Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 00:14:12 +1100 From: jonathan michaels <jon@caamora.com.au> To: Chuck Robey <chuckr@mat.net> Cc: freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: cyrix 686 type processor Message-ID: <19990224001412.C8361@caamora.com.au> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9902230756310.320-100000@picnic.mat.net>; from Chuck Robey on Tue, Feb 23, 1999 at 08:01:13AM -0500 References: <19990223233912.B8361@caamora.com.au> <Pine.BSF.4.05.9902230756310.320-100000@picnic.mat.net>
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On Tue, Feb 23, 1999 at 08:01:13AM -0500, Chuck Robey wrote: > On Tue, 23 Feb 1999, jonathan michaels wrote: > > > i;ve just discovered that i cannot get pentium pro processors, looks like > > intel has pulled teh plug on teh ppros now that the p3's are about to hit the > > streets .. not being a really good replacement (teh p3) it will have to do > > till teh merced's come out. (this bit is my personal opinion) > > > > my question is .. are their any others out thier, like amd or cyrix, that are > > pentium pro compatible enought to run freebsd and stay reliable for a long > > time. i am thinking of getting a cyrix 686 type .. any suggestions, do's, > > don't's, etc would be apreciated. > > > > all the numbers and names have confused me most thouroughly. > > I haven't been following the very latest, but unless there's been some > major change, it's restricted to Intel only. The reason why is the > design of the APIC interrupt controller, which is used to allow the > processors to communicate. There are 2 competing designs, Intel's amd > the "OpenAPIC", and Intel wants a large chunk of cash to license > their's, so none of the other vendors will do that. this is a shame .. but the computer business being teh computer business .. sorta grin, inserted here. > FreeBSD supports, so far, only the Intel APIC design, which is the only > really having support by motherboards, so this isn't a really > unreasonable decision. If you have a processor other than Intel, and > it supports SMP, then it's using the OpenAPIC, and you're SOL as far as > using it for FreeBSD smp. i here teh k7's (amd ?) are going to be intel smp compatible, but no one is talking price, yet. as regards other issues .. are teh amd;s and teh cyrix's ok to be used in single processor mode .. i mean are thier any gotchas about using them and can freebsd get around teh quirks. i'm asking this question because i've never really used non intel parts, and most of teh people i deal with are intel onlies as well, thiers isn't a wealth of non-intel experience around these parts. thaking you fro your responce, chuck. regards jonathan -- =============================================================================== Jonathan Michaels PO Box 144, Rosebery, NSW 1445 Australia ===========================================================<jon@caamora.com.au> To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message
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