFKYAYXWn0Zib9ZSuo87KPy1FleyV5AdoNb0Q3Lk35OF5cNOuGk+XfQIDAQABozgwNjAm BgNVHREEHzAdgRtidXp6d2FuZ0BnYW1lcnNnYXJyaXNvbi5jb20wDAYDVR0TAQH/BAIwADANBgkq hkiG9w0BAQQFAAOBgQApuc3K/gETYp+y/HMmlZpVOurfap+ZjKTV9QMfuIgaQwlni/Rw9ht+nk8I ToDlSJ9YUUfotckbM5wrMcl/oxaddIt4O5R13e8e21v7EkPdGOx35eDnHV4Xs6RVLMp5XT92RyQP uEGJayEzaaMl06sBCrW5xPRgHWMbw3KTwQqtyDCCAykwggKSoAMCAQICAQwwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEE BQAwgdExCzAJBgNVBAYTAlpBMRUwEwYDVQQIEwxXZXN0ZXJuIENhcGUxEjAQBgNVBAcTCUNhcGUg VG93bjEaMBgGA1UEChMRVGhhd3RlIENvbnN1bHRpbmcxKDAmBgNVBAsTH0NlcnRpZmljYXRpb24g U2VydmljZXMgRGl2aXNpb24xJDAiBgNVBAMTG1RoYXd0ZSBQZXJzb25hbCBGcmVlbWFpbCBDQTEr MCkGCSqGSIb3DQEJARYccGVyc29uYWwtZnJlZW1haWxAdGhhd3RlLmNvbTAeFw0wMDA4MzAwMDAw MDBaFw0wMjA4MjkyMzU5NTlaMIGSMQswCQYDVQQGEwJaQTEVMBMGA1UECBMMV2VzdGVybiBDYXBl MRIwEAYDVQQHEwlDYXBlIFRvd24xDzANBgNVBAoTBlRoYXd0ZTEdMBsGA1UECxMUQ2VydGlmaWNh dGUgU2VydmljZXMxKDAmBgNVBAMTH1BlcnNvbmFsIEZyZWVtYWlsIFJTQSAyMDAwLjguMzAwgZ8w DQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQADgY0AMIGJAoGBAN4zMqZjxwklRT7SbngnZ4HF2ogZgpcO40QpimM1Km1w PPrcrvfudG8wvDOQf/k0caCjbZjxw0+iZdsN+kvx1t1hpfmFzVWaNRqdknWoJ67Ycvm6AvbXsJHe HOmr4BgDqHxDQlBRh4M88Dm0m1SKE4f/s5udSWYALQmJ7JRr6aFpAgMBAAGjTjBMMCkGA1UdEQQi MCCkHjAcMRowGAYDVQQDExFQcml2YXRlTGFiZWwxLTI5NzASBgNVHRMBAf8ECDAGAQH/AgEAMAsG A1UdDwQEAwIBBjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQQFAAOBgQBzG28mZYv/FTRLWWKK7US+ScfoDbuPuQ1qJipi hB+4h2N0HG23zxpTkUvhzeY42e1Q9DpsNJKs5pKcbsEjAcIJp+9LrnLdBmf1UG8uWLi2C8FQV7Xs HNfvF7bViJu3ooga7TlbOX00/LaWGCVNavSdxcORL6mWuAU8Uvzd6WIDSDCCAy0wggKWoAMCAQIC AQAwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEEBQAwgdExCzAJBgNVBAYTAlpBMRUwEwYDVQQIEwxXZXN0ZXJuIENhcGUx EjAQBgNVBAcTCUNhcGUgVG93bjEaMBgGA1UEChMRVGhhd3RlIENvbnN1bHRpbmcxKDAmBgNVBAsT H0NlcnRpZmljYXRpb24gU2VydmljZXMgRGl2aXNpb24xJDAiBgNVBAMTG1RoYXd0ZSBQZXJzb25h bCBGcmVlbWFpbCBDQTErMCkGCSqGSIb3DQEJARYccGVyc29uYWwtZnJlZW1haWxAdGhhd3RlLmNv bTAeFw05NjAxMDEwMDAwMDBaFw0yMDEyMzEyMzU5NTlaMIHRMQswCQYDVQQGEwJaQTEVMBMGA1UE CBMMV2VzdGVybiBDYXBlMRIwEAYDVQQHEwlDYXBlIFRvd24xGjAYBgNVBAoTEVRoYXd0ZSBDb25z dWx0aW5nMSgwJgYDVQQLEx9DZXJ0aWZpY2F0aW9uIFNlcnZpY2VzIERpdmlzaW9uMSQwIgYDVQQD ExtUaGF3dGUgUGVyc29uYWwgRnJlZW1haWwgQ0ExKzApBgkqhkiG9w0BCQEWHHBlcnNvbmFsLWZy ZWVtYWlsQHRoYXd0ZS5jb20wgZ8wDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQADgY0AMIGJAoGBANRp19SwlGRbcelH 2AxRtupykbCEXn0tDY97Et+FJXUodDpCLGMnn5V7S+9+GYcdhuqj3bnOlmQawhRuRKx85o/oTQ9x H0A4pgCjh3j2+ZSGXq3qwF5269kUo11uenwMpUtVfwYZKX+emibVars4JAhqmMex2qOYkf152+Va xBy5AgMBAAGjEzARMA8GA1UdEwEB/wQFMAMBAf8wDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEEBQADgYEAx+ySfk749Zal Z2IqpPBNEWDQb41gWGGsJrtSNVwIzzD7qEqWih9iQiOMFw/0umScF6xHKd+dmF7SbGBxXKKs3Hnj 524ARx+1DSjoAp3kmv0T9KbZfLH43F8jJgmRgHPQFBveQ6mDJfLmnC8Vyv6mq4oHdYsM3VGEa+T4 0c53ooExggKOMIICigIBATCBmjCBkjELMAkGA1UEBhMCWkExFTATBgNVBAgTDFdlc3Rlcm4gQ2Fw ZTESMBAGA1UEBxMJQ2FwZSBUb3duMQ8wDQYDVQQKEwZUaGF3dGUxHTAbBgNVBAsTFENlcnRpZmlj YXRlIFNlcnZpY2VzMSgwJgYDVQQDEx9QZXJzb25hbCBGcmVlbWFpbCBSU0EgMjAwMC44LjMwAgME LjIwCQYFKw4DAhoFAKCCAUkwGAYJKoZIhvcNAQkDMQsGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAcBgkqhkiG9w0BCQUx DxcNMDEwNzEzMTkzMzIwWjAjBgkqhkiG9w0BCQQxFgQUsSc1Hh4WfxogKDO4CCubqYncty8wPAYJ KoZIhvcNAQkPMS8wLTAHBgUrDgMCBzANBggqhkiG9w0DAgIBKDAHBgUrDgMCGjAKBggqhkiG9w0C BTCBqwYJKwYBBAGCNxAEMYGdMIGaMIGSMQswCQYDVQQGEwJaQTEVMBMGA1UECBMMV2VzdGVybiBD YXBlMRIwEAYDVQQHEwlDYXBlIFRvd24xDzANBgNVBAoTBlRoYXd0ZTEdMBsGA1UECxMUQ2VydGlm aWNhdGUgU2VydmljZXMxKDAmBgNVBAMTH1BlcnNvbmFsIEZyZWVtYWlsIFJTQSAyMDAwLjguMzAC AwQuMjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAASBgECd6rgp5PhHMt7EKYxyS38sJfOfZEHNB+PlaTJ+NkMIH18n bb8dmOEz+2QUKNd+czzaJTPsNuoh1oDImK3Rz9rR0i7EX/uJNFfLYmO2Wbbhtu2NGVNNxEQuFRPi 8cLRlVWZw4XfRZBtaFRS8ikkp61JyA1zKx7TrZ8dMA2fZi8sAAAAAAAA ------=_NextPart_000_012C_01C10BA8.C3486F40-- To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-alpha" in the body of the message
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